Since the only blog I manage to write anything for these days is The Brass Barre’s Blog, here are the latest interviews from there:
Thinking Flexy Thoughts with Anastasia Skukhtorova
Fundamentally sexy with Leigh Ann Reilly
Enjoy!
Current mood. :p
So Term 1 at The Brass Barre came and went. I spent most of it going to the studio 5-6 days a week, either to teach, train, or understudy, which left me with very little time for anything blogging.
Somehow though, I managed to find enough time to write for the studio’s new blog. Which is somewhat ironic, given that I can barely click open my own blog.
But then again, when it’s for an opportunity to talk to Felix Cane about her new studio (and her new boobs!), and ask Steven Retchless about his shoe collection, I just can’t say no.
So here’s my latest interview with Felix: (which I’m even late in posting here!)
http://www.thebrassbarre.com/blog/2016/2/22/catchingupwithfelixcane
And the more recent one with Steven:
http://www.thebrassbarre.com/blog/2016/3/16/4zzf9vnoui69c0buy2sh0jygl275a4
There will be more interviews to come too.
Basically, I’ll feature whichever guest choreographer whose routines will be taught at The Brass Barre. And it’s already been announced that Term 3 will feature lyrical style by Anastasia Skukhtorova! So if you have any burning question you’d like me to ask her, leave a comment.
From Montigo weekend with my pole sisters❤
Well, it’s New Year’s Eve and I thought I’d write something since I’m on leave and all. Also, WordPress cheerily informed me that I’d only blogged 9 times this year! So might as well just make it 10, right?
I suppose we always look back on our year and marvel at all the things we managed to do, and all the things we wish we had managed to do. And it all seems pretty impressive by the end of 12 months. But 2015 was probably one of the most truly eventful years for me (pole-wise) since I started this blog as a wide-eyed beginner 4 years ago.
Right at the start of the year, I got a phone call from the now ex-owner of Bobbi’s Pole Studio Singapore inviting me to teach. Which blew my socks off, because I never felt I’d ever be good enough, (and I still struggle with that!) and back then I’d already been in a long pole slump with very low motivation.
But when life presents you with opportunity, take it! And then later scramble to try and figure out how to pull it off…
Once I agreed, I officially met my pole sisters (aka my fellow junior instructors) and all of us began on a whirlwind journey of training, teaching, and performing together for the Bobbi’s brand.
Things were going swimmingly for a while and we’d all just gotten the hang of managing our time, energy, and the responsibilities of being new teachers. Sign ups at Bobbi’s had picked up, loads of fresh new beginners were showing up and embracing their new pole passion, and we were working great together as a team.
We all went from not knowing each other very well, to sharing early mornings, late nights, meals together, too many taxi rides, a very cramped teacher’s room, and a lot of sweat and effort.
I even got used to having teacher training every Saturday morning, whereas in the past I couldn’t even drag myself out of the house in time for a class at noon!
Then all of a sudden, we were told that our local principal would be moving away, and our beloved second home would be closing its doors for good.
Once the news was announced, everyone sort of fell into a collective panic and depression. I for one, was very sad about only getting a short time to experience teaching. And even though I totally appreciated the other offers I received, I knew in my heart that it wouldn’t be the same.
At the same time, my other favorite pole studio here, The Yoga Poe Studio, also suddenly announced it was shutting its doors, and its owner (whom I still look up to as one of my personal pole ‘Sensei’s’) was moving out of Singapore too.
I was so depressed about not having many options left that I briefly but seriously considered just quitting pole!
Thankfully, as the saying goes: “After the rain, comes the rainbow”. And my rainbow came in the form of The Brass Barre, set up by the very same people who used to work at Bobbi’s, whom I already know and love. Thank goodness! It even stands in the exact same location as Bobbi’s did, except now the lights are prettier and the floor is a lot cleaner.
And next week, The Brass Barre will officially open its doors for Term 1, and me and my pole sisters will be teaching together again! (We’ve already been training together again because teaching may be on and off, but training is forever.)
So Thank You 2015 for all the adventures and lessons you gave me. It was a wild ride and definitely not an easy one but I’m glad for all of it nonetheless.
And 2016, I’m ready!
First photo at The Brass Barre! I am so in love with these lights…
I finally met my new pole home, The Brass Barre.
It’s been over a month now that Bobbi’s Pole Studio Singapore closed its doors for good. And in that time, I’ve been traveling a LOT. So much that I didn’t get a chance to visit the brand-new studio until last night!
As you might have heard by now, The Brass Barre is opened by the ex-senior instructors of Bobbi’s Pole Studio Singapore, (no, that doesn’t include me) and stands in the same location.
Renovations started pretty much immediately after the Miss Pole Dance Asia Pacific event, and while the studio hasn’t officially launched yet, the doors just opened to students for practice sessions last weekend.
Sadly, due to my crazy travel schedule, I missed all of the studio’s debut photo shoots and video shoots, including the ones of the teaching team! I’m still sad about it, sigh.
I’m also going to be missing the official opening party of The Brass Barre on Dec 5, which sucks! *super emo face*
But if you’re in town on Dec 5, do head on down to the studio and watch the instructors perform their showcase and preview of the new classes there!
Apart from the 3 weeks that I spent in London, New York and Tokyo for work and play, I’m flying to Hong Kong tomorrow with a bunch of girls from the studio (to watch the International Pole Championships) and again to Tokyo for work a few days after returning, before finally going to Koh Phangan to attend a bestie’s wedding. Read: that’s a lot of packing, unpacking, and laundry to be done!
So I knew I had to cram in a visit to the studio last night, or I wouldn’t get a chance to meet my new second home until mid-December! (At this rate, I barely even have time to see my poor parents)
Not kidding when I say the lights immediately bring out the sexy in you…
Anyway, the studio was totally worth making that time for! It’s gorgeous, classy and oh-so-clean, with sensuously flattering lighting that makes me feel sexy the minute I walk in. I’m so happy that I get to teach there!!!
Of course, I had to take some photos. Normally, I suck at taking pictures of myself but luckily Po.Lita takes the best photos and suggested spots to pose at. And the pictures turned out really good just on my iPhone, with no need for filtering at all!
Of course, after so much time away and off the pole, I’m going to have to kick my flabby ass back in shape real hard once I’m done with all this traveling. Of course, I did manage to fit in some pole classes while I was away, but I definitely ate way more calories than I burned, sigh..
In the meantime, here are a couple more preview photos of the space.
The lights change colors too!
Mood, much?
Not even all of the performers from the epic opening number of MPD Asia Pacific
And so it is.
The final term at Bobbi’s Pole Studio Singapore has wrapped up, Miss Pole Dance Asia Pacific was SPECTACULAR, and the after party was a blast.
I must have posed for a hundred photographs with different people, and it still wasn’t even enough.
The whole week or so since classes officially ended had been very surreal. Shit started getting real for me on the very last Sunday of classes, then during the last week of term performances, especially when I emcee-ed on the last night.
And then yesterday happened. The big event, aka Miss Pole Dance Asia Pacific.
Even though the performers for the opening number all showed up at 10am in the morning to start rehearsals for the event, it all happened so fast in a swirl of shiny heels, swishing hair, and passed by all too quickly.
All the months of endless rehearsals for the opening number paid off in 3 minutes. We all went in every Saturday morning at 9.am for 2 hours, and again during the week from 9.30 to past 11 p.m. And it’s no mean feat to organise between a massive 30-strong group of students, junior and senior instructors, who live across 3 different countries, including Bobbi herself!
Most people will never know the amount of work that goes into crafting a 3-minute dance routine, but the ones who do will appreciate it all. And one of the girls in the opening number even got MARRIED in the day and came back at night to perform with the rest of us! (I thought I was dedicated to pole, but well if you think you’re really dedicated, ask yourself now if you would think to fit a group performance into the day of your own WEDDING?!!)
Happily, I didn’t kick or get kicked by any of the dancers around me and we all looked great together on stage!
As usual, I was one of the official pole cleaners for the competition. I know that it seems almost glamorous to be all dressed up and swanning around the stage in between competitors, but pole cleaning is actually hard work!
Each competitor has different requests for how she wants the pole cleaned. (Wiped with a clean cloth only/ wiped with alcohol only/ Dry Hands applied all over/ Shaving gel applied in the middle of the static pole only, but not too much / layer the whole thing with alcohol, shaving gel and Dry Hands… well you get the idea..) Plus I’m already pretty tall in my 7″ boots, but competition poles are so high that they need a triple-climb minimum to reach the top.
Not that I’m complaining, because if there’s anything I can possibly do to help competitors stick to their poles, I will gladly do it for them.
And after all it was the event of the year, full of love with pole stars, dancers and friends from all over the Asia Pacific region. And well, just full of love.
To every one who performed, competed, organised, helped out, came to watch and support, and even if you just wanted to be there but couldn’t, thank you so much. It was everything we could have hoped for and more, and the best possible way to close the chapter of our beloved Bobbi’s Pole Studio here in Singapore.
Don’t be too sad just yet though, because fortunately there’s a rainbow after the rain and it’s coming real soon. Yes, The Brass Barre will soon be born in the very same location, featuring none other than the very same instructors from Bobbi’s Singapore. I’ll tell you more about it very soon!
In the meantime, here are a few photo highlights from last night:
The unicorn-haired sexy cops of Team A
Backstage
selfie-ing away the pre-performance jitters
Pinoko, aka hottest hair-flipper of the night. When I met her in Tokyo, it was the first thing I noticed!
Floorwork splits in all directions!
Taking the cop thing very seriously
My adorable fellow pole cleaners/pole sisters
The amazing competitors! 1st: Gracie, 2nd: Pinoko, 3rd: Elena
Maxi Shields getting the party started
Pole cleaners reporting for duty
Working hard on those poles
And a few from the studio too:
Last Beginner Slap Class
My awesome Rude Girls
Our Backstreet boys getting their Magic Mikes on
The crowd was so huge at the last night of performance that the girls had to wait in the next studio until their turn to perform, then go back out!
Couldn’t resist
Happy girls & boys
These girls sure know how to work it in the studio
Last pic of the night cos we just didn’t want to leave: Junior teachers in our tiny teachers’ changing room
And finally, the massive we-fie from the last night of performances at the studio.
It’s the end of this chapter, but we’ll begin a brand new together one real soon okay?
Post-class we-fie
So here we are, half way into the final term of Bobbi’s Pole Studio Singapore.
Although everyone is feeling sad that it’s going to be the last term for Bobbi’s, it’s been fantastic to do classes again with so many of my old pole buddies!
It feels just like old times now that everyone is back, and it’s this whole community of familiar pole sisterhood that makes the studio such a happy place to be in, in the first place.
I’m super glad that my Beginner Slap class on Friday ended up getting overbooked again and the studio opened a second class on Sunday so we didn’t have to turn anyone away!
But as much as I adore teaching Striptease and Lapdance, I also enjoy teaching pole. Last term, I wasn’t assigned any actual Beginner level classes but ended up teaching 10 pole dancing trial classes, so thankfully I did get my chance to teach some Beginner-level pole. (And I know of half a dozen girls who signed up for a full term following some of those trial classes, so I must have been doing something right!)
This term though, the studio isn’t offering any more pole dancing trial classes as it’s the already the last term. So I thought I wasn’t going to be teaching any more pole classes.
“Remember to point your toes as you spin…”
But… sometimes things have a funny way of happening!
As it turns out, the guys’ class suddenly needed a teacher because the guy who taught them last term wasn’t free to teach them anymore.
I know right ….the GUYS’ class?!?! It’s not exactly something that was ever on my list of teaching goals, or even something I would have considered a possibility before.
But like I said, things have a funny way of happening.
Now I know what you might be thinking, and no… these guys are definitely *not* the kind of male pole dancers who rock stripper heels, sparkly shorts and fall under the ‘pole sisters’ category. They are dudes.
Planking like pros
Ordinarily, I would never have agreed to teach a bunch of dudes if I wasn’t already kind of familiar with them.
But last term I taught on the same day as their classes, so I ended up seeing them every week and having friendly conversations with them cos well, they’re a nice bunch!
And then of course, my birthday at the studio happened where Po.Lita arranged for all of them to surprise me with a collective lap dance, and I got to know them all so much better up close and personal!
That’s right. The guys’ class collectively gave me a group lap dance last term right after the studio’s student performances. It was crazy funny, and I don’t think many girls will ever experience 20 dudes taking turns to shake it for them in front of an extremely enthusiastic live audience.
Anyway, my point is that since the guys weren’t total strangers to me anymore, when the opportunity came to teach them some pole, I thought, ‘heck, why not!’.
Thankfully, one of the junior teachers agreed to teach it with me. May is a natural at choreographing and she can bust out power moves on command.
And so, we have been teaching the guys every week for the past month, and it has been a totally new teaching experience!
There are different challenges to teaching guys, like how to modify tricks for them (upper body strength is not an issue but flexibility can be) how to spot someone bigger than us (we get them to partner up and assist us in spotting each other) and how to teach them sexy choreography (The are surprisingly game!)
The song we picked for them is “I Want It That Way” By none other than the Backstreet Boys. Because, Magic Mike 2!!!!!!!
We were initially worried that they might not like it but the moment we played the song for the first time and they all started singing it, we knew it would work. And like one of them casually admitted, they all have a secret Backstreet Boy inside of them, which I fully intend to bring out into the open!
Also, since most of the class had already completed Beginner level last term, it’s been a great chance for us to teach more intermediate-level stuff like inverts and aerial tricks, which they have all the strength for!
I’ve sat into many classes where the Jamilla cradle spin was taught for the first time, and I’d never seen a 100% first-timer success rate until we taught it to the guys! And I do believe that in the history of Bobbi’s Pole Studio here, this is the first time we’ve had a guys class taught by 2 girls. With the extra irony being that I mostly teach the ultra-girly Beginner Slap.
But yes, I know the guys will eventually turn into handspringing/flagpoling/deadlifting beasts and soon I won’t be able to keep up with them anymore. But for now, until they master all the basics, they are still enjoyably teachable. And I get to open the doors every week and actually say, ‘Hello, boys!’ Lol.
Anyway I never would have thought that I’d be teaching a bunch of dudes how to pole dance, let alone be enjoying it, but I thoroughly am.
Oh, and if you’re a Bobbi’s Babe here, they will be performing their awesome Backstreet Boys routine at our very last performance week and it’ll be hot! Just saying…
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