THE LADY FRED!
Dixie DeLish!
Daredevil Molotov!
Pole Acrobat
ROCHELLE TRISHELL!
Accordianista
AMBER LEE BAKER!
Nerdgasm!
Oleeander Moon!
The Double-Dang Duo!
The Erotic Goddess!
Rasa Vitalia!
hosted by JAMIE DeWOLF
& The Mai Tai Go-Go Dancers!
A while back David Owen paid a visit to Twirly Girls Pole Fitness, one of the studios in the Bay Area where I teach pole dancing classes. Other than a couple of pole dance performance videos of him and that he likes to stretch and I don’t (even though I do it), I didn’t know too much about David prior to taking his workshop. What was so wonderful about learning from him is that the stuff he introduced to me was an extension of some of the pole moves that I was already working on, as such, I was in the right head space to learn them-there is such a beauty in a new perspective. I think what was key in his workshop was that he was able to handle multiple levels in class, and that he didn’t give out too much so we all had a chance to focus on a couple of things rather than a bunch of different things- pole moves take so long to master. He taught me a switching jade thing, I don’t know what he calls it, and also forced me to break out of my comfort zone and nail that reverse grab spin on the spinning pole (on a 50 too!). I really did get a lot out of his class.
On a personal note, everyone at Twirly Girls loved David ….I can’t imagine anyone not liking David Owen, he is such mellow, easy going, all around nice kinda guy. I am so happy to see that he is building a name for himself as an instructor, he really is very good at passing on his knowledge of various pole acrobatic techniques. David also gives great advice for improving your flexibility, as you might imagine. I hope to make my way to Vegas in the near future so that I can visit him, take a lesson and check out his new teaching grounds at Shine Alternative Fitness.
The Third Annual Lovely Rita Fundraiser to benefit the National Kidney Foundation is ALMOST HERE! It will consist of two weekends of workshops and a showcase.
First up, on Saturday, April 14th, there will be a Burlesque Workshop with Lori at 12:30 PM.
I started taking private lessons with master trainer Xiaohong (of San Francisco Circus Center) out of a desire to increase my strength and endurance for the pole dancing/fitness. My first experience was awesome and I was pleasantly surprised to find that, even though I busted my behind in class, I didn’t get the post training soreness I had anticipated; however, my body did poop out sooner than usual in my pole training session the next day. I attributed my brilliant recovery time to the incredible assisted stretching I got in between each exercise burst. So to all of you training pole fitness enthusiasts, DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STRETCHING.
We have begun working on the pole using Chinese acrobatic pole technique and I have decided that I don’t know sh!t about pole… I thought I was pretty strong, I guess I am compared to some other pole dancers, but my strength is like a total beginner compared to his. How humbling it is to work with someone like this, how inspiring! His tales of his circus training as a youngster in China have inspired me to train harder because I realize that, really, I am a lazy oaf in comparison, sad but true. I am appalled at how lacking my left arm strength is…in handstands (after doing many reps and then holding) i begin to sink down into the left side and he has to hold me up. Well, I will improve…I will get stronger!…I WILL, I WILL!
Twirly Girls Pole Fitness is hosting the second annual fundraiser for the National Kidney Foundation on April 22, 2012.
From Rita:
“As you may know, I have been blessed thrice with the gift of life in the form of a kidney transplant….
Serious health problems affects the lives of not just the person who is sick, but also the lives of those who love them.
Twirly Girls Pole Fitness is hosting the second annual fundraiser for the National Kidney Foundation on April 22, 2012.
From Rita:
“As you may know, I have been blessed thrice with the gift of life in the form of a kidney transplant….
Serious health problems affects the lives of not just the person who is sick, but also the lives of those who love them. To offer an organ to someone in need changes the lives of many. I ask for your support to help make the miracle happen for the next family. Please donate what you can today. Every penny helps.”
Sun. 4/22/2012 Save the Date: The Lovely Rita Fundraiser (showcase and rafflel) will be held Sunday, April 22, 2012!
Philip Deal seems to be a rather controversial figure in the pole dancing world. This seems to stem from some of his uncensored, outspoken, and sometimes sexually loaded status updates on Facebook. Personally, I have found Philip to be one of those rare people who prefers not to sensor his person to anyone, he does not try to put on an “acceptable” public face in order to be liked.
I first met Philip in New York in the spring of 2011 at Body and Pole Studio, at least a year before he entered the competition circuit. My trip to New York was centered around competing in the 2011 USPDF Championship, and after a serious competition “hangover” (that state of being where you feel suspended between an adrenaline high and jet lag) I took a workshop with international pole crush Marlo Fiskin, I then decided to stay for Steven Retchless’ workshop too…here I met Philip. I remember how beautifully he moved in the workshop and later discovered afterward that he was a classical and contemporary trained dancer of umpteen years. I found him very easy to be around and unpretentious.
When he informed me he was going to be on the WestCoast, I asked a couple of studio owners where I teach if they would like to have him as a guest instructor. One knew who he was from his APFC performance and the other didn’t so I sent her a couple of his videos and they spoke for him. Anyway out he came for a nice stay in the Bay Area, and not only did both studio owners have him do workshops, but they both raved about what a remarkable instructor he was. Needless to say, everyone (students, studio owners-Bel Jeremiah and Hana Granados, and myself) were really amped up over his classes. Philip is a technical instructor, if you are having difficulty with a move, he can look at what you are doing and tell you how to fix it. He also has a keen eye for line and detail which I assume comes from all of his classical dance training, he can tell you how to make movement more aesthetically pleasing.
At some point in time we realize that workshops from pole stars are limiting in what they can teach us. It takes so long to master a new trick on the pole, that really having to0 much practice material can just leave us overwhelmed and doesn’t allow us to master anything. Further, a workshop can not give us strength no matter how incredible a dancer the instructor is-If the moves are physically over our head nothing can help us except time and practice and strength building. That said, I think that it’s important to be realistic about what you want to get out of a pole workshop. You need to pay more attention to what kind of skills the instructor of the workshop has as a teacher, as opposed to just their their name as a polebritie-not to say that there aren’t performers out there who are also awesome pole teachers because there definetly are some, you just need to research a little beyond your pole crush.
What I think most everyone took away with from Philip’s workshops, regardless of their level, was some awesome technical training and a new awareness of their body and what it is doing. I personally conquered a nemesis trick, brass monkey (don’t ask me why, it’s so stupid that I couldn’t get this move), learned new transitions that I never would have thought of, and have a new combo to master that Philip made up on me…I will post it when it’s awesome, but for now here’s a video of the Brass Monkey combo Philip taught me @ 00:00-00:14
