An interesting few days

After my last blog about frustrations with both local council and national government I have been watching with interest the demonstrations surrounding the G20 summit, it seems that it is no longer the minority who are unhappy with the way our country is being run. On the first day of protests 35,000 protesters turned up in the centre of London and that number is expected to rise dramatically over the next week. I will watch with interest to see how things evolve.....

If you read my previous blog then you will know that I was off to London on Friday for the Equity pole dancers working group meeting, I set of at 8.30pm to catch my train but after it arrived 15 minutes late I then had to wait patiently on the platform as the doors failed to open, passengers waiting to get off the train looked on as someone tried to rectify the problem, eventually the doors were open and off we went only to experience the same problem at each station delaying the journey by an average of 15 minutes per station, by the time we reached Westbury the train was now over 1.5 hours late and this time the doors were really stuck. There was one emergency exit available for the whole train, very little communication from staff and the ongoing frustration of knowing I was going miss my meeting. As time ticked on I knew that I was never going to get to the London office of Equity and therefore decided to change at Reading to get a train home.

I won't go into the full details of the problems with my first great western train but I will be complaining to FGW as well a writing to the health and safety executive to find out why I was put on a train with limited escape routes.

Apart from the disasterous train journey I do have some great news, I have booked the art of dance 5th Birthday Bash. The event will be a black tie event on the 7th June at the Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club, the venue has a stunning 180 degree view across the sound and includes an outdoor and indoor viewing area. The main events will be the student showcases and instructor exhibitions that will take place in the fantastic ballroom with food being served in the adjacent restaurant area. I am really excited about the day as it promises to be a great night. If any of you are interested in buying tickets then you can click here to buy them from our events page, tickets cost £30 and include all the entrainment and buffet. If you are interested in exhibiting the contact me to discuss.

Having our birthday bash booked really motivates my pole practice and this week I achieved my first full flag (see picture right), well OK so I cant keep both legs straight and have to have one bent but this for me is a big step forward and combined with the twisted handgrip I could have this one nailed for the birthday bash.

I have lots more to share with you but have to go to get ready for tonights thai-boxing and kick boxing show at Marjon's. My husband has 7 Saints fighters on the bill which means we will be very busy in the corner. I will let you know how the night goes. If any of you are local and fancy coming along there are some tickets left for purchase on the door.

Big hugs to the lovely Kim whom I visited on Thursday at the Royal Devon & Exeter hospital, Kim is making great improvement and is coping well despite having been in hopsital for over 3 months. If all goes according to plan Kim could be home in 2 weeks. I am looking forward to seeing her new home and providing her with some pole dancing lessons very soon. I also hope to help out with the fundraising ball for the local cystic fibrsis charity in September, more news to follow.

Big hugs also to the gorgeous Glamour Puss who has been recovering from surgery but still managed to attend Fridays Equity meeting and raised some issues in my absence.
A huge hug to The Lordette herself who has also been out of action, I am off to see her this afternoon so will let you know how she is getting on. Finally get well soon to my lovely Mum who has a horrible head cold, I hope my mum will be feeling better very, very soon,

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

Fed up.

As you can tell from the title of this blog I am not having a good day, I am sure that my frustration is not unique to me as many people I speak to are also feeling the frustrations of living and working in the UK. I feel like the harder I work the more money I give away. My utility bills, council tax, business rates have all risen dramatically whilst customer service from major companies and the government has declined.

I am also starting to feel like a racist, I have never considered myself a racist before but I do feel that if I visit another country then I am expected to abide by the laws of that country which is more than fair therefore if people choose to come and live in our country then they in turn should have to respect our culture. If you want to read more on this subject then I will let Pat Condell do the talking as he is much more interesting than me. I thought I lived in a civilised society where homosexuality was accepted and women had freedom to make choices but I am starting to doubt those facts.

In the past month I have written 3 letters, 1 to my MP Linda Gilroy and 2 to my councilors Lynda Bowyer and Micheal Leaves. I have not heard back from any of them although Michael Leaves did pass my letter to a relevant department but failed to respond personally to specific questions I had asked him.

I used to believe that MP's and councillors took their posts because they cared about people, I believed that by working for the government you had a duty of care to your constituents but now I feel things have changed.

What is more if an MP is now on a basic salary of £60,000 (that does not include expenses) then already they are far removed from most normal members of society who do not earn anyway near £60,000. Our MP's now want an increase of £40,000 to take their salaries to £100,000 to work for 26 weeks of the year - nice work if you can get it! Surely it is about time that we acted? It seems that if you are a hardworking nurse, policeman, fireman etc you get a meagre wage for doing a very important job but if you really want to rake in the pounds then why not be a footballer or pop star! Interestingly a recent survey suggests that when schoolkids were interviewed about what they wanted to do when they grow up the most common answer was 'to win the lottery', this answer hardly gives our kids aspirations for the future.

I am aware that I am ranting and may not have all my facts exactly right but I do feel I am justified in my thoughts and do feel like it is time for change!

As I descend, temporarily, from my soap box I must try to reduce my current stress levels as simply getting angry will get me nowhere, I am off to write a few more letters to the relevant councillors and MPS about why they have failed to respond to my previous correspondance and why they feel justified in receiving a payrise and ludicrous expenses! I am sure that this is not the last you will hear from me on this subject.

Please feel free to coment on this blog or go to the shame on you site to publically air your views.

Stay healthy,

Sam x

Give it some heart!

Well as promised here is the link to the new heart radio station which has replaced Plymouth Sound today. Our choreography master Rosanna has been working hard with the news team (Michaela, Andy & Nic) to help them promote their new station. Click here to see the full story and view the video!

Stay healthy,

Sam x

A blog in pictures

As this is my 2nd blog in the same number of days and as I am also going to blog tomorrow I will try to post mainly pictures today to save your brain any unnecessary stress. I wasn't going to blog today but after last nights amazing lobster supper I couldn't resist some smugness, I also found a few other photos that I have been meaning to share with you so here goes. Firstly the image at the top of the blog and immediately below were photos my husband took whilst on holiday in Lanzarote in December last year, they were taken at the fantastic viewpoint of Mirador Del Rio
As discussed here are 2 pics from last night, the first is the Restaurant looking rather lovely after its recent refurb and the second is my main dish of Lobster with new potatoes, salad and a red pepper mayo. I must point out that I have not been to the Waterfront Restaurant for some time but the improvement there is huge, the food, service and surroundings are far better than they have ever been and even the toilets have had a facelift, Congratulations to Steve and Kelly who have worked so hard to make the transformation happen, I will definitely be returning again soon and am glad to see one of Plymouth little gems looking so good.I thought some of you might like to see our art of dance pigeon chicks who have successfully nested outside my office, they are very cute but I don't think the picture does them justice.
Lastly - Happy Mothers day to all mothers out here and in particular my wonderful Mum whom I think thoroughly enjoyed her lobster meal last night!

Well more blogging from me tomorrow on Rosanna's latest work and I will blog mid week about my husbands forthcoming Thai and kick boxing show next Sunday, there are stll plenty of tickets left and the show is full of local fighters, I am thoroughly looking forward to cornering for the Saints fighters and hope they will all win.

Have a Great Sunday

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

Pole practice and time off work

After 2 hours of pole dancing and 1 hours aerobic conditioning with my Mum on Thursday my muscles were feeling a little tender when it came to a pole jam on Friday afternoon. Hayley and I were the only ones able to make the practice and neither of us were feeling that motivated but we gt on the pole anyway, you can see our pathetic attempts in the video below, you will, no doubt, enjoy my slip when moving from the Jamilla to the wrist seat! Apologies to Hayley for making her stay to film three more videos before realising the camera wasn't working!

After the pole jam it was time to head off for a very pleasant, cosy meal at the Royal Oak at Meavy. Today involved a great drive out across Dartmoor stopping at a pub called the Abbey Inn at Buckfasleigh which I must highly recommend: The food and service was wonderful and as the pub is situated by a river we were able to sit outside to dine. Tonight we are off to indulge in Lobster at the Waterfront pub on the Hoe, the view from this restaurant is truly superb. Thanks to my husband for treating me and both our mums to such a lovely weekend, it has reminded me how lucky I am to live in Devon.

Thanks to those of you who commented on my last blog, I think the blog and the comments highlight the need for both the Equity workers group and the soon to be launched Pole Dance Community website which should help the industry move forwards and help us pole dancers to work together.

I will blog again on Monday about Rosanna's latest antics which should make you laugh hysterically!

Stay healthy,

Sam x

Shame on John Benner!

For any of you who are familiar with the world of pole dancing competitions you may have heard that the recent World pole dance championship to be held in Amsterdam this weekend was cancelled with less than 48 hours notice and many of the performers and exhibitors were not told until they arrived, as you can imagine the cancellation caused heartache and financial loss to many. Body & Pole members can read more info here. For myself and many others the cancellation comes as little surprise as the event was organised by a controversial character within the pole dancing industry and his name is John Bennner. Many established pole dancers including Kay Penney, Jamilla Devile, KT Coates and Tammy Morris had already warned us about incidents they had experienced when trying to work with Mr Benner. Here is an official press release from Miss Pole Dance UK:

On the Outrage in Amsterdam

We have heard from many upset people who are outraged by the cancellation of the World Event in Amsterdam. We also are furious as many of our close friends have been affected both financially and through lost time by this unprofessional behaviour.

John Benner is known for his unethical and irresponsible behaviour yet this is way above what even we thought possible by this man and with almost no notice of cancellation or attempt to apologise, or make amends through refunds make this situation something that must never be allowed to be repeated.

John Benner operates from a scam organisation called the World Pole Dance Federation (WPDF www.mpdworld.com) This is nothing but a farce to entice licence fees from pole dancers hoping to expand their business. This federation offers nothing and is smoke and mirrors. Unfortunately this warning comes too late for some who have been enticed into joining and paying large sums of money and finding that John Benner doesn’t actually offer anything at all (unless you include botched competitions).

Frustratingly, we warned certain parties of the dangers of working with this man and his organisation including Pole2Pole as we hoped they would warn others using their media, but sadly they decided to join with John Benner and advertise his event making the situation worse. So they must also share the blame in this mess and cannot exonerate themselves with a simple statement stating they have lost money in sponsoring John Benner when clearly they used their magazine to influence people to travel to Holland ignoring everything we had told them. Where does that leave all the people they advertised this event who subsequently lost money?

Another disaster for the pole dance community looms with Pole2pole as they seem to want to drag pole dancing back years by creating a UK competition called the British Isles Pole Dance Championships which has events being organised in sex clubs. One club is advertising £5 lap dances and 'barely legal' dancers. Further club owners are advertising the competition nights to their clientele? Pole2pole boast a £20,000 prize fund which they are yet to prove independently is real and valued at anywhere near this level. This is simply exploitation and aimed to entice dancers who otherwise would be more discerning.

There is some confusion of the World event in Holland and the (real) World event in Jamaica. Let us make very clear that Miss Pole Dance events and World Pole Dance which is being held in Jamaica in April (and Europe in 2010) is in no way connected with John Benner or Pole2pole magazine.

Miss Pole Dance UK and Miss Pole Dance USA which is owned and operated by us, actively work with and cooperate with Miss Pole Dance Australia, Miss Pole Dance New Zealand, Miss Pole Dance Germany, Miss Pole Dance Japan, Miss Pole Dance Canada, Miss Pole Dance Brazil, Miss Pole Dance Hungary and Miss Pole Dance Spain. All these competitions are run by highly respected Pole Dancers who are keen to represent Pole Dance as a recognised pole sport through showcase events to change public perception of the negative elements that still exist.

We share the disappointment in the pole community over the failure of John Benner and the frustration this has bought to many and hope this statement serves as a warning to others to be mindful that there are some people who see dedication and commitment in the pole dance community especially in those who have worked hard to compete on a world stage as an opportunity to make money by false representation and we will work to expose this wherever we find it.

Anyone who is considering buying tickets or getting involved in a pole dance competition is welcome to contact us and we will use our resources to check on the event to ensure that no unethical competitions survive.

Miss Pole Dance Org UK is calling an international boycott of Pole 2 Pole Magazine. We will cancel our subscriptions and pull all our support of the magazine and will no longer advertise with them.

There is now a facebook group you can join to spread the word about Mr Benner and his controversial activities.

More news to follow,

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

Shame on you (a short blog)

Whilst browsing the Internet for the latest info on the Life Centre I stumbled across a website called Shame on you, it seems I am not the only one who is not a big fan of the proposed Life Centre! The shame on you site must be fairly new as there are only a few articles posted but they make a very interesting read especially the 'Shame on the Netherlands' post!

Unfortunately the site seems aimed at Plymouth citizens only but I see no reason why those of you who are not Plymothian can't use the site and get some issues of your chest?

Onto news from my husbands gym: Saints Gym, Taurus Kickboxing and Saints Thaiboxing (Plymouth University Club) fighters and students have raised £500 for local charity Ellie's Haven. The money was raised via 12 hour sparathon at Mutley based Saints, well done to all of those who took part and all of those who sponsored the event. Ellie's haven aim to build a non medical holiday haven for parents and children with various disabilities. Well done to all those who took part.
After much searching and 2 businesses going bankrupt I have finally found a venue for the 5th Birthday bash, I will have everything confirmed next Friday 27th March and will be able to reveal the amazing new venue and ticket details. The event will be a black tie event for 150 people and will be in the heart of Plymouth. The venue can accommodate two x-poles and the ceiling height is 3metres 80cm which makes for some great student and instructor showcases. More news to follow when I have some more time!

Stay healthy,

Sam x

The debate continues...a very long blog!

After reading some comments on the body and pole forum as well as comments on this blog I feel compelled to explain a few personal thoughts on the glamour vs fitness debate. Someone commented on the ad campaign featured in the BBC documentary as they had noticed that on the billboard poster I was wearing thigh high heeled boots (see picture above)which may seem to counter my argument for fitness pole dancing, the poster was made about 3 years ago at a time where we still danced in heels and actually encouraged the use of thigh high boots as it made climbing the pole much easier and prevented some bruising and skin abrasion. As well as the posters I still have flyers and many pictures on my website / blog of myself and other instructors wearing heels.

As the business has evolved we have opted for bare foot practice for several reasons, firstly, when perfecting spins on a static pole you need to work though the balls of the feet, if you are wearing heels you automatically push your body weight through the balls of the feet but if you are in bare feet you have to use the calf muscles in a much more dynamic way to achieve the same pivoting effect therefore dancing in bare feet gives the legs a better workout. Secondly as we have had expanded as a company we have worked with more people and the practicality of having 12 pairs of heels flying around he studio had become a mild health and safety issue.

I do remember some years ago two incidents involving heels that may want to be a word of warning to lap dancing clubs - the first incident involved one of my exhibition dancers performing in kitten heels, as she flew into a spin one of her shoes flew of her leg and directly into the face of a member of the audience, the next incident involved me dancing in a club, it was in the early days of the art of dance when we used to take our students to lap dancing clubs so they could see for themselves what went on and they could also see some great dancers at work. I was invited onto stage to perform mainly for my students, I was wearing a pair of black thigh high boots (the same ones shown on the advan), As I spun around the pole I was unaware of exactly how close one very drunk gentleman had got to the pole, my heel caught firmly into his eyelid flesh and stretched the piece of skin far beyond what it was meant to stretch, luckily there was no major harm done.

So, as previously stated we now run our classes in bare feet but that does not mean I am completely anti heels, I think that each pole dancer has the right to choose what is appropriate for them, consenting adults should have this choice. However I would argue that if teaching children then heels are highly inappropriate and also if we are teaching children we should focus on the gymnastics side of pole dancing and not the sexy side.

I think I would be naive to argue that pole dancing does not have a sexy side and one of the things I find with my students is that many of them start with the belief that they do not want to be sexy or wear heels but as there confidence grows many of my students actually want to be a bit more sexy. Is there anything wrong with that? Being sexy is different to being sleazy, Being sexy does not mean you are about to jump into bed with every man or woman you see. Being sexy comes from having body and mind confidence and having such confidence gives you the right to choose what you think is right for you.I will leave that debate for the moment and await your comments.....

Other news from the world of pole dancing include outrage from some residents of Kings Cross and Camden as they make a petition to have Miss Pole Dance Uk and the London Burlesque Festival banned from Scala night club, click here to read the story as featured in the Camden Gazette. This the official response from Miss Pole Dance to the story:

"Since 2005, the Miss Pole Dance Organisation have been providing opportunity for pole dance to be seen as a modern, liberating form of sport and fitness by creating national and international competitions. These competitions have become recognised worldwide and are a respected entity within the sporting fraternity. In 2008 we had 2 Olympic Athletes on the judging panel with top international dancers. Eurosport is covering our World Pole Dance Championships this year in Jamaica.

Many women now practice pole dance as a form of fitness, empowerment and fun, this is no longer a voyeuristic pastime for gentlemen's clubs but something that is practised by women from all walks of life......"

Another story in the press this week is that of an australian lap dancer who fell during a performance at Australia's Sexpo exhibition, she is now trying to sue the organisers for faulty equipment after she fell of the pole and broke her nose! Click here for the full story. Whilst this story seems like a bit of fun it does highlight the importance of using a proper pole when pole dancing, the pole has to be able to cope with not only your own bodyweight but also the excess forces that are imposed upon it as one swings ones body upside down, be warned that certain products on the market such as the gimmicky peek-a-boo pole and the Carmen Electra pole are not suitable for real pole dancing, these products are dangerous and I am amazed that there haven't been any really nasty accidents as a result of such products.

If you are after a decent pole my vote goes with x-pole although there are other products on the market that are also safe to use. On the subject of x-pole you may want to check out one of new useful links, Stacey from x-pole has launched her own x-pole blog as well as a new website for her pole dancing school. Stacey has also teamed up with Kat from Pole Love to recognise the UK's first amateur only pole dancing competition.

Another new resource for pole dancing schools is the fab new international pole schools world map, thanks to Claire from Pole Progression for producing the map, click here to view it.

Lastly before I completely dissolve your brain in pole news I wanted to draw your attention the new Equity pole dancing workers group, it has been a long time coming but at last we are moving towards nationally recognised standards for pole dancing and the Equity group formed by Genevieve Moody from the Flying studio and Dana Mayer from Rock n Roll pole have been working hard to push things forward. The next meeting will be held on Friday 27th March at 1pm at the Equity Head office in London, if you can't attend and are interested in finding out more then why not join the facebook group or contact Genevieve or Dana via their websites to be included in the mailing list.

Don't forget to pencil the 1st May into your diary too as it is UK pole dance day, full details to follow......

Well I think even I am completely poled out so am off to sit in my courtyard and treat my birds to a special spring bath and shower!

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

The Aftermath

Well it is the morning after the BBC documentary and I am struggling with mixed emotions. Overall I was pleased with the programme, especially the bit where they said I was 27! I think the programme got some of my points across but I did have a few real concerns about the final edit. Firstly I feel that the coverage of Miss Pole Dance 2008 did come across as a bit sleazy when in fact the 2008 comp was the least sleazy out of the 3 years in which I have been entering. The documentary focused on 'all the blokes' in the audience when the audience was predominantly female and was one of the best crowds I have ever danced for. One fact the Beeb definitely got right was the fact that the MC was a complete ****** and he did nothing to positively promote pole dancing or himself.

I think I came across as quite anti glamour girls when of course this is not the case, I just feel that there should be a separate fitness section and looking at how MPD is developing towards the Australian showgirl style competition I have decided not to enter again this year. I really hope the glamour girls don't take offence from the documentary.

Another area of disappointment was the lack of footage of my day to day struggle to run a business whilst dealing with extreme prejudice against my chosen art form, I really don't think that the programme will change anyone's perception of what I do but the programme hasn't done any harm either. I would love to have seen a bit more dancing and less crutch and bottom shots but then I thought that the editors might go for that angle!

My biggest criticism is that the documentary was taken over at the last minute by Natalie Cassidy who despite being a very nice person off camera did not come across well as presenter and failed to grasp the concept of programme, her arguments seemed vague and I still get the impression that she doesn't respect us pole dancers.

I am unsure whether my Mum and Dad are relieved or disappointed that their interviews were not included but I know that both of them were and continue to be extremely supportive about my dancing and my business which was a stark contrast from Hannah the boxer who was featured in the first part of the documentary, her parents thought what she was doing was wrong and that must makes things quite as difficult for her..

Anyway the programme has now been aired and will slowly fade from peoples memories until the next saga at the art of dance! Today I have the pleasure of shooting a short video with my fellow instructors which I hope to upload to youtube later today. More art of dance news to follow very soon. if you did miss the programme it will be on BBC i-player for the next 6 days, click here to view.

To finish I want to say keep fighting to the lovely Kim who continues to get stronger by the day despite the excruciating pain she has had to endure. I also want to send big hugs to my Mum and her friend Jean who was admitted to Hospital on Wednesday and has been put straight onto chemotherapy, it must be a very difficult time for her and her family.

I do want to say how much I appreciate all the positive messages I have received via e-mail, facebook etc regarding the documentary and my ongoing battle to get pole dancing recognised as a fun way to keep fit. No doubt the saga will not end here........

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

p.s. here is a vid of a few of the art of dance instructors messing around in the studio this afternoon, they are Jo Turpin, Rosanna Durban, Hayley Silk, Tamar Preston and ME!

P.S.

I know that I said I wouldn't blog til after the documentary (see yesterday's blog) but someone posted this on body and pole and I just had to hare it with you, it is a beautiful controlled pole performance to a great piece of music:
Stay Healthy

Sam x

The day of reckoning looms

As many of you will know I will be appearing on TV on Thursday, the programme will be aired at 8pm on BBC3 as part of the Real Britain series ( I think my bit may be on at 8.30pm but am not too sure). I have been reassured by various people at the BBC that the documentary will portray pole dancing in a positive light but I also know that the series editors have to make 'good TV' so I will reserve my judgement on the programme until after it has been aired. You can watch the programme on the BBC i-player.

I will blog again after the event and will look forward to your feedback. All I can guarantee you is that my fall off the pole at Miss Pole Dance UK 2008 is bound to be included so you can have great fun at my expense as I plummet towards the ground at speed, not a death drop I had planned!

I will also blog at a later date about a new pole dancing competition for 2009 which may not be the fitness competition that it claims to be!

I do hope you enjoy the documentary.......

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

Life in General

This week has been full of up's and downs and I have had some fantastic news accompanied by some truly awful news. I will start with some good news: The Lovely AmyTree has moved into her new home, My friend Kirsty has had a beautiful baby boy called Connor, I have managed to catch up with some old friends who I had briefly lost contact with, I had coffee with my friend Elaine whose baby is due next week. My grandad is doing well in his new home and my wonderful husband has been helping me with some graphic design (we have made some fab new flyers!) and we have set up a joint business, more news on that to follow very very soon!

Thanks to Chris from Global Eye photography for the picture above left of me performing a shoulder mount jack knife which is one of the moves from our new art of dance instructional DVD that is due for release very soon.

Get well soon to Tamar who had been rather under the weather lately and a huge hug to Kim Quaintance who has just had her essential new portacath fitted but is now in agony and desperate to be able to return home. FAO Kim: We are all thinking about you and hope that you can go home as soon as possible x x

It is very rare for my to buy new clothes or make-up but I had to face up to the reality that my favourite pink Loreal lipstick had really run out and no matter how much I picked at the case there was simply nothing left so off I went to Boots to pick out another one. To my horror they had discontinued my favourite shade and despite a desperate search of the store there was no shade that came even close. I am not the most patient shopper and I am sure that I had picked up every lipstick in the store, I had proof of this from the numerous tester shades plastered across my hand. I finally settled for a Rimmel option, Sugar Plum 086. This new lipstick happens to smell of sweets, which is fine if you are sweet toothed, I actually find the smell a little nauseating but for those of you who like sweet things and are trying to cut down on your calories this lipstick might just make you spend the whole day rushing out and buying cakes and chocolates!

The down side to the week: My mum's best friend has been diagnosed with lung cancer and the exact prognosis is looking pretty dire, it is scary to think that someone can appear fine and healthy and then within a few weeks become almost bed ridden. Jean is a wonderful lady who I spent much time with in my younger years. I can't imagine how she, her husband or daughter must be feeling but my thoughts are with them. I also want my Mum to know how much I am thinking about her, she has lost 2 of her really close friends in the last few years and the thought of losing Jean too is deeply upsetting for her. My Mum is such a wonderful person that she really does not deserve any more unhappiness, I just wish there was more that I could do to help.

You may remember me blogging last year about my Mum's friend Sue who had passed away after suffering a massive heart attack, as a result of her death her son Robert is running the London Marathon this year to raise money for the British heart Foundation, he hopes to reach his target of £2,500 and is currently up to £710. If you are interested in sponsoring him just click here for his just giving page. FAO Rob: Good Luck with your marathon attempt!

Now for my next subject, hopefully the landlord of my business premises will not be reading this as I have just spent his rent! People are always going on about speculating to accumulate so I have spent the rent on stock and now have less than 3 weeks to turn the stock back into cash! It may be a bit of a gamble but I have some fab new stock arriving this week including some funky new velour shorts, Nomis gloves, Dry Hands and much more!

Anyway, enough ranting for today as I am off for a luxurious bath followed by a quick visit to see my grandad and then pop to the farm shop before returning for a relaxing evening in front of the computer and TV.

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

Sticking to the pole

Holding one's body on a slippy metal pole has always been an interesting battle. Apart from gravity not helping in one's ability to stay on a pole there are several other factors that come into play: It seems that if the pole is too cold then it is not grippy and if the pole is too hot it encourages you to sweat so you also lack grip. If the air is cold then it is difficult to warm your muscles so they become weaker and do not perform to their best.

Obviously you can't wear clothes to keep you warm as they do not stick to the pole either. Oh and then there is the small matter of nerves: Whether you are nervous of performing or whether you are nervous because you are just trying a new move that is challenging your fear factor the result is usually that the body starts to sweat and this may result in no adhesion to the pole and a swift unplanned descent to the floor!

If you didn't see Horizon last night then you would have missed the fantastic debate on why we have a problem with nudity, why we are hairless in the first place and how we went from being hairy to hairless and then to wearing clothes. You can click here to watch the programme on BBC i-player. The programme features some interesting info on why we sweat and how essential sweating is to us as humans.

However important sweat is to human beings it is not good for pole dancing and therefore I have become increasingly reliant on my gloves for performances and exhibitions. My favourite gloves are the Nomis junior sports mitt (half finger) which Nomis have stopped making however I have sourced some old stock so will have some new gloves in by the end of next week, check out the website for full details. I also have a new contact from Nomis who may be able to get me some more stocks of my favourite gloves. You can see the gloves in action in the photo of me above performing a twisted grip handspring, picture courtesy of Chris Trent from Global Eye Photography.

Another solution for sweaty palms are products such as mighty grip which I have used for over a year but I find it is not strong enough to deal with competition sweat - trust me in the fact that comeptitions do very funny things to your palms and you can seat from your palms even if you are cold! I have just secured a deal to stock a new product called Dry Hands which may work for those who do not get on with mighty grip, I will keep you posted and will add it to the website as soon as my first delivery arrives.

Other art of dance news: The Advanced instructional pole dancing DVD Volume 1 has seen a delay in its launch due to me having to re-record some of the voice-overs but it should be ready for release in the next few weeks. The BBC documentary is scheduled for next Thursday 12th March on BBC3 at 8pm and is part of the Real Britain series, the series actually starts tomorrow so I will be watching the first 2 parts to see what sort of style the programme takes. Lastly I should have some exciting news for you regarding the forthcoming national UK site - the Pole Dance Community and another new national site that I am sworn to secrecy on!! More news very soon.....

Stay Healthy,

Sam x