This interview was also published in Pole2Pole Magazine!

Ever want to meet a scuba-diving, shark-swimming, Discovery-channel starring, USPDF-competing, former Olympic gymnast pole dancer? You’re in luck – meet Caterina Gennaro of Poleates!

What got you into pole dancing and what led you to open your own studio?

I took a class in LA. I loved it so much but couldn’t find the time to get to LA as much as I wanted, so I opened up my own studio and taught myself! I had twins that were only 10 months old, so getting to LA for a two-hour class was a whole-day affair, plus I was still breastfeeding.

As a former member of the U.S. Junior Olympic Gymnastics Team, what are your thoughts on the movement to get pole dancing into the Olympics?

I think the sport of pole dancing is extremely underrated. It takes all the effort, focus, dedication, and training as gymnastics, if not more. The other similarity gymnastics and pole dancing share is the precision of the movement! It’s all technique and learning that technique.

As a former member of the U.S. Junior Olympic Gymnastics Team, what are your thoughts on the movement to get pole dancing into the Olympics?

To elaborate, when you’re at that level of a sport, you live it; it’s your life. Everything you do and everything you are is that sport. I was the extreme, being relocated away from my family to train with the Olympic team in Connecticut at that time – at 11, 12 years old. We had chaperones watching over us. We had tutors in the gym. We were told what to eat, and worked out ten hours a day. Everything was about winning and advancing, keeping up with the Russians and being always on it, even when you’re hurt and you train and/or compete through the pain, you’re bred to be this person.

Pole dancing, I feel, has a lot of similarities. It has the same focus. You also have all the elements they look for in gymnastics and more! The strength, the flexibility, agility, difficulty, and the dance, which is the hardest for me in this sport of pole dancing and I had the same problem in gymnastics – I don’t let go and let the audience in! I have to learn to perform more and smile and have more fun with it. Gymnastics was more about the performance of being perfect and sticking every move. So you were so focused on that and not so much to let go and be a crowd pleaser. Also, dieting before a pole competition is essential. I love the look of an athletic body, strong, yet feminine, plus we are wearing next to nothing so you don’t need extra stuff hangin’ out.

In addition to owning your own pole dance studio, you also are a world-class underwater photographer. How do you manage to do both?

I work 26 hours a day, every day – single mom, twins, studio and preparing for my next TV show. It’s crazy, lots of coffee! And stay focused and I love what I do – it helps.

What is the first thing you teach students just starting to take pole dancing classes?

Try and be comfortable with themselves. There is no right and wrong. You go at your own pace. It’s an endless journey.

You have competed in numerous pole dancing championships. How do you prepare for them?

I pray to god to give me all the strength I can conjure up and start cardio, working with other instructors. It’s hard because I need to be pushed and there are very few people that can do that.

What would you say to a new pole dancer interested in doing her first competition?

Observe, listen, and strength-train. Plus start letting your body move to how you feel comfortable. Develop your own style.

Favorite makeup tip:

Fake Mac Daddy eyelashes.

Barefoot, sneakers, or platform heels?

Barefoot and heels, just point your toes! Always! I always dance in Uggs, but I point my feet, even if you can’t tell.

Favorite grip enhancer:

I am fanatically addicted to Dry Hands all over my body.

See Caterina on the pole!

Pole dance move that made you proudest to learn:

Many, but the pull up to twisted grip (damn that Sara) was by far the most challenging. Oh, yea, and smile while you’re doing it!

Pole dance pet peeves:

Flexed feet and moving too fast.

Favorite treatment for bruises and sore muscles:

Wine; if I could take a bath in it, I would. No, seriously, Arnica works great, and Traumeel.

Who would you most like to have in the audience when you pole dance?

Well, I’ve had my mom, dad, brothers, sister, cousins, uncles and aunts, ex-husband, kids, even my dog!

I’ve had all the best pole dancers out there watching, so I guess who I would have wanted the most to see me dance is the person that never expects anything – that would probably be my grandma. She seems to always think I’m great. No matter what I ever did, plus she would have gotten a kick out of it ….

Who is your hero or role model?

There are so many people out there, for different reasons. I love to watch Felix; she motivates me. Jenyne Butterfly inspires me. But my real role models are my instructors who believe in me so much. And my 5-year-old daughter who always comes up with new moves for me.

What are your favorite words of encouragement?

Keep it real, feel it, love it, and live it!

Favorite pizza toppings:

When I’m not training, everything! When I am training, just the sauce, please, with little cheese.

Cupcakes or ice cream?

Cupcakes with ice cream and mash it all together!

What do you like to do when you’re not pole dancing?

Well, I’m either pole dancing, diving, or watching Transformers or Tinker Bell for the hundredth time, so my favorite thing to do is absolutely nothing ….

Anything else you’d like to share:

I’d like to share that women, no matter what age or shape they are in, can pole dance! We are not all out to be the Jenynes and Felixes. We are doing this sport because it gets you in kick-ass shape and it’s liberating. It’s addicting!

You can learn to pole with Caterina at Poleates – and be sure to cheer her on in the 2010 USPDF Amateur Competition! Caterina is also an amazing underwater photographer and adventurer – catch the details of her latest dives at CaterinaGennaro.com and on her upcoming series on ABC, “The Wildlife.”