There are very few things as sexy as hips. They strut, they tease – in short, they totally rule. And when pole dancing, you want to be sure not to leave them out. Hips are absolutely essential when doing transitions.
Belly Dance Moves Every Pole Dancer Should Know
As you’ve all come to know by now (or soon will), I am a belly dancer by training, and that infuses pretty much every kind of movement I do, pole included. Heck, pole especially.
It’s easy to get caught up in the gymnastic side of pole, but the dancing part is what pulls it all together. And belly dance moves go really well with pole. After all, both are very sultry, sexy dance styles, and both use a lot of isolations. I thought it would be great to show you some classic belly dance moves that you can easily work into any pole dance routine.
Reverse Horizontal Figure Eight
The reverse horizontal figure eight may not sound like the sexiest move, but, believe me, done well, it will knock their socks off! The video below will show you, step by step, how to do this move and ways to use it in conjunction with pole. There are a few things you should keep in mind as you watch:
Push into your hip sockets. This is essential for this move. You need to exaggerate the motion to get the figure eight effect.
Move slowly. Languorous movements are the essence of sultry dancing. Sure, dancing quickly looks cool, but if you do it slowly, you turn the show into one big tease.
Watch your hips as they move. When you watch your own movements, you pull the audience in through your gaze.
Use the pole as a frame. You can do this move in front of the pole, behind the pole, or next to the pole. However you choose, be aware that you are contrasting this curvy motion against the straightness of the pole. If you are in front of or behind the pole, make longer, slower movements to be sure the movement can be seen around the pole. If you are standing next to the pole, you can make the movement as big or as little as you like.
Do half the move. Sometimes, half a reverse horizontal figure eight makes for a beautiful transition. It can be used to turn you around smoothly, or to accentuate a pose.
Click on the video below to see how to do this move:
There you have it. A simple belly dance movement that looks beautiful when combined with pole. Play with it and let me know how it works for you!
Improvving a pole dance means letting yourself move to the music naturally, without following a predetermined choreography. Being able to improv gives you the freedom to jump up and give a great performance at the drop of a hat.
The trick to successful improv is to stay very centered in your body and your emotions, so that you can move seamlessly with the music. You need to reach a point where you can trust your body to move in certain ways without hesitation.
At its highest levels, improv reaches a point of inward emotional focus in which your concentration is more on your feelings than on your movements. This requires a very high level of physical skill, a level where your movements are so ingrained in your body that they are nearly automatic, thus leaving you to expend your energy on expressing your feelings through the music.
It is good to remember that dance is always about expressing yourself through movement and interpreting music through movement. All pole dancers learn the same set of moves, but it is the ones who can create an emotional response through their dance that truly stand out.
Who can improv?
Anyone can learn to improv. I know this because belly dancing is heavily grounded in improv and, even though I began as a very clutzy, nervous student, I eventually became a very good improvisational belly dancer. The method I used for belly dance is the same one you can use for pole.
Some people naturally take to improv, while others prefer choreography, and both approaches can be wonderfully expressive. Try your hand at both and see which you prefer.
Music, music, music
As with choreographing a pole dance routine, good improv begins with knowing your music. Obviously, you can get up on a whim and dance to any piece of music, regardless of whether you’ve heard it before or not, but to give a good performance, you want to know your music inside and out. You want to get to a point where you can sing every nuance of the song in your head since, if you know what’s coming next, you can know how you want to move to it.
Let Yourself Play
Once you know your music well, start dancing to it. Don’t worry about how it looks or whether your moves are how you want them to be. Just give yourself the emotional permission to move. Play along with the music; don’t judge yourself or analyze. Beautiful improv begins awkwardly; that’s normal.
Let me tell you a story. When I was in grad school, I used to belly dance every Saturday night at a restaurant, giving four 30-minute dances (three on a slow night). Each dance was improvved. This took a lot of rehearsing, which may sound odd since, if it’s improv, what was I rehearsing? But the rehearsing was to let myself get used to moving fluidly with the music.
I would choose several pieces of music that I would dance over the coming weeks. I would listen and listen and listen to them, but I always found that, until I started dancing to them, there was always an extra level of nuance that I missed. At first it would be very clumsy dancing – the moves were done well, but it didn’t quite fit the music. So I would keep at it. Slowly, it would start to come together, and within a couple of weeks, I would find I was comfortable enough with the music that, although every time I danced it, I danced differently, the end result was a good performance.
Of course, life never makes a smooth line. Which means that I also found that, about two weeks prior to a given performance of a new song, it would all fall apart. Badly. What had just started to come together would suddenly disappear entirely. I would forget what was coming next in the music, I would get myself twisted in some weird way that completely ruined my balance or left me in just the wrong spot at the wrong point in the song.
But I never judged. I learned to keep dancing through to the end of the song. I learned to breathe and accept that that’s how that practice went and not to worry about it, and through doing that I learned that that was just my pattern. I always worked on a song, had it start to come together, two weeks before the performance date watched it disintegrate into crap, and then – lo and behold – watched it come together again even stronger.
So that’s why I tell you not to judge yourself. Improv needs to be free, or it can’t take you where you need to go. You will learn a lot about yourself if you let yourself give into your movements, even if you never intend to dance for an audience. Improv will make you braver and it will force you to keep dancing for an entire song, even when you misstep – and that will make you a better dancer.
One quick tip for better improvving
And that’s the quick tip: make yourself dance through an entire song. Don’t stop and start, just keep dancing. When you always begin again, you learn to stop when something strikes you as imperfect. When you force yourself to keep dancing, you learn to go with what you’re doing. Moreover, you will break yourself free of mental constraints on how you “should” be moving, and give yourself the chance to create something truly special.
A simple exercise to improve your improv
This is an exercise I learned from Cassandra Shore, my amazing belly dance instructor. She would assign each student a body part with which to improv. One student might have gotten hips, another arms, another the torso, and so forth. Then she would play music and ask each of us to dance using only that part of our body.
The result of this was that it automatically narrowed your focus. You couldn’t use your whole repertoire; you had to focus on expression to make it interesting. It’s a very intense exercise – one which, I admit, I used to dread and curse. But I’ve since grown to see the use in it.
To apply this exercise to pole, choose something from the list below, put on some music, and dance only with that movement for the entire song (give yourself a break and choose a short piece). When you can’t rely on a large range of moves, you will be forced to make each move more interesting and expressive, and your dancing will improve. Here is the list (feel free to add to it):
Fireman
Front and back hooks
Transitions
Floor work
Slides
Sits
Inverts (choose only one)
Give it a shot, even if it seems unnatural at first. You may need to incorporate a transition or two just to keep moving between spins, but stay as limited in your moves as you can for the duration of the exercise. Learn to dance each move with feeling, really interpreting the music with each move.
And, most of all, remember never to judge your process for creating dance!
*Have you ever tried to use the word “improv” with a spell-checker? It can drive you insane. Especially if you wish to break with All Things Right and True and use it as a verb – as in, “improvving.” So I thought I’d just let myself go hog wild, grammatically speaking, and totally fuck with the spell-check’s mind.
You recently created a pole dance wiki. How did you come up with that idea?
Well, initially I had the idea to create a moves catalogue, as the ones I’d seen didn’t seem to be in a searchable order or take into account the alternative names that moves seem to acquire.
I wanted it to be in a format that other pole dancers could edit and to which they could add information themselves. Hence the idea of a wiki came up. A lot of credit must go to my web designer friend who had the site all done far quicker than expected. Then I began the long task of transferring information over from Word to the wiki. During this process, I began to see that the wiki had so much more potential than I was using it for, so the site grew. I’ve had so much great feedback about the site; it’s amazing to see polers from all over finding it useful.
How can we pole dancers use the site?
Polers or pole dance fans can register (free) for an account on WikiPole, and then, when they are logged in, all changes they make can be attributed to their username. Users are encouraged to contribute to articles, add links, current events, etc. There is also a WikiPole forum, where there are several tutorials on how to edit the wiki and people can get help from articles. If you are at all interested in the wiki, the forum is a great place to learn more.
Even if you aren’t interested in editing the site, it has some fabulous resources such as reviews on pole dance dvds, articles about famous pole dancers, reviews on grip aids, a newbie’s guide to pole dancing, and so much more.
We are starting work on a spins catalogue currently, so that should be all sorted soon, and a dance moves catalogue is in the pipeline, too.
[Jennifer's note: Wikipole's Ten Commandments of Pole Dancing is a must-read!]
What got you interested in pole dance?
I used to be a gymnast back in the day. I trained until I was 18, when I sadly had to quit due to injury. I kept up gymnastics coaching, though, which was nice and kept me active until I left my first degree at Uni. Over that year, I became a little podgy and wondered what I could do to keep fit. Over this time I was also going out to a bar in Liverpool that had poles, Popworld. I found myself searching YouTube for videos so I could have some fun spins to try whenever I was next in there. After that, I was a little more serious about learning to pole dance and started looking for lessons.
How do you learn (class, DVD, Youtube …)?
I do a mixture now. I do go to classes (although it has been a bit sporadic recently, due to lack of time with exams coming up). I also have a nice dvd collection and you can always find something new on YouTube, whether it be a new combination or a new move.
What do you like to do when you’re not pole dancing?
I don’t know about like, but I went back to Uni so a lot of time is taken up by Uni work and getting involved in student associations. I also love to read. I’m currently re-reading Lord of the Rings. I also like skiing, ice skating, and I’m trying to re-learn how to rollerblade without killing myself. I also have a blog out there which I’m not going to plug, mainly because I’m a bit naff at updating it.
What is your dream for yourself in pole dancing?
It would be nice to be able to freestyle, as I always end up doing the same things over and over. In the future, I’d like to be able to teach, as I miss coaching and feel I’d be able to bring my skills as a coach to teaching pole dance.
Favorite makeup tip:
Erm, I don’t actually wear a great deal of make-up. Taking it all off before bed is a must, though.
Barefoot, sneakers, or platform heels?
I’m a barefoot gal; sneakers tend to hinder me. But there are times when I whack on my lovely Pleaser boots – they’re a lifesaver when I need more grip.
Favorite grip enhancer:
Dry Hands. It’s fabulous stuff.
Pole dance move that made you proudest to learn:
Oooh, that’s a hard one. I suppose I should say my own move, the Lola Mount. I’m proud of that one.
Pole dance pet peeves:
Erm, I don’t know if I have any.
Favorite treatment for bruises and sore muscles:
Radox bath salts are a miracle in a box. Bruises, I just leave them be; they’re my trophies.
Who would you most like to have in the audience when you pole dance?
Um, I’m a little shy of performing, but if it was just a bit of a showing off moves session, then probably my Mum. If I get photos in class, I come home and show her, and she usually says something like, “What on earth are you holding on with?”
Who is your hero or role model?
Felix. She’s an amazing performer and I’d just love to have even a fraction of her grace and flexibility.
What are your favorite words of encouragement?
I find that “Go on, go on, do it!” really does actually help once you’re close to a move.
Favorite pizza toppings:
Pepperoni.
Cupcakes or ice cream?
I’m in a cupcake mood today, particularly if buttercream is involved.
Anything else you’d like to share:
Well, thank you for giving me the chance to do this interview. I’d also like to say the pole dancing community is so welcoming and filled with such fantastic ladies and gentlemen. I’m glad so many people have taken the time to email me about WikiPole or have gotten involved in some way, and I hope that others will follow suit.
Final plug for the forum – check out the Wikipole forum and get involved!
Lola has done an amazing job with Wikipole and the forum – can’t wait to see you there!
Last week I started talking about when to choreograph and when to improv pole dance routines. This week, I thought it would be cool to go into more detail about how to actually pull together a choreographed routine.
If I can do it, you can do it.
The first thing to know is that there are probably as many ways to do this as there are pole dancers. This is just what works for me, and I’ll be the first to tell you choreography isn’t really my thing. I am definitely more of an improv girl. On the other hand, if this helps even a choreography-challenged person such as myself create a routine, then it must have something going for it.
I’ve used this method a lot with my belly dance students, to give them a dance they can practice on their own, and it’s worked really well. My problem with choreography is more that I can’t remember what comes next in a sequence, but this process helps get it in my head.
Choose your music.
It all starts with the music. Things to look for in a song are interesting rhythm changes, a mix of softer and stronger sounds, and a mood that suits you. Basically, you want music you like, and you want something more interesting than a mindless groove even drunken frat boys can dance to.
Listen to your music.
Listen to it over and over and over again. And then listen to it again. Yes, again. You want to hear all the changes, you want to hear how the sounds mix with the lyrics. Listening with the idea of choreographing is different from listening while you dance in the car.
Make a list of all your moves.
List everything you can do and break it down into groups: transitions, spins, inverts, climbs, floorwork, contortions, and so forth. Circle the ones you especially want to use. Maybe you want to use them because you’re choreographing for a beginner class and those are the only two moves the class knows. Maybe you’re in a competition and certain moves are required. Maybe you just know some better than others and want to strut your stuff. Whatever the reason, if you want to be sure to use them, circle them.
Then, cross off the ones you haven’t quite perfected. Unless you are preparing a routine with months yet to practice, it’s best not to choreograph around moves you don’t feel comfortable doing. Leave them off the list for now – you can always use them next time. What’s left on the list are all the moves you can use to create your dance. You won’t use all of them, but it helps to have your whole repertoire in front of you.
Listen. Walk through. Choose. Repeat.
See which of your moves sound best with the music and walk through them while you listen. Use a bit of improv and a bit of imagination to choose the moves you want in your routine. Look at your list and listen to the first few measures of your song. What kind of feeling does it give you? Slow and sexy? Energetic? Dramatic?
Let yourself play a bit while you walk through it and you’ll find you come up with some great combinations. By walking through it, I don’t mean fully doing each and every move. I mean, stepping through it so you can see how the move fits the music and how the moves you want to use flow together. Keep your remote handy so you can pause and rewind the music as often as necessary. When you have some moves that work well, write them down. Then listen to the next bit of the song and go through the process again.
Keep doing this for each section of the music until the whole song is choreographed. Then do the whole routine for real, not just walking through the moves, but really doing them. You may find that some moves had seemed to fit, but don’t now that you’re actually doing the whole dance. That’s normal. Just change the moves to ones that fit better and write down the changes. Dance it through again, for real, until there are no more changes you need to make, and – voila – you have choreographed a pole dance routine!
A helpful reminder.
Let yourself move to the music as you go through the process above, and you will naturally include filler steps and accents. A lot of dancing isn’t dancing, per se. It’s walking to the music, or making a cool arm gesture, or kicking your hip out to accent a beat. You don’t want to get so wrapped up in your list of moves that you forget the subtler things that make up a dance, too. Letting yourself play with the music will make sure you don’t.
There you have it – a simple guide to creating a pole dance routine. Happy poling!
Some pole dancers love to choreograph routines for public performances, while others prefer to improv. Both choreography and improvisation have their pros and cons, and sometimes a mix of the two is best. How do you know which way is best for you and your personal pole dancing style?
Choreographing Pole Dance Routines
Choreography can be a very freeing method for letting you work on the dance and performance of your routine, since you don’t have to think up what move to do next. It is the method of choice for new dancers, group performances, and stage productions.
The pros:
You know what you’ll be doing during every part of the music.
You can plan the routine to avoid any pole moves you aren’t sure of.
The cons:
Stage fright can make your mind go blank, causing you to forget your moves.
If you confuse a move, it can make it difficult to know how to keep going.
Improvisation and Pole Dance Routines
Improvisation is the dance equivalent to being able to cook without a recipe. It hones your creativity and teaches you adaptability on stage. It is very useful for dancers who get up to perform on a whim and for those who like the freedom of not planning the details of each performance in advance.
The pros:
You don’t need to worry about memorizing – or forgetting – any moves.
You can stay focused on interpreting the music.
You can adapt your dance quickly to circumstances.
The cons:
You can get stuck wondering what pole move to do next.
It may seem daunting to try to fill up an entire dance on the fly.
So how do you make the choice that’s best for you?
Generally, new pole dancers will do better performing a choreographed routine. This is why beginner classes often culminate with a routine that they can all perform. It can be very hard to learn new pole moves while also trying to spontaneously put them together into a dance.
As you gain more experience on the pole, you can start trying improv and seeing if that works for you. One great way to encourage yourself with improv is to start doing the pole dance challenges on the pole forums.Both PoleJunkies and StudioVeena do regular pole challenges in which people post videos to show one another their dances. The challenges may be to dance to a specific type of music (classical, pop, 80s, etc.) or to do only transitions, or some other restriction. Since the best way to learn to improv is to do it, the challenges are a fun and easy way to practice.
Choreography may become important if you start entering pole dance competitions. Competitions have requirements for specific pole moves to be included in the performances, and choreography can be a way to make sure you have included everything you need.
Both choreography and improv can be combined for performances in which you wish to include a certain series of moves, but don’t wish to be locked into a routine. A combination of the two can also be useful when you know what you want to do at a particularly dramatic moment in the music, but don’t wish to plot out the entire song.
Lola Cherry Cola, Creator of 