The thing I've always found most intriguing about Bobbi was that she spent many years as a cabaret and striptease dancer in Japan, a fact she's always been comfortable with people knowing. So I really wanted to find out about that time of her life, when she first  started pole dancing. After all, despite her being a true veteran in the industry by now, everyone starts somewhere...

Okay, so I know it was 20 years ago when you first started teaching yourself to pole dance, but what did you struggle with back then?

When I first started teaching myself, I got a pole in my bedroom and I was very determined to get the left leg hang. (aka the gemini) And I really, really struggled with it because I had no one to teach me how to do even an upside down V first! No one was teaching then. The move I knew before that, was like, the bodyroll. I didn’t know anything else! I just saw a left leg hang once, and went ‘Must do!’

So I went from standing upright, to just wanting to get into left leg hang. And I didn’t know what was in between. I couldn’t grip properly, the pain behind my leg was just crazy and I just remember trying over and over and over, and just being red and raw, and still going for it! Then eventually getting it, but with all the wrong techniques! So that is very clear in my memory… the battle to get the left leg hang!

What’s your guilty pleasure?

Red wine and cheese! After a good day, I love to go home, watch a video of what I did that day, and then turn everything off and sit and watch a movie with my husband with wine and cheese. I do it every night without fail! If I don’t, I can’t unwind.

I loved watching *Inner Showgirl, by the way.

( *Inner Showgirl was BPS Sydney’s in-house ‘reality show’ about 4 ordinary women getting transformed into pole dancing showgirls within 10 weeks.)

That was fun wasn’t it! We were hoping it would get picked up by one of the TV networks, but it didn’t. I think pole dancing is a big gamble still, to the media.

Really? I thought pole was so big in Australia, like, on par with yoga!

You know what? Every country thinks that about every other country. It’s so funny!

I say in Australia, ‘It’s so cool in Singapore, that they’re really accepting it there’, whereas here, you’re like, ‘It’s so cool in Australia that they’re so accepting.’ And then I say, “Americans are so open-minded.’ But the Americans say, ‘No, they’re not, You’re so open-minded!’

So we all think the opposite, it’s really quite interesting. Australia is okay but not media.. they’re still a bit funny about it. Like I tell people I’ve had my company for 8 years now, and I think, ‘8 whole years!’ And still interviewers go, “So, Pole dancing! This is a new rage, huh?” And I’m like, ‘Oh my God, you’ve just heard of it?!’

Okay. My next question is: Have you always had super long hair?

(Laughs) I love this question!! Cos it is all about the hair! Yes, I’ve always had super long hair. Have you?

Yes, I have Rapunzel syndrome.

(Laughs) Yeah that’s what it is, isn’t it! Have you ever cut your hair and gone through that heartache?

The last time I ever cut my hair short was when I was a teenager, and that was a long time ago…

Well I only got it cut short once when I was in Japan. Someone dared me $3,000 that I wouldn’t cut my hair. The next day I got it cut off and he paid me $3,000. True story!

Could you share a little of your experience from dancing in Japan?

Absolutely! It was the best time of my life, and made me the person I am now.

I went there when I was very young, about 20 til I was 27. I lived there dancing and doing cabaret shows and then I started in the striptease industry, doing lap dancing and strip tease. And I loved every minute of it!

It wasn’t sleazy, it wasn’t dirty, it wasn’t corrupt in any way. I got a very strong work ethic out of it, in fact. You learn how to take care of yourself, and as an exotic dancer, you work for yourself. So if I don’t work, I don’t get paid. No one pays you for sitting in the back corner. You have to get up and work, and get rewarded. So that has sort of played on for the rest of my life, knowing that you can’t just sit back and expect things to come to you, you just have to work at it. And if you’ve got a gift, well work harder! And it’ll reap in the end. So Japan was the background for everything.

I lived there with my sister too, so every day was a funny situation of these two young Australian girls who knew nothing about life, trying to make everything work together in a strong cultural country.

Kind of like, Lost In Translation?

Yeah! (Laughs) I think it was a good we were young, cos we were naïve and a little oblivious to things going on around us, considering most of the patrons were 40, 50, 60-year-old Japanese men, and we were just 20-year-old girls who knew nothing about life. But it worked, you know. They were amused by us, and we were amused that they were amused by us. Sort of like a poodle getting along with a great dane, you know? And going, ‘oh that’s cute!’

Unfortunately, a lot of people go, ‘oh that’s sleazy!’ But it wasn’t like that at all. That’s all it was. I think I came out a stronger person for it.

So I heard you speak fluent Japanese?

I did. That was a long time ago! I still understand it, and I speak a little bit. But I don’t get much opportunity to anymore, obviously, living in Australia. But I can understand and I could read and write it. I taught myself.

Wow!

I had to! You know, when you’re there.. you just have to. I’d shop for myself, and no one was going to tell me what was toothpaste and what was hair conditioner, you know what I mean?

What's your fondest memory, or person from that time?

I had a Japanese boyfriend for a long long time when I was there, a much older man. There were ups and downs, but he was the highlight of my being there. Being with him, being treated like an adult and being looked after. He brought me around the world, gave me beautiful things, and I got to see things that I would never have gotten to see as a normal 20-year-old.

And we’re still friends now! 20 years later, we’re still in touch! He’s married with kids now and I’m married too, but he comes to Sydney every now and then and we’ll go out for coffee! And he’s got a club in Japan and I’ve just started supplying cabaret shows. So after all these years, he ended up owning a club, and I ended up choreographing shows, and he got back in touch with me and said, ‘Do you want to provide dancers for my club?’ So yeah, full circle.

That’s so awesome!

I know right?

Do you have a most embarrassing moment?

I’ve had a few but most of them aren’t from recent teaching. They’re probably more from my strip days, like dropping off the pole naked or smashing my head on the stage naked! It’s always to do with being naked, cos that’s when you’re most vulnerable! And I wasn’t very controlled then, I wasn’t very good. So, when you’ve got no clothes on, and when you’re trying to do pole tricks and not really paying attention to your surroundings… well I had a few bumps and falls that were terribly humiliating! But you know, that’s life!

Sounds like that nightmare where you suddenly realize you’re naked in public!

Yeah! But it was real! And there were people looking at me and there were people laughing, and I was in the dressing room afterwards, mortified! It was very real!

But after you’ve gone through that, you can live through anything!

That’s right! That’s why I am who I am! Cos, if I didn’t go through all that.. well you know, I don’t care what people think of me now! Nothing’s worse than those kinds of situations! (laughs)

Just today, I was sitting at the pool with my straps off cos I was trying to get a tan. Then I totally forgot, suddenly sat up, and then my top fell off! And there were all these people in front of me, and I was like, ‘So sorry!’, and put it back on again, and was like, ‘well that was embarrassing!’

Some other women might have been absolutely screaming mortified, but I was like, ‘Oh well, I was just topless in at this lovely hotel.. whatever! Maybe it made someone’s day!’ So yeah.. everything with a grain of salt. As long as you don’t hurt anyone!

Thanks Bobbi, for the fabulous interview and for sharing these awesome, rare photos with us! :)

If you liked this post and want more crazy pole musings, please check out my pole blog Chwennyland, and connect with me on Facebook! Love, Chwenny :) xoxo!

What a weekend it's been! I got to meet my pole Idols Bobbi, Cleo, and Chilli, do workshops, interviews, and watch one of my instructors win the title of Miss Pole Dance South-East Asia!

On Saturday night, Avalon was the place to be. Situated right on the water at the beautiful Marina Bay Sands, the upscale club was the perfect location for the competition.

Since MPD is the studio's biggest event of the year, I was a little worried that it would be too crowded because I really wanted to have a good view of the contestants as they took to the stage. But I didn't have to worry, thanks to my friend and inter 3 classmate Annie, who scored us the best spot in the house... right behind the judges!

I managed to take videos of every performer with my little iPhone, but the sound quality on it is terrible. And the 3GS doesn't have a built-in flash so taking photos was out of the question. Fortunately, the very talented Noel from Nudge Photography was official photographer that night, and he gave me his kind permission to use his photos. You can drool over the gorgeous full set on his Facebook page. The show opened with a lovely surprise.. Chilli Rox, instructor from Bobbi's Sydney (and the emcee for the night) singing a cabaret number! No one had any idea she was such a good singer... Then she hopped on the pole for a bit, and finished off with a very naughty burlesque striptease number.

After her opening number, it was time for the contestants to hit the stage, starting with BPS instructor Vivienne, aka Poppi Diamond. Her flexibility class is the reason I can do a front split on my good side now. (Thanks Viv!) I also heard that she dedicated her MPD performance to her dog. How can you not love that?!

Next up was fellow BPS instructor, Naoko.  She's been teaching the advanced classes at Bobbi's Singapore fo a long time, so when she got on stage the sound of cheers from her screaming fans just hit the roof. After this, I'm also pretty sure her classes will be even more fully booked than they already are! She did a flawlessly executed routine to "Circus" by Britney..

So, it's really no wonder that she took home the grand prize of Miss Pole dance South East Asia 2012! Here she is again with the other winners. Left to right: Naoko Enomoto from Singapore, 2nd place winner Ana-Marie from the Philippines, 3rd place winner Nika from Japan, and Best-Dressed winner Felina from Japan.

Another treat was the intermission performance by yet another of BPS's advanced instructors, Lena. She did a beautiful aerial silks performance that was totally unexpected. (and made my hands sweat cos I was so nervous watching her twirl around high in mid-air with no safety net in sight!)

Dressed all in white with the swirling white silks, she looked like an angel in the air! I once asked her which is harder: silk or pole? Her answer: "Silks, by far!

Another 'angelic' moment was when our final BPS instructor Steph, took to the stage for her lyrical number. I loved her floaty blue outfit, and most of all how it draped perfectly over her legs during her final pose.

Okay, okay, I know all the photos are of BPS contestants so far... so, not to be biased, here's the super-sexy Melody Rose from Hong Kong. She used to train at Bobbi's in Sydney and recently opened her own studio, Melody Pole Studio in Hong Kong. I had a chance to watch her during Bobbi's SLAP and Pole Grooves workshop and I tell you, I could not peel my eyes off her cos she is sohawt when she dances!

What I really loved about watching the competition was the variety of different styles. The contestants from overseas all had very distinctly unique styles of dancing. Second place winner Ana Marie from the Philippines did a really power-packed performance, busting out shoulder mounts and death-defying drops everywhere. Andshe can break dance. In heels!

Besides the lovely Japanese contestant Koharu (below), both 3rd place winner Nika, and Best-dressed winner Felina also represented Japan.

Nika did a dramatic, tango-esque rendition of Roxanne from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack. Love the song and love that movie!

And just take a look at how dramatic Best Dressed winner Felina's costume was! So Lady Gaga.. she actually did her first combo on the pole in that entire getup, before stripping it off.

After all the contestants did their thing, there was still one last performance left that everyone was waiting for... Who else but the reigning champion of Miss Pole Dance Australia, Cleo The Hurricane?

Once again, ALL of these beautiful photos were taken by the wonderful Noel of Nudge Photography. He's the same guy responsible for the pole pics on my blog banner right on top.

Besides pole, he does loads of other shoots too. So contact him to do your pole/ wedding/ anniversary/ newborn baby/ other important life event photos, already! ;)

Oh, and I did mention earlier that I got the chance to have a chat with Bobbi and ask her all the things I've been dying to know about her, right? Seriously, you have no idea how stoked I am that she agreed to an interview! I'm still putting it together, and frankly there's a LOT to get through..

So stay tuned for The Bobbi Interview that's coming soon. (I promise!) In the meantime, here's the highlights video of MPD SEA 2012, taken by The New Paper: Enjoy!

Miss Pole Dance Southeast Asia 2012

If you liked this post and want more crazy pole musings, please check out my pole blog Chwennyland, and make friends with me on Facebook! Love, Chwenny :) xoxo!

This was practically a bucket-list item for me: Interviewing The Bobbi, of Bobbi's Pole Studio!

But I'd never met her before... would she be willing to talk to me? Would she she be unimpressed with my silly questions? After all, she's one of the pioneers of the pole industry... just the thought of it made me so nervous that I kept putting off writing down my interview questions for the longest time.

But I discovered on the day that I met her during her pole grooves workshop, that she is genuine, down to earth, and very forthcoming. Phew! In fact, the raw interview transcript ended up 10 pages long so I thought it best to edit it into 2 parts. Here's part 1 of The Bobbi Interview:

Are there any challenges to being the Fabulous Bobbi of Bobbi’s Pole Studio?

I think the only challenge is living up to people saying that! It’s such a funny thing to hear! It’s a big title that I’ve been given, when all I’ve done is just do my thing. And when people are like, ‘Oh, you’re Bobbi!” I’m like, ‘Yeah, but all I did was just open some schools…’

That’s so not all you did!

(Laughs) Yeah, but I managed to open schools whereas a lot of the other big names around haven’t got schools behind them, they got their name from performing and doing competitions.

But I don’t do those. I’m not in it for myself. I’m more into providing a bigger entity for teachers to come in and then grow my school and make it bigger. That’s more important to me. I like creating someone else’s stardom on stage. I love that process of training someone else, to help them.

So when people are like, ‘Do a show!” I’m like, ‘Alright well I’m not really what you think.. I can create the foundations and I can develop a showgirl, but I can’t necessarily do the most mind-blowing performance that you’ve ever seen.’ I don’t train enough to do that, cos that’s not what I want to do.

But I love the fact that I have BPS and that I’m the face behind that..

How many hours a week do you spend on the pole?

It changes from week to week. Sometimes I can do nothing for a whole week, and then sometimes I can do 10 – 15 hours. It depends on what is coming up, or what I’m training for or teaching. I don’t have a strict regimen that I follow, I just do what my body wants to do. And I think that it’s really important to not force yourself. But I’d say on average I can do probably 6 hours a week, sometimes more, sometimes nothing.

I haven’t taught regularly for 2 years, but I’m starting again next week, finally after 2 years! And I’ll be teaching 6 hours a week, which isn’t much compared to some of the teachers, but it’s enough for me!

How come you decided to start again?

I missed it! And I’ve opened a new studio, Bobbi’s Gold!

Do you prefer teaching or performing?

That’s a tricky question.. I used to prefer performing, but I’m now 43 so I think I prefer teaching now. I’ve done 20 years of performing! I’ve been there! I’ve had my time dancing on stage. That was awesome, I loved it, but I’m not longing for it anymore. But I love being onstage teaching a class. I still like performing but I get a bigger thrill from teaching and seeing results now.

Well, since we’re on the topic of teaching, what was it like teaching Felix when she was new? ...Is it okay that I ask you that?

Oh, ask me anything! I’ve just told you my worst secret, my age.. so it doesn’t get worse than that!

Hahahahahha….

Well with Felix, I never taught her! She came to the Perth studio and I only taught at the Sydney studio. So my sister Kim taught her from when she first started. And Kim pretty much recognized in the first session that there was something special about her. So Kim taught her for 8 months before Felix won the championship.

God, 8 months is incredible..

Yea, it’s crazy! It’s insane! But Kim knew straight away. And Felix had a very, very strong dance background. So she just applied it to pole very quickly. She’s very clever, and she’s also got a very good body awareness. And so when you’ve got that formula, you’ve got very good potential.

Is there any favourite thing you like to teach?

I love teaching Pole Grooves! Or any kind of routines, not just tricks. I’m not just a trickster. I like the flow, because I’ve got a dance background and I like changing music all the time cos I love music so much. I can’t just listen to the same song all the time. So I need a whole new song every time, with a whole different combination and it gives me total pleasure that I’ve completed something.

Have you ever sustained any injuries along the way?

No, to be honest, nothing serious. You know, I’ve had the odd ‘Can’t move my neck today, and my legs hurt’ but nothing that’s put me out. I think it’s because I’ve been doing it for so long and doing it gradually and at my own pace. I’m self-taught, so I never forced anything upon myself that I wasn’t ready for, so I’ve managed to  avoid injury for anything serious.

How do you dream up so many choreos all the time?

I dunno, they just come! But with the right song. If someone gives me a particular piece of music they need and it’s not what I consider a pole dancing song, I find it very difficult to come up with a routine.

I’m like a songwriter, in the way that a songwriter needs the right melody to match the words. I need the right song to match the dance and especially pole dance because it’s so unique. I guess that’s my gift, that’s what I’m blessed with.

I can spend hours on the wrong song, and then go through my iPod, find the right song, go ‘Ah!’ and put something together in seven minutes. Like that routine I just taught, it came together in under ten minutes.

Seven minutes?!

Yeah! Whereas another routine might take me 2 hours. That usually happens when I’m making up the routines for classes for all the different levels, cos I can’t necessarily pick songs I like. I have to pick a song for Singapore, Malaysia, Perth, Sydney, that’s gonna suit every student from every background, so I have to pick a well known song. Then I struggle a bit.  But they work too, they come out in the end!

So if you had a choice, what kind of music would you pick? Just based on what you wanted?

Rock. Soft rock. All the way! Stuff like Creed’s ballads, slow Metallica, or any of those bands that put out a ballad that’s a rock genre. I would do a School Of Rock!

Do you ever get stuck? Like, uninspired?

Often!

Really? I thought you’d shrug and go, ‘Nah, never!’

No! Often, I wake up and go all the way to work, and I find everything I can do to avoid going on the pole. And then I’ll come home and say to my husband, ‘Today was not a good day.’

But I can recognize those days now. It’s like how I said that I don’t force myself, so I don’t injure myself. So if I’m just not feeling it, I just don’t go there. And it took a long time to recognize that, but now I’m okay with it! I don’t come home and go, ‘Ugh, sh*t! I’ve lost it!” I just go, ‘It just wasn’t today.’ Cos next week it’ll come, maybe three days in a row! I’ll get inspired every day and work more and more. So yeah, I’m good at that now.

So you don’t have to do anything special to get your groove back?

Not at all. I just wait and see how I feel when I wake up the next day. I don’t force it and don’t want to force it. Cos that’s when it becomes a ‘real job’ you know? And then you might start to not like it anymore. And I don’t want to not like my job. I love it so much!

What would you have done if you weren’t a pole instructor?

Good question! Hmm.. if I wasn’t a pole instructor.. I would have to be involved with music and dance somehow. Or entertainment. I couldn’t think of anything else! I love animals, and I’d like to say I’d be involved with them but I’m too emotional about it. I couldn’t have gone the route of vet or zoo keeper cos I’d get too sad! So it would have to be something that doesn’t upset me, haha!

But it couldn’t have been an office job, let’s put it that way. It could never have been a 9-5, I just can’t function that way!

Do you have any pets?

Oh God, yeah! 4 cats and a dog at the moment.

What do you think is the most important quality for pole dancers?

Well, there are the physical qualities. Sometimes they’re God-given, like flexibility: back, legs, arms, etc.. some girls are just given it right? If they’ve got that: Great Start!

And some things you got to work at. You can build your upper body strength, that comes with training. Flexibility does come too, but not all the time.

The other things you’ve got is determination, and strength. If you’ve got those, I think they’re the qualities that make a really great pole dancer. Some girls just have strength, they have no flexibility at all. But if they’ve got determination, they can do a really impressive show without needing to do the splits.

But I think you do need both. That’s how I can spot a potential champion or a potential teacher: If they have those two ingredients.

What about important qualities to be a pole instructor?

Those things are fairly important, but most important is the ability to listen, and to teach. Not everyone can teach. Just because you can do it, as the old saying goes, you can’t necessarily teach it. So, I need to see girls who I know want to learn themselves, but who are also breaking it down enough to be able to share it with someone else. And I can see it when girls are just in it for themselves, or they’re in it for the long term of wanting to share their skills with others. Sometimes it’s easy to see, sometimes it comes up after a while.

What advice to you have for new pole beginners?

Don’t give up! It’s so easy to give up cos it hurts and cos it’s hard. So don’t give up but at the same time, don’t push yourself and don’t overdo it. Cos you can burn out by going too hard straight away, or injure yourself, or just not be having fun anymore.

And don’t compare yourself to others! Comparing yourself to other people in the class is the worst thing you can do… the worst thing! And that goes for everybody, not just beginners! Just look at yourself, and your own improvement. As a beginner, if you came in and you couldn’t even stand up in heels, and then you finish 8 weeks and you can walk in heels, you’ve already done something that so many other chicks can’t do!

Well Bad Kitties, I hope you enjoyed it so far! Stay tuned for part 2 of The Bobbi Interview, where she gets a lot more personal and talks about how she got started, her past struggles, and what made her the person she is today...

If you liked this post and want more crazy pole musings, please check out my pole blog Chwennyland, and connect with me on Facebook! Love, Chwenny :) xoxo!