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!!!
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