My First Recital, The Highs and Lows – June 2016

Posted on September 20, 2016February 3, 2022 by crystal holly

I spent several months working on choreographing my own routine for the first time. It was supposed to be for a spring showcase at SASS, which the date was pushed back several times. Then it was cancelled and postponed until the fall due to a lack of performers ready with a routine. When my silks instructor heard it was cancelled, she invited me to perform my routine at our silks recital.

I altered my costume a bit as the show was for all ages. I had to change my song to a Beatles song as that was the theme. I picked Free As A Bird and it fit my routine well. I spent hours preparing for the show.

On rehearsal day, I set up the 2 stage poles to practice. The show was in a gym and it was very hot. I was very worried that I would be too sweaty to execute my shoulder mount in the routine.

The day of the show, I was beyond nervous. When I got out there, I concentrated on my music and my movements and didn’t look at the audience. I did bail on my shoulder mount as I was just too slippery. Overall, I was happy how it went but was going to take the shoulder mount out of the second show

The silks group routine I wasn’t nearly as nervous for as I wasn’t out there alone. It went well. My husband and kids came to support me and my husband recorded my performances.

Between the first and second show, I was told that there was some negative comments about my pole routine posted on the events Facebook page. I was asked to tone down the routine or perhaps take it out of the second show. I thought about it for a bit and decided that I did not want to change my art because of a bully, so I didn’t perform. I went home for a bit to clear my head, and went back just to perform the group silks routine at the end of the show.

After the show, I bought a big bottle of wine, relaxed in my hot tub and vented to some pole friends. I took solace in hearing other friends stories of facing negative comments through their pole career. The stigma around pole is sometimes difficult for a dancer to deal with. But it’s our passion and art and we are tough girls that will face the negativity head on and will not let it defeat us.

Coming Out of My Shell – April 2016

Posted on September 10, 2016February 3, 2022 by crystal holly

I heard about a pole showcase called Something Wicked by Verticalove in Hamilton. They were looking for pole cleaners, or pole kittens, so I volunteered. I got to watch the performances, then went on stage and climbed the poles to clean them between performances. Dancers from across Ontario, including a few from my own studio SASS, and the States come to perform and they were all incredible!

I had a chance to feel what it was like to be onstage in heels and booty shorts. By the end of the second night, I met so many amazing new people and decided that I wanted to be a performer next time.

A few weeks later, I joined a few girls from SASS at the bar Southsides in Fort Erie promoting the studio. A girl set up her stage pole in the bar and we took turns doing tricks. I got really sick after Verticalove, so performing was very challenging but I toughed it out.

It was actually a bit of a dream come true. When I was in the beginners class, my instructor Shanyn told my class one night that she and her SASS girls were performing at a bar that night. That night, as I was learning basic spins, I dreamt of the day I would be good enough to do something like that. There I was, 2 years later living out something I thought only was a dream. That night I felt like my hard work was starting to pay off.

Silks at Paradisaea Aerial Dance – Winter 2016

Posted on September 6, 2016February 3, 2022 by crystal holly

At the end of January, I seen an ad for adult silks classes at Paradisaea. I have seen the singer Pink perform on silks and a few girls using silks at SASS and it looks so pretty. I thought that would be my next step and compliment my pole training well. I signed up for a one hour class per week to try it out.

When I entered my first class, I thought because I do pole, silks would be easy. However, I was very mistaken. It takes incredible amount of strength to pull yourself up on moving pieces of fabric. My arms felt like rubber after one hour but I loved it.

As I went each week, I was stronger than the week before. I was seeing the difference in pole too. A few months into silks and I could finally shoulder mount! I always started stretching more and got my splits which helped get a flatter jade split. I not only was getting stronger and more flexible, but more confident too.

Investing More Into Pole – Winter 2016

Posted on August 24, 2016February 3, 2022 by crystal holly

I was given 2 mountable speakers for a ceiling. Obviously, I thought it would be perfect in the pole room. My husband got me an amp and Bluetooth receiver and installed it all for me. Perfect surround sound speakers around the pole!

For Christmas my husband order me a pair of Aura heels. I didn’t receive them until February but they were definitely worth the wait. They are my favorite, and most expensive, pair of shoes I own.

My dresser drawers seem to be filling up with pole clothes and accessories. Whenever I see a cute pair of booty shirts or leg warmers, I just can’t resist.

The last thing I waqnted to add to my pole room was a disco light. We found one at Spencer’s and it completed my room.

Successes of 2015

Posted on August 24, 2016February 3, 2022 by crystal holly

I ended 2015 with accomplishing a few goals I had set at the beginning of the year. I finally got cupid and was getting close to shoulder mounting. I learned how to do the extended butterfly pretty quickly. I started working on ballerina and jade. Ballerina killed my ribcage for quite a while. My splits for jade needed a lot of work.

I started working on doing more complex combo’s like the one in this picture from class. In order to come up with routines, I need to work on transitions between tricks to make it flow.

I had my first performance at an open house for SASS. It was for a small number of people but it was an opportunity to perform the routine I learned from the sexy flow class. A girl that attended loved my performance and it got her to sign up for the sexy flow class. It was amazing that I had inspired someone like that.

Backyard Pole – Summer 2015

Posted on August 23, 2016August 15, 2019 by crystal holly

My husband was doing renovations in the backyard and I requested a pole outside. He went to a shop that specializes in metal, and he bought a metal pipe with the top end capped. He dug a big hole, put the pole in and put in expansion foam and topped it with concrete.

It’s taller than my pole in my house so I can climb higher. We painted it so the grip is different, it’s great for tricks but it’s harder to do spins on it. It even lights up at night!

Joining SASS – Spring/Summer 2015

Posted on August 23, 2016August 15, 2019 by crystal holly

As soon as I could, I got back on the pole. We got the ceiling reinforced for the pole so it wouldn’t fall again but I was still nervous at first. I had to face my fear of falling and gain my confidence back.

I returned to my weekly pole class for a month but decided I needed to train more. That’s when I decided to switch to SASS in Stoney Creek and bought a membership. I was intimated at first because the girls were so much stronger than me but I quickly felt part of the studio. All the girls are so friendly and helpful and it was easy to make friends since we had a common interest. I began taking a boot camp class and more open training classes. Just in a few months I was starting to see improvements.

The Injury – Winter 2015

Posted on August 17, 2016February 3, 2022 by crystal holly

I made several pole goals in my 2015 New Year’s resolutions. But then 1 week later, all of that changed when I had some friends over and I showed them my new pole room. I did a spin and the pole fell out of the ceiling. The pole almost hit my husband in the head and I was on the floor. I thought my leg really hurt and then I look down at my knee and my knee cap was completely dislocated. I started screaming in shock. Thoughts of how I will never be able to pole again went running through my mind.

The paramedics came and drugged me up to put my knee cap back in place and took me to the hospital. This was my first ever ride in an ambulance. I got X-rays and then a leg brace put on.

After I could take the leg brace off, I had to do physio for 4 months. While I was recovering, I decided it was a good time to get breast implants. It was a scary decision, but I am so happy that I did it.

My First Year of Pole – 2014

Posted on August 15, 2016February 3, 2022 by crystal holly

I went to a beginners class once a week that was 1 hour for the first year. I remember how challenging it was just to learn how to climb the pole and invert.

After 6 months of doing pole, I did little photo shoot posing on my pole. I posted a few pictures on Facebook and used one as my profile picture. That was the moment that I publicly came “out” as a pole dancer and it was scary as I wasn’t sure what people would think. There is still a lot of stigma around pole so it is a difficult conversation to have sometimes as to what I do for a hobby and fitness.

By the end of the year I could climb, invert, do gemini and scorpio, superman and was working on cupid. I was doing preps for shoulder mounts but it felt like I was never going to be able to do it.

We moved into a new house at the end of the year and turned one of the bedrooms into my own dance studio. I finally had a large room that I could practice in with enough space around the pole and large mirrors on the closet doors. My husband bought me a professional Platinum Stages brass pole for Christmas. I was all set to do some serious training.