Part 2 of a 3 part series

In part 1 of the series "Pole is a Lifestyle" I discussed how Pole is not simply an activity, it is something much larger: It is a lifestyle - a sub cultural lifestyle very similar to Skateboarding, snowboarding or hip hop.

THE INTERNAL MOVEMENT

Lifestyles are born from and exist because of passion and commonality. A sub cultural lifestyle can be extremely large and far-reaching. Those involved have many common traits and share a similar passion, but there are also many differences in terms of vision both FOR and OF their shared passion.

By its very nature in order for a lifestyle to grow larger and advance, new enthusiasts must adopt it. This is the "movement" part - you can watch the lifestyle move and spread to new locations, new levels, new innovations and new styles. With new enthusiasts we also receive new vision, and many times new visions collide with old visions and passion can turn to conflict. However, without new ideas and new innovation old ideas become stale, passion fades, and the movement can stall, stop or even vanish. Disco, anyone?

Change is bad and change is good, it just depends on what changes, and what happens next. For example lets say that Pole Dancing becomes an Olympic sport. This is fantastic in that the Olympics are a world stage of the best athletes. Pole would be recognized for all that it is and we can stop feeling disrespected and misunderstood and be recognized for the difficulty and dedication....yeah...woot woot !

But what happens next? Is that it? Will Pole become too sporty and be more like gymnastics? Could it go the route of figure skating and ice dancing where there is both the performance side and the perfect athletic execution side? Will it lose its sexy side? Will it morph into an apparatus for some type of team aerial gymnastic hybrid combined with silks and hoops?

Who knows...stop thinking about it because pole is going to be what it becomes, nothing more or nothing less. Do YOUR thing, follow YOUR vision and YOUR passion and let pole define itself, let it evolve into what it can evolve into and take from it all that you want. Add your own personal touches, embrace your favorite aspects and have fun.

For example, when looking at Martial Arts. There are too many variations to list, and variations within variations and now hybrid variations. They all involve kicking, punching, grappling, throwing, balance and flexibility yet the styles are so different in so many ways. Martial Arts studios have long coexisted in close proximity and today many practitioners are learning multiple disciplines. Few martial artists ever compete nationally or on a world stage, but millions of people derive great pleasure and joy from it and many make a career within it.

Pole today is just as multifaceted, there are many similarities in every studio, dancer, and event and for each similarity there are as many differences. The differences are where the evolution comes from, and the evolution pushes the movement to new and exciting directions.

I support the Olympic movement, because I believe pole is worthy of becoming an Olympic event, and I support people who want pole to get to that level and who want to compete there as well. Perhaps you do not, and that's ok too. Just because a faction of polers take that path does not mean all other pole related activity will cease to exist. As hard as people are pushing for the Olympics, there are others who are achieving great things in theater and performing arts, others who are creating total body accredited fitness programs, and some just kickin' ass and being sexy ! We support all of them equally as well. That's what is so great about pole and this lifestyle: its like a buffet - you can choose one thing or have a bit of everything and you are never obligated to commit to or stay with any single choice.

So whether you have aspirations of Olympic glory, want the tightest and most defined muscle tone, or want to be a performer there is a place today for you in Pole and there will be a place for you tomorrow.

I am confident we can all coexist within pole (Internally) and continue this movement and am certainly looking forward to see what the future has in store.

THE EXTERNAL MOVEMENT
Now that pole is growing so quickly internally and moving and advancing in different ways everyday, we have begun to see an external movement as well. Pole is catching on and others want to get involved. This too is reflected in the internal struggle and can be a cause of conflict. As discussed, gaining more exposure to more people creates more enthusiasts and with them comes more attention. Many are concerned about what the Pole image is to external influencers or better yet what it should be.

Mainstream is a funny thing. My opinion of mainstream is that it is a bunch people influencing what others THINK they should be doing or thinking , not necessarily embracing what they ARE doing or thinking. It's the ultimate hypocrisy in many ways. Do as I say and not as I do.

In mainstream you find a lot of people worrying about what others think or will think. So it is an understandable concern, but pole does not need to become what fits, we do not need to change and adapt, mainstream needs to acknowledge and accept. And guess what, they have. I believe many of the walls in our way to larger mainstream acceptance are simply perceptions, do not exist or are very isolated incidents.

Consider that in the past 2 years, Pole has been covered by the largest media outlets in the world, CNN, ESPN, The View, Good Morning America, Oprah, Ellen, Americas Got Talent, Americas Best Dance Crew and so on and so on. It's a long and impressive list. For the most part the coverage has been respectful and inquisitive and helped considerably. This is just in the USA. The same is happening all over the world and happening on t local levels as well. While locally there have certainly been instances of conflict with screwed up zoning laws or some conservative group protesting, it is the exception and not the norm.

So who exactly is fighting Pole other than a few random closed-minded reporters or writers? Even in the isolated cases I have witnessed recently, I have noticed that if there is a negative news story, the news source has had guests back on, or re- addressed the topic. That's pretty reasonable when compared to most other news stories. The news always sensationalizes everything and you would think they were much worse than they actually have been. I have yet to find any groups looking to really hurt pole and I don't see any one major group or individual organizing and planning our destruction. If one exists they will find me, and I will ignore them.

Think about it again...Who is it exactly that we are so concerned about pleasing? Who are we trying to satisfy and better yet, why? If you really look at it, Pole has gained an incredible level of acceptance in a very short time without many problems. If people are unaccepting and protesting its existence and making waves, ignore them and move on. They don't "get it" and probably never will no matter what we do or accomplish, but for every one of them there appears to be a thousand of us that do "Get It". Those are good odds in our favor. Lets not allow small external forces and perceived obstacles to distract or damage our momentum.

Remember that even if huge walls of opposition did exist, powerful movements are not defined by those who oppose them, but rather by the actions taken by of those facing opposition.

If you see something that bothers you, speak up. Lots of people are listening. YOU, the members of this lifestyle have all the control, you can choose to attend a studio or not, to attend events or not, support companies with your patronage and vote with your attendance, dollars, support and voice. Basically do anything you want whenever you want. That's your role in defining what pole will be.

Jenyne Butterfly on Ellen

Australias Got Talent

Steven Retchless on Americas Got Talent

I’ve talked a little bit on my Aerial Amy blog about how the circus bug has bitten my group of girlfriends. One has always astonished us with her completely fearless pole drops and she has, not surprisingly, found herself hooked on the much more dramatic and higher drops that are possible in silks. Two friends are lost to flying trapeze: one, for the love of the weightless swing, and another because of the freedom, relaxation, and breath that comes from flying.

A conversation with another close friend, who has been bitten by the silks bug as well, made me realize that for me, yes, part of my romance with the lyra is the new environment. I love the accepting and supportive students and teachers at the circus school I go to—the teachers in particular are amazing at isolating what you are doing wrong. I feel myself getting stronger and using different muscles, and smoothing out transitions between tricks. I can see the progress and I now have a nice little repertoire of tricks that I can put together in flows. And my pole experience definitely helps—some of the tricks are taken right from pole, and some of the points of contact from pole (inside of elbow, backs of knees) have already been toughened up and are ready to rock on the lyra.

But one of the biggest reasons I love it? In my lyra classes, I’m the newcomer. I can walk into a lyra class and no one has any expectations of me, and I don’t have any of myself. I don’t have to worry about looking stupid, or being judged, or more importantly: Me judging me. There is no pressure. And I don’t know anyone else in the classes—there is no one to compare myself to, no one that I pressure myself to keep up with. Lyra is mine. It’s something that I do, largely on my own, and as I improve and get better, I find that I really allow myself to celebrate the small victories (like back when I was just beginning to pole) all over again. I love reacquainting myself with this delicious beginning, fumbling, learning. I don’t need to get good enough to perform. I just enjoying doing it because it is something I am doing for myself. In a lyra class, I can really be myself again: Amy, the learner.

I think that the pole community is great. It connects us in so many ways. But nowadays, I hear so many beginners despair that they are not learning “fast enough” or “keeping up” with their classmates or people that they see in videos online. There is so much of the urge to compare yourself against others and when there have been thousands of people who have come before you, it’s hard to pick your own route when the path has already been so well travelled.

I think I was a little lucky in a sense: in 2007, when I started, there was no way to compare myself to anyone else except the women in my small class. So much of what made pole fun for me was enjoying the journey. I didn’t have a goal that I was shooting towards. I didn’t have an end game, or even a real role model besides my teacher I suppose. Tricks were never really emphasized in my classes as much as fluidity and self expression so I don’t think I saw “improvement” quite the same way that women do now, with the many checklists of tricks that so many seem to have (and a lot of these tricks weren’t even around when I first started!).

The first USPDF in 2009 blew my world wide open with what pole could be, and every year so much expands and grows in our pole community. But, hand in hand with the increased resources that experienced polers now have, is the increased intimidation that beginners can see in front of them every day. Now, a lot of people seem to see the beginning stages and intermediate stages of pole work as things that they just need to get through before they get “really good” and can compete or perform. I hear people ask all the time about how to get their splits as quickly as possible. Beginning polers are embarrassed that they are just starting, or “not that good”.

I’d like to see all of us, maybe, remind ourselves of the fun of challenging ourselves on the pole. I’ve talked about reveling in the strength, weakness, abilities, and limitations of your own body. But I think we also need to remember to enjoy to learn. To take this process for ourselves. I’ve been going back to beginner and intermediate classes a little more to remember what it feels like to be at that level again, to inspire myself for my students, and to work on regaining the strength and coordination that I lost on my left side after my injury. I see so much insecurity and nervousness around me. I wish I saw more people truly having fun and enjoying themselves. Instead I see a lot of comparison to others. Standing and watching. Which is okay. But at some point, awareness of what is possible can become dwelling on what you can't do. Forget what other people are doing and focus on yourself.

Let’s take pole back. Make it yours. Be selfish. Do it for you.

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