Vestival 2009

Today Jo, Rosanna & Hayley went to the Vestival on the Piazza in Plymouth City Centre, it was not as warm as we would have wanted it to be but we braved the cold and assembled the podium pole dancing stage ready for our 6 performances. I went up first and you can see my 2 performances below. It is far from my best as the cold made it impossible to warm up in the time allowed so my muscles felt weak and the pole felt even colder so was much less sticky than I hoped it would be! All in all it was a good event and it attracted some good attention apart from one sad individual who took it upon himself to have a go at Jo. A huge thanks to Rosanna & Hayley for performing so beautifully, Jo deserved a medal for braving the abuse and being a great PR person. Thanks to Nixi and to all the students who turned up to support us. Thanks also to Tamsin from Jelly frog who booked us in the first place. We had a big thumbs up from the lovely Lady Mayoress who gave me a big hug after my performance.
Lastly Get Well Soon to Tamar who has spent the last 2 days in bed and therefore was unable to perform today. Check out Hayley's and Rosanna's blogs for their videos from the event.


Stay Healthy,


Sam x

The Perfect day off.

Although my husband and I usually get the pleasure of having Sundays off work we always crave an extra day off but always end up working Saturdays. I was amazed to find out that yesterday both Sid & I were able to take the whole day of work. Thanks to Jo for holding the fort in my absence!

Obviously the perfect day off started with a luxurious lie-in followed by an equally luxurious breakfast of smoked salmon drizzled in lemon juice, mushrooms, granary toast and poached eggs sprinkled with ground black pepper. After the sumptuous breakfast we drove to Woodside Animal Sanctuary to try to find an animal for us to sponsor through the art of dance. Rather than finding one animal to sponsor I really wanted to sponsor everything and bring them all home with me but luckily Sid was there to keep my sanity in check and stop me making any stupid decisions! I battled with my desire to adopt Harvey the Staffordshire bull terrier, I know that my work hours are too demanding for me to take on the responsibility of a dog so I had to settle with several cuddles and the option to sign up and volunteer as a Woodside dog walker, I will keep you posted on dog walking progress as soon as I have checked that my tetanus injections are up to date.

After much indecisiveness I found three resident cats who I hope to sponsor. One of them is pictured at the top of this blog. I will be chatting to Dawn from Woodside to confirm the sponsorship and will then let you know details of exactly what we have sponsored.



After our visit to Woodside we couldn't resist the opportunity to go to the gogreous Royal Oak pub at Meavy. On arrival we were greeted by landlord Stephen Earp (see picture above) who served us a beautiful pint of Sharp's Doom bar. The Doom bar has particular significance for Sid & I as it is the ale we hired in for our wedding. The Royal Oak has many local supliers one of whom is the Dartmoor farmers group, the farmers produce high quality meat with a focus on looking after their animals and keeping their conditions natural so you can be assured that the meat does not contain artificial chemicals, hormones or antibiotics. Sid purchased a beautiful looking piece of sirloin steak courtesy of the Dartmoor farmers. We spent nearly an hour relaxing in the pleasant surroundings of the 15th Century pub before venturing to Yelverton for spot of shopping.

Our first stop was Bidders the butchers (see picture right) where we stocked up on eggs, meats, butter and some lovely pasta sauce, we then went to the Yelverton stores to buy fresh bread, broccoli and a copy of the Herald! It was then time to venture home for tea where I did something very unusual- I ate a piece of sirloin steak! : I gave up eating meat when I was 11 due to the fact that I hated the idea of factory farming, About 5 years ago I reintroduced fish and shellfish into my diet but have not eaten any red or white meat. As my husband prepared his steak I decided that I would have a small piece of meat, it was so tasty and although I do not plan to eat red meat on a regular basis I might have the odd piece if I know where it has come from and how it has been farmed!

Anyway before I sign off I wanted to mention the fantastic performance on Saturday night by Robert Webb on the new BBC programme let's dance. To be honest I didn't really rate the programme and was just about to turn over when Robert came onto stage to do his rendition of Flashdance, I have not laughed so much in years and have watched the clip several times since. If you have not seen the dance yet just click here - it is amazing!

I will blog again and post videos after Saturdays performance at the Vestival in Plymouth City Centre Piazza.

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

Lazy Sunday

Warning: Today's blog may be a long one as so much has been happening both at the art of dance and at home. I thought I would start with this lovely picture of Levi - see above. Levi is one of my 22 rescued cockatiels and he likes a cuddle before he is fed in the morning. Levi has settled in with the other 8 new arrivals and once again the colony is happy and content, the lucky birds even have some new nest boxes courtesy of my dad. The recent signs of spring have definitely cheered the birds up and as I write they are basking in the February sunshine.

I also wanted to share a few pictures from the recent winter snow showers, it is very unusual for us to get snow in Plymouth so my husband and I couldn't resist the opportunity to nip up to Sheepstor to build the obligatory snowman and then venture to a lovely old pub for a traditional pint. Above you can see the gorgeous view across Sheepstor looking onto Burrator Reservoir, click here for the BBC's fantastic 360 degree panoramic view of this beautiful spot on Dartmoor. Below you can see my rather pathetic attempt at snowman building or perhaps it could be a snow amoeba?

After the brief bit of snow indulgence Sid & I drove to the fantastic 13th Century pub at Meavy, The Royal Oak. The Royal Oak is a family run pub in the heart of the tiny Dartmoor village of Meavy, not only do they do amazing real ales from local breweries but they also serve great locally sourced food and they sell fresh free range eggs. We bought a dozen for only £1.60! There are many more lovely snow pictures and other local images on the new I-Herald site.

Back to news from the art of dance, despite the recession we are still keeping our heads above water and all 4 venues are getting busier. Rosanna's Exeter pole dancing classes have been full to the brim, Kelly's Torquay pole classes are filling up fast and Hayley's Liskeard pole classes have also started to fill. Nixi has had a quieter week with the University of Plymouth pole dancing club due to exams and coursework - hope the workload eases soon for all the students! The Plymouth studio is ticking over but has plenty of spaces left, next week sees the return of Nixi's flexibility classes, these are great for improving your overall bendiness and will help you work towards moves such as the splits and box splits. Anyone can join these classes and they are a great asset for pole dancers who want to improve their flexibility. Classes cost £7 each and can be booked online here.

Next Saturday Rosanna, Tamar & I will be performing in the Piazza in Plymouth City Centre between 12:40 and 13:20 as part of the Vestival (Volunteering Festival). It will be interesting to see how the three of us cope with the intense 40 minute performance and I expect us to emerge bruised and battered after our performances. If you are local to Plymouth please come and along and support us and the other acts that are performing throughout the day.

After the Vestival performance I have the pleasure of teaching a group of girls from the youth group in Cornwall for Jess's 16th birthday celebrations. I have spent the last 2 Friday evenings teaching the members of the youth service and they have worked extremely hard through both sessions. Unfortunately, due to lack of support from Lux Park Leisure centre, the service is relocating to Looe. The decision to move the service is a great loss for the girls in Liskeard who will only be able to access the service by bus at a considerable extra cost to the service itself. I am hoping to negotiate with Lux Park to ensure that the girls can continue to access the pole dancing classes in Liskeard and will kep you posted on developments.

I hope to have a definite date for my pending BBC3 documentary that is part of the Bold Britain series, it may be shown on Thursday 5th March but I will let you know for definite nearer the time.

Lastly news on TV shopping, Sid & I decided the time had come to replace my antique TV despite my feelings that the TV may have another 10 years left in it! My Mum also needed a replacement for her outdated portable so off we ventured to Richer Sounds to chat to the great acting manager Tony about the latest deals and best buys. I love Richer Sounds as the service is so friendly and it makes a refreshing change from the larger more impersonal stores. Hopefully we are all now ready for the impending digital switchover. Here is my Mum and Sid enjoying the retail therapy!On the subject of my Mum, we will both be starting our new aerobics workout as of Tuesday 3rd Feb, we both need the extra cardio boost and it should really help with my pole practice as well as providing health benefits for both my Mum & I.

To finish I have to have a whinge about recent news surrounding Jack Tweed, Jade Goody's husband for those of you who may not have seen recent news! Whilst I think it is wonderful that Jade is improving awareness of cervical cancer and is encouraging more youngsters to get screened I am appalled at the decision by the Home Office to overturn Jack's curfew and I think it makes a mockery of our justice system, especially when you consider the nature of the crime, it was a violent crime involving Jack using a golf club to repeatedly hit a 16 year old boy. Regardless of what the 16 year old had done to warrant such an attack I cannot condone such a level of violence and I wonder what message the lifting of the curfew sets out to the younger generation?

Anyway, it must be time to enjoy the rest of my day off, I hope you have a great weekend!

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

Flexibility

My quest to improve my fitness continues with some extra pole training sessions booked in for Thursday & Friday, I find that training with fellow instructors ensures that I work hard and do not spend half the time rummaging through various CD's looking for a track to train too! Aside from my pole fitness my busy schedule has prevented me from attending my regular yoga sessions. I hope that I can make it to Nixi's flexibility session next Thursday, check out the art of dance events page for details. Anyone can attend the session and participants do not need to be members. My new inspiration for flexibility is the following video entitled 'Rhythmic gymnastics is not easy':

For those of you who think that pole dancing is just for women and involves a very expensive metal pole, think again, check out this guy who has obviously been to more flexibility classes than me and has gone for a very economic pole!

The ongoing SDC fiasco continues, thanks to Glamour Puss for her brilliant blog and massive brownie points to Jo for her blog about me!!


Stay healthy,

Sam x

The Masquerade ball and the missing kakariki

Last night , Jo Sue & I performed at the Masquerade ball at the officers mess in Stonehouse, Plymouth to help raise money for the Help the heroes charity. We opened the show with a 13 minute pole and burlesque showcase starting with a slow walk down the lavish stairs into the reception area where Sue performed her classic black velvet routine, Sue looked amazing as always. Jo and I followed with a pole-off Argentinian tango style. I was really pleased with the overall show but disappointed with the quality of the video, so apologies for the darkness and dodgy camera angles! Check out Sue's blog for the entrance and burlesque act and see the video below for Jo and me pole dancing:

It is worth mentioning that last nights venue would be perfect for our pending birthday bash and I intend to chase things up next week to see if it is possible to hire.......


On Thursday morning one of my birds managed to escape from my aviary, he was a beautiful kakariki (see picture below). It is unlikely that he is still alive unless someone has found him and despite an extensive search, a letter drop to local neighbours and calls to woodside animal sanctuary I have failed to locate him, my husband and I are gutted.

Bizarrely enough I had a phone call on Friday morning from a neighbour stating that they had found a bright yellow bird in their back garden, I was really excited about the prospect of getting the little bird back but met with disappointment on arrival to see a small canary sat in a cage. On closer inspection of the canary it turned out to be our art of dance photographer Chris Trent who had been at work so did not now that his bird was missing. The neighbour who had discovered the bird had already become quite attached to it and so Chris decided that he could keep it. So a happy ending for the canary but a less happy ending for the kakariki.



Stay Healthy,

Sam x

Sleep Deprivation

Thanks to my neighbours for partying until 5.45am this morning, as a result my husband and I were awake all night, even when the music stopped just before 6am we only had an hour and a half reprieve before the JCB and jack-hammer arrived to remove the concrete foundations from the house adjacent to us. As you can imagine I am feeling completely shattered today especially after giving blood yesterday. I will blog about giving blood later.

Please excuse my tired state today which will probably affect my writing so I will keep today's blog fairly brief.

It seems the recent South Devon College saga is still ongoing with more debates and online discussions including the following: Scott Douglas's blog, 7.62 justice blog, Buzzchow's blog and Average Joe's blog to name but a few. Of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion and the ongoing debate is actually good for the modern pole dancing industry, oh and I now have my own news pages on Wikio and Daylife!

Life at the art of dance is still manic with preparations for our performances on Saturday at the Masquerade Ball at the officers mess Stonehouse to raise money for Help the Heroes. Sue, Jo & I are opening the event with a pole & Burlesque show which I hope to video and post next week. Tomorrow Jo and I are adding the finishing touches to our pending DVD so hope to have news on that ASAP. Also check out Rosanna's blog for news from her holiday to Egypt and other smugness!

Despite my tiredness I am now off to join Jo's 6.15pm class for more punishment!

Stay healthy,

Sam x

University of Plymouth Pole Dancing club

Firstly apologies to anyone who turned up at Annabel's last night for our student social, It was cancelled at very short notice after my period decided to be particularly nasty and inflict so much pain on me that there was no way I was venturing out, Poor Jo was stuck at home due to black ice which prevented her being able to get out of her own drive. I phoned as many people as I could and also wanted to apologise to Annabel herself for our sudden cancellation - Sorry everyone but you can blame my womb!

Anyway, one pole jam that did go ahead was the University of Plymouth's pole dancing club event to raise money for muscular dystrophy sufferers. You can read all about it on Nixi's blog and you can watch some fab videos clicking these links, UPPDC Pole Jam and Nixi's solo.

Well it is now time to venture onto the moors to build a snowman and then stop at some lovely country for a pint of real ale, I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

DVD's and more backlash from the recent press coverage

I have a small window of about 30 mins in which to try to catch up with some blogging. Before I update you on the South Devon College story and ensuing press coverage I have some news of a different nature: At long last Jo & I have completed filming for Volume 1 of the art of dance instructional DVD's. Our fab film crew from Weymouth (pictured below both in action and posing for the camera) worked with a 3 camera set up and sound person and included a fab glidecam as used in the filming of Alien! The DVD, which should be released in 2 weeks time will feature 4 advanced tricks (The Superman, The shoulder mount, The Cradle and the Elbow hold handstand or Ayesha as it is commonly known) as well as these tricks there are demos of variations of each trick and combinations too as well as bonus footage. I will let you know as soon as the DVD is on sale. You may want to watch the last video from the Weymouth team entitled " Make me a pole dancer"


SO back to the South Devon College furore, to be honest I though that by now the story would have died a death but that is far from the case, the two videos on you tube are still receiving a serious amount of hits and one of them is up to 82,000 hits and the other is on 34,000.

The newspapers are still featuring the story via columns and letters from the public and once again the stories seem to be very supportive for the pole dancing industry. On Wednesday I went to London for another interview with the BBC so that they can update my pending documentary to feature the whole saga. Then on Thursday I was contacted by a New York news channel about doing an interview for them in the very near future.

The Lovely Jolene from Purity pole was featured on her local radio station and gave a great interview about the benefits of pole dancing, during the interview she praised my performance at South Devon College. You can click on the interview by clicking the link and then pressing the play button, you will need to give the download a chance to buffer and then go to about 70 minutes into the programme to hear Joleen's piece. Well Done Jolene on a great interview!

Also Thanks To Dana Mayer from rock n roll pole for this letter that she wrote to the Metro:

As a fellow pole instructor, I applaud Sam Remmer's efforts to teach pole dancing to teenagers. (Metro, Fri). The moves in themselves are acrobatic in nature and require strength. It is also a fantastic workout, working the arms, core, and legs.

I take issue with the problems school staff seemed to have with Mrs Remmer's demonstration. Pole dancing can be taught in such a way that the moves between the acrobatic poses are graceful, agile, and flowing --they do not have to be sexual or raunchy in nature.


Dana Mayer,
Equity Pole Dancers' Working Party "

More to follow on the ongoing debate about fitness pole dancing.......

Lastly I have 2 big hugs to send to two art of dance students, Firstly gorgeous Kim who is finally managing to walk with the help of a frame and may be home in about a week. Keep Strong hunny!

My second big hug goes to our talented Exeter Student Nicole Windley who left the art of dance studio in Plymouth at 8.30pm last night only to get stuck in the chaos on the A38, click here for the full story. Poor Nicole didn't get home until 6am this morning and then discovered there was no power at her house either. FAO Nicole, hope you have warmed up and got some serious sleep x

I will sign off now but may see some of you at our art of dance social at Annabel's tomorrow evening.

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

Hayley

I have so much to tell you that I can't wait to get the time to do some serious blogging, however, such time is not readily available at present so instead I must refer you to Hayley's blog. Hayley has been busy with a photoshoot and a meeting with Peter Jones & Duncan Bannatyne. Go Hayley!!!!

Stay Healthy,

Sam x