On dance... the benefits of different teachers

We're halfway through week 2 of term 5 at Suzie Q Pole Studio, and after having a lovely few terms with mostly just one teacher, I've now got two different gorgeous ladies teaching me to defy gravity each week.  Now once you reach a higher level and stay there for quite a while - I've been in pre-advanced for what seems like forever, but is actually more like 2 years - you start to notice differences in the way that different instructors teach different moves.

The best example I can think of is the static V (also known as ayesha):

This move took me a long time to learn, and I'm yet to completely master it with different grips and leg positions.  The funny thing about the static V is that every single teacher I've met does it in a slightly different way, and has different strategies for learning it.  At first I found this mildly frustrating - I remember thinking, "how am I supposed to learn this if everyone has a different technique?"  But the day that I finally held a static V confidently was the result of all of these different techniques, and combining them to find a method that suited my level of strength and body type.

It's the same with dance styles.  Different teachers have different preferred styles; at Suzie Q alone we've got Suzie's polished routines, Belle's strength and grace, Daisy and Amarli's sexy flexiness, Bailey's beautiful contemporary style, Stacey's amazing power (and incredible hotness!), Amber's death-defying, why-worry-about-gravity shows, and more.  Any teacher worth their salt will tell you that even though it's great to master one style, and of course you're always going to have a preferred one (and it can change frequently!), it is incredibly beneficial to step outside your comfort zone.  I took some lyrical pole lessons at Amber's Haus of Pole recently, and having long been taught in a sexy style, having to swap my body rolls and hip circles for sweeping movements and dramatic gestures was a huge shock to the system - it took me right back to the early days of dance, when I could not have felt less co-ordinated.  And yet after a month of lyrical lessons, I found myself incorporating the moves into my freestyle dances, and thinking more about how I held myself in my transitions.

So if you've been with the same teacher for a while, and especially if you're having trouble with a particular move, try mixing it up a bit.  Take all the advice you can get from as many sources as possible, and do what feels right and safe for your body.  It's also worth trying out a new studio from time to time - they'll often have a different style, might teach different moves or techniques, and it's great to practice on different pole sizes and floor types (there's nothing like moving from carpet to wood and back again to make you appreciate different shoe grips!).  And if you're competing or doing shows, knowing that you have the ability to dance on brass or chrome poles big or small, on wooden or carpeted floors, makes a hell of a lot of difference to your confidence.

Now I just have to get used to Stacey's ridiculous cardio warm-ups, and Amber's insistence that we wear heels all the time...!!



with love from the lit dancer
artemis