How did you get started pole dancing?

Three years ago, I worked as a dance teacher at a high school. For my students’ graduation party, I wore a two-piece outfit and a colleague made a remark about my tight-fitting pants, saying that they really accentuated my derrière – and perhaps even resembled those of a stripper! Someone else continued the joke saying that I’d probably convince our principal to have stripper poles installed in the classroom and teach the kids how to work the pole like so-called exotic dancers. Everybody laughed and the party continued – but it was also the first time I thought of pole dancing as something I might do myself.

Well, at home, I searched the internet to find dance classes in Denmark but found nothing but people likewise looking for regular lessons or workshops. I gave up and eventually forgot about it until a year later when I (or, in fact, my boyfriend – I really owe him thanks for this) accidentally stumbled across a fitness magazine featuring an article on this apparently brand new form of exercise. It turned out that the first pole dance studio in Denmark had opened four months earlier and, even better, it was situated five minutes by bike from where I lived at that time. I arranged to try it out and I’ve been there – the very same studio – ever since.

How did you make the leap to teaching pole dancing classes? What was that like?

My first year of pole dance was also my first year after graduating from Dance Studies at the university and my introduction to full time employment. In this year, I had desk jobs while still teaching – but the teaching had mainly been theoretical classes and I missed the immediate response and joy that is usually involved in teaching practical dance. I simply asked the studio’s “pole mama” (i.e. the boss and owner), if she would consider hiring me, if she at some point needed to expand her staff. And she did. It was a little like being adopted into the family I’d spent so much time with over the past year. I still really like the atmosphere there, people are kind and open to each other, and you will meet and make friends with people you’d otherwise never have met.

You live in Denmark. What is the attitude towards pole dancing there?

When I started, people would generally link pole dancing to stripping and sometimes people would look at me with either interest or slight disrespect, and ask me if I worked at one of those “exclusive gentlemen clubs.”

Now, two years after, new studios have opened and more fitness clubs offer pole dancing and everybody seems to have seen it on TV, tried it for a bachelor/ette party or for a longer period, or knows someone who has. However, on occasion I still meet people (especially if they’re coming from outside of Copenhagen) who ask if “normal” people that don’t aspire to become professional nightclub dancers can take these classes too. People who have tried it or know of it seem to agree that there’s more to it than hip rolls and a head toss performed for the pleasure of a man – that it is, or can be, aerial acrobatics and a pretty hard-core work-out, aesthetic dance art, or women celebrating their bodies and sensuality for their own enjoyment.

Are there pole dancing recitals, conventions, or competitions in Denmark?

The very short answer is: No. It’s still a very young sport with relatively few participants. However, we will (hopefully) have our first national competition December 12, 2010, which I’m looking very much forward to.

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

One of the very basic things – I think – is trust and confidence. I tell my students that they need to “trust” the pole (that it won’t fall on them) and – even more importantly – that they really need to have confidence in themselves and find their inner child and let it fool around on the playground! Technically, we start with a walk around the pole and then move on to spins like Fireman. I usually try to encourage them by saying that practice gives you the strength (and, perhaps, grace) to make it look elegant and strong – and eventually it will be perfect(-ish).

How do you take care of yourself, given all the pole dancing classes you teach?

I try to listen to my body and give it time to relax in between classes. But I don’t always succeed and, every now and again, I go to see my acupuncturist who will make my buttocks look like giant pin cushions – luckily it works! I get enough sleep, try to eat healthy, and that’s kind of it.

Favorite makeup tip:

Don’t rub your eyes while wearing mascara! Really, with my (lack of) expertise, that’s the only advice I can give, beside the even more obvious: Ask a professional!

Barefoot, sneakers, or platform heels?

Definitely barefoot. I feel so much more secure when I can actually touch the surface (the floor or the pole) with my skin – and I like (and like to show off) my high arched “ballerina” feet, hehe.

Favorite grip enhancer:

“Tite Grip” is really good when learning new tricks where the handgrip is important and you don’t want your all-of-a-sudden sweaty hands to get in the way! Otherwise I try to see if I can make my body and hands stick naturally. (In the summer heat, it is really a problem!)

Pole dance move that made you proudest to learn:

I was so proud and completely amazed when I did my first push-up on straight legs. I simply hadn’t thought it possible since I’ve always had thin, spaghetti-like arms – and there I was, all of a sudden doing ten in a row just because I had taken pole classes for maybe half a year and my teacher insisted I try. Regarding moves on the pole, I seem to derive the most satisfaction from mastering the moves I’ve struggled to learn. Lately, I’ve overcome my fear of doing the hand spring (visualization is really the way to go!) and succeeded – but I was also quite happy when I figured out the trick to do the straddle without “pushing off” from the floor and the Superman without being in complete and utter pain.

Pole dance pet peeves:

I can’t help it – I’ll say “Point your toes!” whenever I see flexed feet in the dance studio. But it’s an automatic reflex action, I don’t even think about it. What does indeed get on my nerves is when a student doesn’t seem to understand the “seriousness” and the necessity of taking care of herself and others while in the class; screaming like your life depended on it when there is no danger and it’s just for “fun,” or contorting or throwing yourself out in positions when there is no body control really should be avoided!

Favorite treatment for bruises and sore muscles:

Bruises seem to be unavoidable when learning new tricks, so I wear them with as much pride as possible. (Admittedly, it does annoy me a bit being at the doctor’s, looking like I’ve been beaten up by my boyfriend.) A massage eases tense muscles and I’m lucky to have a boyfriend who has the skills and the mindset to loosen up my tensions – all I have to do is ask.

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

I’m not much of a performer! This might seem weird coming from a teacher who – let’s face it – has to “perform” in front of a lot of people all the time. But the role is different. As a dancer (not teacher) there’s a good chance I will transform into a pedantic perfectionist that I don’t like to be. I’ve come to realize though, that I’m my own biggest critic … so I’m working on it!

Who is your hero or role model?

I especially admire my fellow pole students who have qualities I strive to acquire or improve in myself. Surely I also watch youtube and the incredible performances by some amazing pole dancers (like Jenyne Butterfly and JK), but my heroes are my real life “pole sisters.”

What are your favorite words of encouragement?

I think it’s important to stress that everybody learns things in a different tempo. Strength and flexibility usually don’t come overnight and you should focus on your own weekly achievements. When a student says, “I can’t do it,” I try to insist that, “Yes you can – you just haven’t learnt how to do it YET”.

Favorite pizza toppings:

I rarely eat pizza simply because I don’t like it! But if I “have to” – or it’s my annual test to see if I’ve come to like it – I have the best experiences with pineapple and fresh lettuce (or fresh basil).

Cupcakes or ice cream?

My preference would depend on available flavor, my mood, and the context (with whom, where, and when I’d eat it). My real addiction is chocolate, which I’d always choose over both cupcakes and ice cream!

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

I like listening to an audio book – nothing as good as a story of rape and murder and the catching of criminals to make you relax, right? (Audio books also make less interesting inside activities like cleaning and doing laundry a little more acceptable!)

These days I’m also taking my second correspondence course in labanotation, which is a system of recording any type of dance or movement on paper – kind of like the way notes are used to “write” music. It’s perhaps a bit nerdy interest, but I’m as much an academic as I am a dancer. Watching “Project Runway” (and even sometimes sewing myself) is also a favorite activity of mine.

Mie is also sweet enough to point out that she is wearing PoleSkivvies Tail Spin Shorts in all these photos – thank you, Mie!