Free introductory pole dance class at Pole Dance Aotearoa (4th May 2010)

After a weekend and 2 days of unrest not knowing whether I still had a job on-going due to company restructure, my team was finally told at 4pm today that we are all safe. Sadly, my colleagues that were part of Andrew's team will be reporting to a new manager. The team leads are getting a petition signed and proposal submitted to the people who made the decisions to keep Andrew's team within our group as it has always been. I sure hope it'll work out because honestly, we have been working so closely together as one big team for years; splitting us up is just silly.

Feeling more settled now, I can get on with my life and went to check out my friend Shirley's free introductory pole dance class at her studio, Pole Dance Aotearoa, located on Edward St at 6.30pm. Shirley's a friend of mine I met through burlesque dancing who coincidentally also works in Telecom (we ladies have another life outside work, ha!) and has told me about the free class a few weeks ago but I was just too busy with all that's going on in my world so haven't been to it till tonight. I've never done pole dancing before - a first for me!

On arrival at her studio, I had to complete a form of my personal and health details for their records. There were already many women (mostly highschool and university-looking girls) here for the free class gathered around watching students from the Intermediate Pole class practicing moves they had learnt today. Very impressive moves of inverts, reverse aerial spins, and wraps. I wondered if I could do that one day...

The introductory 1-hour class was taught by none other than Shirley herself! Started off with a sexy warm-up, followed by us learning a simple routine, dancing around, and up and down the pole with lots of hair/head flicks. There are 11 poles attached in the studio so we had to take turns practicing the routine (Shirley tells me her free classes are very popular) and Shirley comes around to assist us individually as we worked through the moves. She also taught us 2 spins: the attitude spin, which is one that we would pivot around the pole, changing weight from one foot to another, and the fireman spin. There's going to be some bruises on my feet tomorrow from the fireman spin - we had to hook the top of the feet onto the pole and slowly (and sexily) slide down, and I don't think I've quite got the right technique for this spin yet, smacking my feet on the pole most times. I feel like a cat leaping onto this stainless steel vertical pole and gripping onto it for dear life to support my body weight. It didn't help that I had sweaty hands and weak upper body strength - just made it even harder to grip onto the pole.

By the end of the class, I could feel my arms feeling somewhat sore. Pole dancing is hard work! It is said to be a great way to tone and strengthen the arms, legs and core, and with time, effort and practice, we would look as graceful as the advanced student who was performing crazy gymnastic work for us (one wonders if she has some sort of super glue hands, strong enough to support herself on the pole upside down) while we did our cool down stretches.

I had fun at Shirley's class tonight - she has a great sense of humour, making the class fun and easy-going. Thanks Shirley! You go girl with your sexy hip moves and grace on the pole ;) Might have to see how I can fit in the full block of the introductory classes into my busy schedule! Ladies, if you're keen to give pole dancing a go, just turn up to the studio any Tuesday for the free introductory class. I suggest you wear a singlet and shorts to the class, no hand accessories like rings as it would get in your way, and don't worry about heels - no footwear required. Most of all, have fun and enjoy the class!

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