My first-ever pole performance (omg!) was at the Body & Pole Open House on March 24th 2012. The event was held at Body & Pole’s new studio which opened in January. It’s a beautiful space and an incredible place to spend pretty much ALL of my free time. In anticipation of the Open House and performance, I started to realize just how much this place means to me. I’m so proud to have been a part of something so positive and exciting.
With dancer, B&P instructor and all-around hip chick Tracee & dancer, instructor, B&P owner and complete bad-ass Lian.
Back in December when I started poling, I NEVER would have imagined that in just a couple months – I would be performing in a room packed full of strangers and friends screaming and cheering me on. Gah! I’m grateful to B&P for giving me this opportunity. It’s pretty freakin’ cool that on top of giving free classes all day, they showcased some of the best dancers in the country – world! – again, for FREE – while giving students of all levels the chance to show off what the hell we’ve been doing with all the time we spend at the studio.
Once upon a time – about a month ago – a group of us decided we would love to perform a dance we had learned in Tracee Kafer’s Thursday Night POLEOGRAPHY class.
This particular dance was the first choreographed piece I had ever learned on pole. The song was “Lioness” by Sarah Fimm. I had never heard the artist or song before, but immediately loved it. The feel and beat of the song is so seductive and Tracee knew how to put movement to it that was just right amount of sexy.
My girls; Amanda, Christy, Jal, Kat, Marina and I worked really hard, staying late – sometimes til midnight -practicing the routine over and over again, figuring out “dear god what am I going to do during the freestyle section?!” Brainstorming costume ideas and giving constructive and positive advice about our individual performances. I feel like a better dancer after working with these girls.
We went all-out with costumes, deciding on a tribal theme and keeping a classic Tracee-ism in mind – “You are sexy jungle creatures!”
We all put our own interpretation into “tribal” and our costumes matched our personalities perfectly. As a group we looked like the most diverse group of sexy jungle creatures one could possibly come across.
I was inspired by two of my favorite Britney Spears performance costumes. The forever-famous MTV VMA ’99 “I’m a Slave for You” look and the “naked” look from the “Toxic” music video. I updated the look a bit by adding a bit of Ke$ha into the mix.
I found a simple top and bottom from American Apperal that provided the perfect nude canvas. Then, with help from my “personal stylist”, fashionista and DIY master @alwaysinstyle, I found feathers, gold chain and snake skin fur to make my new “skin.” meow!
I had a little help with the sewing of my wrist cuffs (thanks Alex!) and was pretty damn proud of myself for my costume creation! I had to put it to the test and send a pic to my “stylist”. When @alwyasinstyle doesn’t agree with something, she will tell you. But she approved! Success!
In the days leading up to the performance I listened to “Lioness” continuously on my ipod – seriously if you checked my itunes play count it would be over a hundred without a doubt. I would close my eyes on the subway and imagine doing the dance. I’m sure the people around me were a little bugged out by the girl – seductive expression on her face -moving her hips slightly while holding onto a subway pole.
Then suddenly – it was Saturday.
After a week or so of intense practice and extra hours on the pole – on top of my already hectic week of office life – I did what any girl would do and let myself sleep in! AMAZING.
Once I was up, it was down to business. I did a make-up run through, showered and got a quick mani. I was fortunate enough to have Isaac the elephant, teaching a flexibility class just a couple blocks from my BK apt. I got the full stretch out, warm-up and lots of positive reinforcement. Thanks Isaac!
Then it was back to my apt to quickly pull it all together. In record time, I feathered my hair, did the real-deal makeup and consumed a much needed martini to calm my nerves before I was off – butterflies in full effect!
On the train, I had no inhibitions about being “that girl” on the subway. I proudly wore my B&P hoodie, full tribal make up and went through the routine in my head – it was tough to hold myself back from doing a full-out run through.
The studios small private room served as the backstage area. It was an experience in itself. There were about 30 performers putting last minute touches on their costumes, doing hair and make-up, helping each other with nip-slip prevention, stretching, working out last minute routine kinks, and practicing the big pole trick one more time.
The Lionesses – that’s us! – were slotted to go second to last. I was grateful I wasn’t in the first group of pole performances. I was able to watch and enjoy all the first-round pole performances in the front studio – which were all fabulous – before the party moved to the back studio for the aerial performances.
During this time the Lionesses snuck on the poles in the front studio to go through our freestyles and work out last minutes adjustments one more time. I also had one last nerve calming shot of liquid courage Tequila with my girl Jal.
Afterwards, I heard the aerial performances were absolutely breath-taking and I’m upset I missed them.
I prb teased my hair about 50 times in nervous panic as the party moved back into the front studio for the final pole perforemances. Then – before I knew it – it was go time.
Those 3 minutes are kinda gone from my memory. I was on such an adrenaline-high all I could think was “omg I’m doing this right now, and it’s all working!” Oh I do remember at one point, hearing a big cheer during the freestyle. I later learned from the video – it was Christy tearing her shirt off and then diving into an elbow spin. Get it girl.
I just couldn’t keep my clothes on and my ass off the pole during the after-party. Amanda and I pole played – I gave @alwaysinstyle a lap dance – and I bugged Tracee to take a pic of my superman! I’ve been wanting a pic of my superman since I learned it – it’s still sloppy and not so pretty getting into it, but the cheese-tastic smile of my face perfectly sums up how I feel about the whole night.
Oh yeah… and here it is! My first – and hopefully not last – pole performance!
Mizlizzle's Got Moves 