Here is a detailed account of my experience at the competition. I hope this will serve well to demystify the sport of pole and let the "haters" know that it is very very very far from "sexed up strippers trying to show off".
The championships were held in Campbell River, a small sleepy resort town on Vancouver Island. I took a day off work and set out Friday morning to catch the 12:50 ferry, just squeaking by on my reservations. I love arriving just in the nick of time - it lets me know that my planning was efficient (not too early, not too late). After an hour 40 minute ferry ride, I was on the Island Highway, feeling fly with the car top down. It was a pleasant cruise that took about two hours (I made the trip back in an hour, since I actually booked it down the highway). I rolled in Friday afternoon to The Coast Discovery Inn - a comfortable, clean, hotel with friendly staff. The ocean view made up for the outdated interiors, but the dry air and noisy refrigerator in my room caused two disturbing nights. Regardless of a weekend filled with restless sleep, I managed to not let it get to me, probably due to all the adrenaline and endorphins I had charging through my veins for 2.5 days.
From a first impression, Campbell River didn't really leave much of an impression. A small town surrounded by beautiful BC nature, and of course the ocean, it wouldn't have been my first choice to hold the first BC Championships. My body was stiff from travel, so I went across the street to the Campbell River waterfront to do some yoga. Since it was Friday night, a bunch of avid Campbell River youth were pre-drinking on some benches not too far away. As I was twisting into my half-moons and downward dogs, I heard one of them yell "A-E-Robics! Nice!". Later on, someone was walking their puppy, and he ran up to me and smothered me with kisses, causing me to flop over from my Pigeon pose. That was ok though, I managed to forgive him.
The next morning, it was competition day. I went to do some last minute work at The Vertical Gym. The studio was mainly empty, and there was one very bubbly and pole-happy girl there, supervising and making the competitors feel very welcome. The studio has 13 poles, 50 mm in diameter and solid brass, about 11 ft high. It has been open for 10 months, and is run by Robynne Sharko-Stapley - the organizer of the provincials. Needless to say, she was not available as she was most likely busy organizing last minute things for the competition. I had some questions for the supervisor that was at the studio though, and she was absolutely unable to answer them. Questions like: how high are the poles, what kind of pole cleaner will they be using, and what time the competition starts. She was not really sure about any of the answers, which I found unacceptable for someone who is supposed to be a supervisor at the studio that is organizing the provincials. There was no convenient "Summary Sheet" or anything of the like for competitors to come and double check before the competition. Furthermore, The Vertical Gym has no spinning poles. It would have been good to try a couple of last minute spinning pole moves before the comp, but that was not an option, which I also found unacceptable for a studio that is organizing the provincials.
After my practice session and lunch, I realized that time was running out before our mandatory competitor meeting. My costume was still in parts, and I was frantically sewing sparkles and tassels on my shorts. Luckily, my parents were on their way to watch the competition. As soon as my mom arrived, I delegated to her and went off to do my facepaint and make up. I didn't focus too much on my costume this year, and next year, I will do so even less. I would prefer if the sport went the way of uniforms, but that is just my personal preference. Costumes do definitely add to the performance and are much more exciting to watch.
At 4:30, I headed down to The Campbell River Community Centre and got to meet the infamous Robynne. She is a very young and attractive girl, and aside from the fact that she runs The Vertical Gym, and took on organizing the provincials, that is pretty much all I know about her. She did have a tendency to talk to us like we were kids though, which was very off-putting, and even down right irritating and rude. This may be due to the fact that I've been reading too many psychology books lately, but I could feel her taking the power away from every competitor and volunteer there.
The couple of hours before competition is when all dancer's nerves, especially those who are inexperienced (which was the majority of us), are running on hyper-super-overload. It seems like everything is set up for your failure. Robynne, and her team, were quickly showered with questions, including, but not limited to:
- Will the temperature of the room remain this cold?
- Will the lights remain so harsh?
- Do the pole cleaners know what they are doing?
- Does the time between competitors have to be so long?
- Can we weigh down the X-Stages instead of having the stabilization legs out, as to avoid injury?
Most of the competitors found the answers to these questions less than satisfactory. Furthermore, the attitudes that met these questions were also down right rude and simply disrespectful. The sport still has a long way to go in the professionalism and respect department.
I was first up, so I took a little bit of time trying the shaky stand alone poles out, only to have the organizers periodically bark at me to get off the stage (even though the doors were still closed, and they were only mucking about with one stand alone, while the other was just standing there). They were doing a great job upkeeping their unfriendly reputation. The most unnerving part was watching Crystal Lai (one of the judges) explain to the pole cleaners how to tighten and loosen a spin pole. The pole cleaners, although both pole dancers, did not invoke much confidence. Before getting off the stage and going to the green room, I started cleaning my pole. Robynne piped up in her sickly sweet voice "Victoria, the competitors are not allowed to clean their own poles." This was news to me. Why wasn't this told to everyone earlier? Apparently it was only let known to one of the girls competing. In a frantic attempt to not get disqualified, I made a show of dirtying and oiling up the pole that I cleaned by rubbing my hands all over it.
Back in the green room, one of my team mates discovered that the cleaner to be used for the pole would be Windex. Although there is no definitive standard on pole cleaner types, the best and most sensible cleaner solution is rubbing alcohol mixed with water. It does a great job of dissolving the oils and bacteria on the pole, and leaves them sterilized and easy to stick to. At least the competitors ended up convincing the stubborn organizers one thing - to ensure our poles are cleaned with an appropriate cleaner. Someone made a last minute trip to the pharmacy to purchase rubbing alcohol, some extra spray bottles were procured, and the right cleaner was mixed.
Even after the pole cleaner fiasco, the competition ended up starting 45 minutes late. This was absolutely terrible. Waiting and trying to keep warm before a competition, especially when you are on first, is extremely nerve wrecking and has a very adverse effect on the performance. Also, it is potentially dangerous and injury inducing. I cannot stress enough how important it is for the performers to start on time.
When I was finally called back stage, I was helped by a wonderful volunteer (of whom I do not know the name). She reminded me of the volunteers of my track days of old. Very friendly and calming, she gave me the usual words of assurance, held my feathers for me so that my hands wouldn't be sweaty, and even chased down a bottle of water when I realized I had forgotten mine. Just before I go on stage, my mouth becomes a desert.
The performance itself felt like a typical first competition performance. The stand alone stages were very distracting, as I kept on having to maneuver the steps up and down, as well as try and not trip over the stabilization legs. When a thousand other things are supposed to be going through your mind (which muscle to isolate, pointed toes, which hand goes on top, and remembering the sequence of your moves, as well as trying to hit the right cues in the music), combined with 400 pairs of eyes staring at you - 3 pairs of which are judge's eyes - that one additional thing can make or break the performance. The stand alones, as expected, were very shaky.
On the static, I did manage to hold my hand stand without a problem, and even had the courage to pick my legs up parallel with the pole while in the hand stand - a move I have never done on a stand alone. I slipped down to the ground on my shoulder mount, probably due to the poles being not cleaned properly, as I have that move down no problem. I recovered well though, a sign of my great prep.
The spin pole was a disaster for everyone. If you climbed higher than 4 feet, it would simply stop spinning. That is very obvious, if you think of it from a physics perspective. The higher you go, the more the pole shakes; the more it shakes, the faster it drops the spin. That still didn't stop the judges making a not on my score sheet - "needs more spin". Even the pros couldn't get it spinning fast enough. To make matters worse, one of the pole cleaners would clean the pole (and when I say "clean the pole", I mean drag an oily rag all over it, instead of spraying the pole down with cleaner and then using the cloth to wipe off the excess cleaner + oil), then start climbing onto it to put on grip, leaving her body oils all over. As soon as I touched the spin pole above my head, I slid down faster than you can say "deduction". This was true for most of the competitors: people were sliding as if this was a skating competition, not a pole championship. I couldn't complete my combo of fire cracker into ascending angel, as the slide made me lose too much height, so I had to get off, recover, and try again. Talking to people on the outside, no one noticed any sign of frantic blubbering, so my prep for disaster was sufficient.
Needless to say, the slow shoulder mount and the repeat fire cracker-ascending angel combo totally put me out of sync with my music. I managed to finish beautifully still, but let the screwed up order get to me and didn't pay attention to my angles.
I got 2s and 3s (out of 5) on all the sections judged - technique, presentation, flexibility, artistry. I agree with all of those marks, but a part of me can't help wondering whether going first had hurt me, or elevated me. The biggest thing I'm kicking myself for is getting low points on artistry, which requires musicality and creative transitions. My musicality was off due to my earlier explanation, and my transitions were definitely not creative. I also got all the bonus points for difficulty, using full height of pole, and using spin/static equally.
All of the girls that won my division were ex dancers/gymnasts. This makes sense, as they have the presentation and flexibility part down, as well as a lot of work done for their legs, allowing them to easier focus on the technique. I will be doing a post later on how important "leg strength" is on the pole. My biggest issues for not placing are:
- Trying to maneuver my 92 cm legs: I need to work on my quads, and do a lot of dancer's leg exercises to be able to keep my legs straighter than the pole. I did see a note on my score sheet saying that I had good pointed toes - something I've only been working on for two weeks, and managed to achieve in time for the comp.
- Technique: I need to keep drilling moves so that I can get in and out of them faster, as well as have transitions smoother than a baby's behind.
- Flexibility: I have been improving a ton on my flexibility, but considering where I started, I still have a long way to go.
Talking to the other competitors who saw my performance, as well as to some of the audience members, and one judge, everyone thought it was beautiful and artistic. A semi-pro competitor commented "This is what we are starting amateur with?", as if to say that she was impressed with my strength. One of the judges even told me I had great lines and extensions, but needed to just polish up my legs and technique. Challenge accepted.
The competitors' love for the sport of pole emanated in the building until almost midnight. However, it is clear that the organizers need a lot more help and information about organizing a safe and inviting competition, not a stressful one. They did a great job in promoting and finding sponsors, as well as reaping the benefits of such an event, but they are definitely lacking in aspects that are purely for the athletes. Stay tuned for my next post, which will elaborate.
Hotel (2 nights): $250
Ferry: $160
Food: $80
Gas: $40
Costume (made myself): $50
Entrance fee: $25
Ticket: $25
Total: $630
Expensive? I think so. Priceless? Indubitably.
Oh, and also, the event made it to the local news!
http://bc.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=762067&playlistId=1.958710&binId=1.821957
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