Victoria's Pole Sport Diary

What makes this sport so special and how do I imagine a fulfilling work-life focused on its practice? When I took my first pole dance steps in Autumn 2016, I could not have imagined the place this sport was going to take in my life. Like many others, I was intrigued to try pole dance as a fun way of building fitness and strength. What I discovered was much more: a friendly, supportive and inclusive community, a means of stress-management, and a sport that not only challenges the physical but also brings me out of myself and encourages me to develop my creative side. Whatever your level of pole, there will always be an aspect of your training that you want to achieve: a new trick that you've almost got, experimentations with a different style, preparing for a show or competition, or maybe better flexibility. As long as these incentives are realistic, they are a huge source of motivation as you achieve them, one by one, all the time setting new targets. This sense of progress is ...

The announcement came on Wednesday afternoon; lockdown until 3rd May. And after that? We will find out next Wednesday. I'm a bit late in offering online classes. I think that there was more enthusiasm to follow these in the initial weeks of lockdown, when everything was feeling a bit more novel and everyone was figuring out how they wanted to live their confinement experience. Now, 5 weeks in, a routine has set in, with less spontaneity and increasing disappointment. Unfortunately, I took a few weeks to catch up, being ill at the start, and so here I am with my ideas and enthusiasm! I hesitated before planning these classes. Maybe we would have our normal classes again in a couple of weeks anyway. Was the hassle worth it? What if people didn't sign up? How would I take that? With all these big names and top-level pole dancers offering online classes, what can I offer of interest? Weighing up the options, I felt it was worth a try. My philosophy is to try to see an opportuni...

In Belgium, we have already spent four weeks in confinement and a daily routine is starting to set in. Honestly, the Belgian spring weather has never been so settled and sunny and, at the same time as helping maintain a positive outlook, I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling like the days are beginning to blend into one. So it seems like as good a moment as any to look back over this month in quarantine and reflect on its effect on my pole training, as well as other aspects of daily life. Although I couldn't train for about the first 10 days, due to illness with the virus in question, I tried to use the time productively (while resting). I managed to film a couple of videos before I started to feel ill, which I was able then to work on and post. I looked out recent videos of training and class combos and started to create tutorials that didn't require any new filming. I created this blog and wrote my first posts. The time allowed me to set up projects that I could c...

I've arrived a little late at the party on this one :-). Many online live classes have already launched in the past few weeks, as well as a wealth of resources for learning pole from home. However, ill for the first two weeks of lockdown and recovering the third, I took a little more time to get there and I am grateful to my students for their patience! Yesterday, I got to teach my regular Sunday class, from my own living room! I thoroughly enjoyed reconnecting with this group and we had a lot of fun. The difficulties included finding the right distance away from my computer when demonstrating, to be in full view, but audible, as well as making sure the participants muted their mics to avoid background noice and echo. For next time, I want to try to find a setup using a better camera and I might use my Britney mic if necessary. Surprisingly though, the class went very smoothly. I gave explanations and demonstrations for each move or combo and then watched my screen as the girls t...

During this confinement, the pole community has benefitted from its strong online presence. Even if we cannot go to class, we have not lost contact with our pole friends, nor have we stopped supporting and motivating one another. For me, the pole community is like none other; I have honestly never in my life encountered such an inclusive and supportive network, which is not at all impersonalised by its immensity. We have been spoilt for choice of lockdown challenges on Instagram; a great source of motivation to warm up and get on the pole at home, even when lethargy sets in or, as in my case, you need to rebuild your strength following illness. I have been following the Brussels Art & Pole #bxlartpolechallenge, which I will also contribute to next week. Every two days, on-pole and off-pole figures on a given theme are suggested, that you can reproduce, modify or incorporate in a short combo or choreography. Here are some of my participation efforts: "chair", "str...