So today was my first class! I swear I’m still buzzing
from the excitement! I had so much fun! And aside from almost missing the
studio because they just moved into the location an do not have a big lighted
sign up I think it went great! (but I am also bad at reading, mostly I found it beacuse my other friend was in open pole before out class and I saw her car out front)
As I think I said before I was lucky to have a friend of
mine, Tausha, joining me. And it was just us and the teacher, Jeanette, who was just amazing. the class description on the Vertical Fusion site is:
"Curious about pole dance fitness? This is the workshop for you! This
workshop is designed for individuals who have never experienced pole
dance fitness before. This workshop will start with a brief pole
orientation, followed by a warm-up and light conditioning segment to
prepare you for the basic pole moves, spins, transitions, and floor work
to follow. The instructor will help you string the moves together for a
flirty routine sprinkled with hip rolls, hair flips, and maybe even
some booty shaking! The class will conclude with a full body stretch and
an opportunity to ask questions. This class is for everyone and
anyone—previous dance experience is not required. Completion of Intro to
Pole is required to move on to Beginner Pole Technique."
And look at that studio! It's beautiful! (and this is just the pole room, there is a whole other room without poles for all kinds of dance practice) they are still working on it, but right now they have 5 45mm chrome poles and 1 50mm chrome pole and are planning on installing 2 more 50mm poles in another row. It felt a bit empty with just the three of us in there, but the warm environment more then made up for the lack of bodies.
Jeanette was great, and I swear
she spoiled us with praise (actually one time she started to shout at me that I
was doing amazing and I lost my concentration and fell a bit, we laughed and
she promised to wait until I was finished with the move before yelling at me
again, lol) and she was more than willing the give us each the individual
attention we needed. I loved working with her and she was great about helping
us through the issues we were having. She gave Tausha many different tips and
tricks to help her get more momentum in her spins and was more than supportive
that even though I was not quite strong enough to hold myself up off the floor
during the spins that when I took my feet off the floor that I fell slowly and
pretty. It’s not just falling, its
falling with style.*wink*
We learned so many things! I swear I am going to forget half
of them before my next class, but I guess that is the reason you go to class,
right?
Towards the end of the class we strung together all the moves we
learned into a little dance, which Jeanette was kind enough to write on the mirror
for us so that we could remember easily.
For those who you who can’t read that because reading
things written on mirrors is hard, and even harder when that writing is
photographed it says:
Walk, Girl on Top, Flamingo, walk, pirouette (one of my
favorites!), straddle slide, walk, closed front hook (to the floor), hair flip,
girl on top into open back hook (to the floor – my other favorite!), back-bend, 2 floor moves (we did speed bumps and hip
circles), roll , tick tock x1, cricket x1, straddle x1, goddess rising, roll, pop up,
walk to pole, and tango dip.
I don’t remember the song we danced to but I think it went
very well! I only messed up one or two times and luckily there was enough
forgiveness in the song for me to fix myself (gracefully! Like I meant to do
it) and be back on track with the other girls.
At the end of class we were told that we have now both
graduated into beginning pole and can start to take any classes that have the
beginner key word. And I have to say I LOVE how Vertical Fusion celebrates with
you when you graduate! For every level you progress they give money in
your name to their internal Pole Scholarship (Poling It Forward) which helps
those on hard times afford to get to Pole class and one dollar to one of their preferred
local charities (6 in Fort Collins and 6 in Longmont). So when you leave into
they donate one dollar to Poling It Forward and one dollar to the charity of
your choice in your name($1 to each after into, $2 to each after beginner, $3 to each after intermediate and so
on). I chose the Fort Collins HumaneSocity and Tausha chose to donate to SAVA. Both of which are very worthy charities. And almost as good, you get to pose for a sassy photo for them to post on their Facebook page.
I'm on the right, in all black. and that's my Tausha on the left! I'm so proud of us! Even if it appears that I forgot to point my toes for the picture! I swear I had been so good about that in class!
Over all I’m stoked to learn lots more and can’t wait for my
next class!
And I have to say, I’m even proud of the minor pole burn I have
on the top of my left foot ^.^
