How to Teach Pole and Be a Danger to the Public

My Pet Peeve

The thing that drives me nuts in belly dance is now driving me nuts in pole dance. Something that people would never in a million years consider doing with ballet, they feel free to do with pole.

So let me spell this one out:

If you have only had a few lessons, you have no business setting yourself up to teach pole.

This is something that absolutely maddens me. How can anyone think they know enough to teach when they can barely do the moves themselves – and certainly can’t do them correctly?

Excuses, Excuses

The excuse I always heard for this in the belly dance world was that, if no one else in the area was teaching, shouldn’t they at least pass on what they know?

The answer? No. Not unless you’re telling your students upfront that you barely know anything about the dance.

And the answer is definitely no if you’ve only taken a couple of classes yourself and are now teaching “advanced” courses.

Temptation

Believe me, I know the temptation. There are no pole dance studios where I live; nobody’s even heard of pole dance as an art. Whenever I go dancing on the poles at my favorite pub or just talk about pole with new people, they always ask if I teach. And they always persist when I say I’m too much of a newbie, saying I should just teach what I know.

And, yes, it would be fun. I teach belly dance and I know how great it is to lead a class.

And, yes, I could make money off it. There is zero competition for pole classes here and a simmering desire for them. The first person who offers classes here will have them packed.

And, yes, it’s an ego boost. It’s always fun to be the one teaching people something new.

But none of these answers is reason enough to pretend I am able to teach pole.

Reality

The truth is, teaching pole is more serious than teaching other dance styles. Pole is an aerial art and the risks are far greater.

I always say that belly dance should never hurt. I always tell my belly dance students that, if something is hurting them, they should stop and check their posture and try again, because there should be no pain.

With pole, it’s much more complicated. In part, because pole can hurt, even when you’re doing it correctly – but, mainly, because pole can be very risky if you’re doing it wrong.

You Don’t Even Know What You Don’t Know

The thing is, just because you can do something doesn’t mean you know how to do it right, and it doesn’t mean you know how to teach it.

In belly dance, for instance, there are lots of ways to do vertical figure eights – but there are not lots of ways to do them if you want to be able to layer a vibration on them. If you want to layer them, you have to have learned them correctly, which means proper posture and proper use of muscles – for both the base move and the vibration.

That can – and usually does – take years.

More than that, a beginner has no way of knowing why a move is taught in a certain way, nor do they know what intricacies they can aspire to within the style.

The Beginning of Wisdom

It reminds me of something I was always taught by my Sensei, way back when I used to study Shotokan. He always said that getting your black belt doesn’t mean you know everything; it means you now understand enough of the basics so you can finally begin learning.

That’s exactly what happens with pole. When you know a bunch of moves, you find you only know enough to begin exploring them. Real understanding comes later – and being able to teach comes even later than that.

Show Some Respect

Casually showing a new move to your friends is one thing; actively teaching someone is something else. The first acknowledges your actual skill level; the second ignores it. Worse, it falsely sets you up as an expert, and it gives a false sense of security to your students.

So, show some respect for pole, and show some concern for your students. If you know after a few lessons that you want to teach pole, that’s great. Do it.

But do it right.

Learn to pole dance yourself first. Learn everything you can about safety and aerial gymnastics. Learn about physiology and exercise and proper equipment. Learn how to teach safely.

When you’ve done that, you’ll be a pole instructor worthy of the name.

You’ll have earned the respect your students will show you.

Better still, you’ll have earned the respect of your peers.

And, hopefully, some respect for yourself, too.

28th September, 2009 - Posted by PoleSkivvies - 14 Comments
Filed under: Jennifer's Rants