Vladimir "Volch" Karachunov Workshop Review

A very rare opportunity befell the Tantra ladies and gentleman this past weekend - the Russian male pole star Vlad Karachunov was smuggled into Canada all the way from St. Petersburg to teach some workshops of his creative style. Here is his performance from  Pole Art 2011 of his to put a face to the name:

Much excitement was built up around his workshops and I signed up for the Advanced/Super Advanced tricks. There was also an intermediate one earlier on during the day, and I really should have signed up for that one as well (if I had a million dollars), as I have a feeling he actually taught tricks in that one that would be useful for performance.

In the Super Advnaced level, we mostly worked with handstands (aka flags if you are a Russian), but a lot of it was technique work in my point of view - very little actual "tricks". Vlad focused on the geometry of various handstand variations. This was very useful to me and made much more sense than the current teaching style at my studio. I am not one who understands terms such as "engage this muscle and this will happen"; I prefer explanations along the lines of "go here, then here, then here". If the trick is broken down into its geometry, it makes more sense to me, as I am used to manipulating my body into various positions. I cannot manipulate my body into a position if I do not know where I am going. Vlad was the perfect instructor to show this as his strength is obviously well developed, so he could hold the trick at it's various transition points without effort. I was talking to some of my pole girls about this after the workshop, and they, on the other hand, found it very difficult to understand, saying that they prefer to know which muscles to engage instead/as well.

A very useful point that I took away from Vlad's workshop is that "the strength will come, but it's the geometry/technique that one needs to train yourself to understand and follow first."

So, all in all, it was a very expensive way for me to get my "Regular Grip" handstand down. A bit of a disappointment really, because I see Vlad's videos and he shows some impressive creative tricks. Would have been a much better use of time and money to have him teach his creative tricks in first person, as opposed to going over handstand alignment.

Vlad showing his performance skills at Tantra Fitness in Vancouver, BC, Canada

Pro Polers need to remember that they should bring their signatures to the workshop. We all have pole instructors that will teach us how to do basics such as handstands, flags, and well known spins. We want to see new things that only you can teach - whether that involves creative combos, or rare tricks/spins, or even awesome transitions!

I had a chance to chat with Vlad after the class (whose English is excellent), and asked him how Canada's level of pole compares, on average, with Russia, or at least St. Petersburg. He said that, of course, Russia's level is much more advanced. He hypothesized that it was due to the diameter of the poles. Most pole studios have 2" diameter poles here (even though competition regulation diameter is 1.5"), while Russian studios have 1.5". He says that the thinner diameter creates a world of difference on how quickly and easily you can learn and progress.

I, on the other hand, hypothesize that it is not only the shoe laces that prevent the dancer from being the best. Being Russian, and hence knowing a bit about the culture's work habits and teaching styles, I speculate that the teaching approach and students' work ethics also contribute a lot to the success of Russian polers. I can only speculate, but I would say that the teaching style is probably a bit more serious, and more structured, with targeted conditioning and a demand for dedication, while the work ethic is also probably more committed and intense. How many times do I come to class at Tantra and watch as people chat away the hour, with empty poles all around them? How many times have I heard from my pole friends, and experienced myself, that the warm ups in some US studios, or the warm ups led by travelling pole stars, are so much more intense and useful than the meek warm ups our studio offers? The excuse for this criticism is always "but it's all just for fun". It seems like fun has become synonymous with slacking off.

Conquering New Frontiers

Remember The Pole Paradox, that angry post I wrote a couple of weeks back, explaining how disappointed I was with the public judging a pole performance before they even got a chance to find out what it is?

Well, I'm happy to announce that with some convenient scheduling changes and a supportive organizing team, my performance was back on!  This was a big deal for me because it meant I'd perform at a non-pole oriented event, to a community that pretty much knows nothing about poling. This was a new frontier!

Of course, as new frontiers usually go, everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong. First, the organizers let me know 3 days before the performance that I was back on. I had long since retired the routine and decided not to make the costume. Thankfully, I didn't cancel my arrangements to procure a stand-alone X-Stage! Also, thanks to my overly-obsessive nature when I practice, remembering the routine was easy.

On the day of the event, the order of the performers got mixed up, so it was an embarrassing feat trying to drag the stand alone X-Pole out to the middle of the stage while some gypsy dancers distracted the public. Next, came the pole cleaning in the open- which is so loaded with innuendos, that even the most open minded audience can't help but snicker. Finally, when the gear was ready to go, my music wasn't. It took the tech team and me 15 minutes to get my music up! Of course, by then, I was so nervous that my hands were sweating buckets; and on top of that, I forgot to freshen up on the dry hands right before I went on stage.

A handstand combo was my opening move, and I had to develop nearly super human strength in order to hold it. I felt my top hand slipping and I thought "I have to bail." Then, I felt the eyes of a room full of easily impressionable newbie pole audience and panicked: "I can't bail! There is no other option but to hold on!"

On a side note about performing in general, I have noticed that one of the major things that cause me to get more nervous than I should during a performance, is the fact that the music is coming from somewhere around me, as opposed to from my headphones - which is what I do when I practice in the studio. When practicing, I will try to do more routine run throughs with music played from the sound system, to see if I can simulate the performance environment closer.

With music problems and nerves, I hobbled through the rest of my routine. Nevertheless, throughout my performance  I heard, somewhere far away, the polite clapping of an audience that knows nothing about the cheers and hoots that a pole dancing audience emits.

When it was finally over, I ran backstage and was greeted enthusiastically by the other performers, who all piled stage left behind the curtains to watch my routine. They seemed amazed and all expressed immense interest in learning how to pole. Talking to some select people in the audience, no one noticed any mess ups and everyone was impressed. Even the grandmothers and grandfathers of the audience didn't grumble!

It was a big success!

Which brings me to next weekend, my competition at the Taboo Sex Show. The plan of bringing the art of pole, as opposed to the stereotype of pole, to the suburban nay-sayers, still stands!

 Onward to more new frontiers!!!

The Pole Paradox

The Pole Paradox, as I have coined it, is this:

1. Pole has a sexy stereotype
2. Pole performers want to show that Pole is more versatile than that, and work hard to create a variety of artistic atmospheres on the pole
3. But, pole performers are not allowed to perform at more conservative events due to their sexy stereotype
4. So, pole performers are forced to perform only at risque events, even though they show a variety of acts, both sexy and unsexy (much like any other dance form)
5. So, the sexy stereotype is prolonged, and pole performance is not viewed objectively by the general public at all

I have been working on a routine for a local theatre company who was putting on a formal holiday dinner with various artistic performances as entertainment; this morning, I found out my act was cancelled due to the fact that the ticket buyers were consistently complaining to the organizers about my routine, threatening not to come because of the inappropriateness of pole dancing. 

The organizers have seen my routines and have approved their content as suitable for the event, however, the public didn't trust the organizer's decision, and prejudged my talent before finding out anything about what competitive pole dancing is, and who the performer is as well.

It's disappointing and hurtful to be treated with such disrespect and prejudice.

I have a plan though. We have a competition coming up at Taboo Naughty but Nice Show in Vancouver, and I am planning to create a routine in my own style - artistic, acrobatic, and so much more than just sexy or raunchy. If the general conservative public won't let us come to them, then we will have them come to us.

Given that the general public doesn't know and doesn't care what pole can be, the onus is and will always be on the practitioners to change the stereotype view of pole. Thousands upon thousands of suburban parents go to Taboo and then go home and sit on conservative organizing committees of all sorts. But, they won't have their view of pole validated in the way that they expect, because it will be upon us, the members of the competition, to show them what we are capable of! We will literally guerrilla market them at the Taboo sex show and show them that we are not just one sided sex acts!

The Pole Paradox will be eliminated for good...eventually...