New art of dance website

Once again I seem to be neglecting my blogging duties. It is certainly not that true that I have lost the desire to blog it is simply a lack of time. As the new beauty salon, Chica Bella, opens on Tuesday 31st August I have less than 4 hours to finish the painting and cleaning. It will be a race against time but will be well worth it, I will post some pictures of the finished rooms when I have them. A big thank you to my Mum for all her help at the studio yesterday.

One thing that is now finished is the brand new art of dance website. Click here to view it. Thank you to my lovely husband for building the site for me and helping me learn how to maintain and edit it.

I will write another blog in the next few days to tell you all about my wonderful meal at the Who'd Have Thought it Inn and my visit with Rosanna to the Moscow State Circus.

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

Vintage, Retro and Circus!

I blogged recently about a lovely trip to Ashburton with my husband; well it was such a great trip I couldn't resist the chance to pop back to Ashburton for a Saturday Shopping and eating trip with my Mum. Apart from the desire to re-visit No.14 for more of their fine fish pate I also wanted to stock up on some delicious and nutritious foods including some amazing rye bread from the bakers, locally grown savoy cabbage and broccoli from the greengrocers, mouth-watering nuts, olives and smoked salmon from the award winning fish deli as well as a bottle of Bay's Devon Dumpling from the off licence.

Another great find was the fabulous Adrian Ager's Antiques store (see picture above courtesy of Adrian Ager) with 4 separate floors of furniture and accessories including extravagant marbles, stained glass windows, lavish mirrors and velvet pet beds! This place is well worth a visit and, if I had the money, would be somewhere I would shop regularly at! Time to start earning some more money me thinks!

Whilst perusing the Ashburton shops my Mum and I discovered another little slice of paradise - Tallulah's; Tallulah's is a vintage/retro shop unlike any other I have visited before. The small shop is packed full to the brim with clothing, shoes, hats, jewellery and other accessories, so much so that I am surprised I ever managed to leave! As I perused the rails a small piece of coffee coloured silk caught my eye, I grabbed the hanger and carefully removed the fragile looking item - it was a stunning, French, vintage, silk, layered dress. It looked a little small but my all knowing Mum persuaded me to try it on and I am so glad she did, the dress fits like it is tailor made and it will be perfect for the art of dance Burlesque Belles amateur night in October (full details to follow). Thank you to my wonderful Mum for spending such a lovely day with me as well as treating me to the fairytale dress.

At present Tallulahs is situated in the town centre of Ashburton but will shortly be re-located to the nearby town of Buckfastleigh. I will be blogging again very soon about Tallulah's as the lovely Amelia B and I have a special invite to Tallulah's warehouse in 2 weeks time - I can't wait! We may also get a chance to pop into the ultimate kids toy store - Area Five (pictured above)!

If you like Vintage/retro stuff and can't wait to visit the new Tallulah's shop in Buckfastleigh then you may want to visit Bette Noir's Vintage and Hand-made Retro fair which will be held on Saturday 2nd October from 11.30am till 4.30pm at St Matthias Church Hall (entrance in Clifton Place just off North Hill). Entry is free!

Before I disappear off to shower and venture out I must share a quick invite with you all as the art of dance visits the Moscow State Circus next Friday 27th August at 7.45pm at Plymouth's Central Park (make the most of it before it is swallowed up by greedy developers a.k.a Plymouth City Council and Home Park Properties Ltd). We will be meeting just outside the Big Top at 7.35pm and we have load of half price tickets if you would like any. Any student joining us for the circus can also join the 6.15pm pole dancing session prior to the circus visit at the reduced rate of just £8 drop-in! More news to follow very soon, Stay Healthy, Sam x

Pole Dancing and Burlesque in Plymouth!

As it is Sunday I am enjoying a relaxed post-breakfast cup of Earl Grey and the chance to write a lazy Sunday blog. Unfortunately I can't be too lazy! Soon I will have to abandon my fleecy dressing gown to teach a private pole dancing lesson and to pick up some essentials from B & Q for the ongoing refurbishment of the art of dance. The refurb is on schedule at the moment and everything should be ready for the big re-launch on Saturday 4th September. The beauty salon, Chica Bella, is starting to look absolutely gorgeous with crystal chandeliers, cream and gold wallpaper and lavish mirrors. Work on the Nail Bar starts this week and I can't wait to see the results.

I attended my first PoleFlowYoga class this week with yoga expert Jane MacDermott and I loved it, I have always been a big fan of yoga so adding the pole is my kind of heaven. I will update you on the PoleFlowYoga soon but can add that the PoleFlowYoga classes commence on Monday 6th September at 1pm, a 90 minute class will cost just £7. Jane says "

PoleFlowYoga is a blend of Flow Yoga with all the benefits of a pole. It teaches you how to move while enjoying extra support and freedom using a pole.  Pole Flow Yoga is both dynamic and still.  It uses breathe and flow to find: stability and freedom, give strength and flexibility, inviting vitality in opening, and stillness in closing, leading to a sense of liberation and newness."

For those of you who missed it check out Kitty Kane's Interview (Kitty pictured above)in the Herald this week including references from me too! The Interview is wonderfully written by one of my favourite Herald feature writers Martin Freeman. Kitty's Dolls now train at the art of dance every Tuesday night at 6.30pm and 7.30pm, to join Kitty's classes just visit her website. Our very own art of dance Burlesque Belles train every Wednesday night at 7pm but, starting on the 8th September classes will be held  at 6.30pm and 7.45pm, click here to book your space. 

This week I heard about a disturbing new trend affecting the lap dancing world. The industry has changed a lot over the years and it seems the novelty of paying £20 for a lap dance may be wearing thin especially as the 3 foot rule is now enforced in many clubs. Alongside the lap dancing clubs men can easily get more than just a lap dance in Brothels and private houses at similar prices, so for some men the lap dancing option may no longer be good value for money! As the lap dancers see their income dwindling they have come up with a worrying new way to earn more; Several local lap dancers are now taking large sums of money off their customers with the promise of meeting up outside of the club later in the evening, this meeting never actually takes place leaving the man out of pocket and the dancer much wealthier. My concern is that it will only be a matter of time before a vengeful customer acts resulting in an assault or worse. I will touch on this subject again soon in a future blog raising more concerns about the exotic pole/lap dancing industry and it's possible future. It seems that the Policing and Crime Bill 2009 (section 26) has done little to protect communities, dancers or customers.


Anyway, that is enough blogging for a Sunday so I will sign off and get myself ready for more work!


Stay Healthy,


Sam x

Controversy is stirring

Before I get onto the main content of today's blog I wanted to give you a date for your diary: Sunday 19th September - 5pm - Derry's Cross, Plymouth. I will share some more information with you nearer the time but the event planned is part of a national event to protest against the Pope's visit to the UK. There are lots of different groups joining the protest and each group has their own reasons for doing so. There are already a large contingent of Catholics ready to join the protest as they are disgusted by the Pope's recent conduct. My personal reasons for joining are that I do not agree with the Pope's dated views on homosexuality, neither do I agree with the Vatican's use of power to cover up child abuse. The fact that the Pope still opposes condoms seems almost medieval in today's modern times. I also find it repulsive that we, the UK tax-payers, should have to fork our nearly 20 million pounds to fund such a visit. I will share full dates, times and activities of the Plymouth Protests within the next few weeks.

Onto some more cheery subjects; Firstly thank you to the This is Plymouth website and the Herald Newspaper for their recent coverage of the art of dance. My blog was featured in Wednesday's paper and the art of dance also got a mention in the business section of the Herald too. The art of dance re-launch is scheduled for the 4th September so get that date in your diary and feel free to invite your friends and family. I will share the full timetable of events with you very soon as well as linking to our fabulous new website!

Yesterday my husband and I had to travel to Exeter to collect 4 second-hand x-poles, seeing as my husband has been playing chef this week I decided it was my turn to treat him, so we stopped for a spot of lunch in the lovely Devon town of Ashburton. Our first stop was one of the local bakers ( I have forgotten their name but will pay them a visit soon and give them the credit they deserve) where we purchased home made rye bread and a traditional white farmhouse loaf, both loaves were gorgeous!


Next stop was the fabulous No.14 in the centre of Ashburton. I ate the most gorgeous fish pate I have ever tasted (see picture above), the pate is an award winning recipe form Ashburton's acclaimed Fish Deli. Ashburton is a beautiful market town full of independent traders, it makes a great day out and I hope to return again very soon where, no doubt, I will be eating some more fish pate!

I must quickly share a picture with you of My Nan's lodgers new puppy Zimba - as you can see he is just adorable. He is now 10 weeks old and I am very jealous that he is not mine.

My last comment for today is regarding the fabulous news that one Plymouth Quango is finally being scrapped and hopefully the others will follow soon - Bye Bye CDC, you will not be missed by the People of Plymouth.


Best I sign off now to do a little more work as well as planning a very evil session for my Monday night 6.15pm advanced students. My Tuesday 7.30pm students will be learning a new pole dancing routine that I hope they will enjoy. I will blog again ASAP.


Stay Healthy,


Sam x

My arrival.

It seems that nearly all my blogs are either about pole dancing and health issues or about eating and drinking, so today I will write about something completely different; Whilst my cousin, Val, was staying with me we spent some time going through old family photos as well as my Nan's diary from my birth year. I wanted to share some of the pics and text with you, partly because they are special to me and also so that you can have a bit of a laugh at my expense and at my extremely frizzy hair Extreme frizz photos to follow)! Today's blog will focus on my Nan's diary entries and my first few weeks and then I will share some very embarrassing pictures with you within the next few days (a few of them are already on facebook!)

Lets start with the entry in my Nan's diary announcing my arrival into this world: Lesley doing my hair at 2.30pm. Cancelled. (apologies to my Nan that my arrival resulted in her hair appointment being cancelled!) Samantha Leigh arrived 12.10am. Bill rang to let us know. Norah rang 12.30am! 5lbs 5ozs." The next diary entry records the actual moment my Nan received the call announcing my birth;  Bill rang 12.15am with news of the arrival of Samantha Leigh at Devonport Hospital- Lesley and Samantha doing very well. Watered Plants with Doreen. Nice to know that my arrival did not negatively affect the plant watering!

From what I am told of my birth I was 6 weeks early (I have always been impatient!) and was jaundiced although my Mum just thought I had a lovely tan, not too sure what she thought of my yellow eyes? My jaundice caused a little concern and so I was transferred to Freedom Fields Hospital 3 days after my birth. The following day my Nan recorded this: Lesley rang 7.30am from Freedom Fields. Samantha having heat treatment for 24 hours and on drip feed. Wanted to contact Bill but no visiting today as doctors were due to tour the wards etc. Watered Plants at Lanternberry with Doreen. Once again the plants were spared from dehydration!

By the grand old age of 3 weeks I was still causing problems! Lesley rang. Samantha now 6lbs 1.5 ozs. Going on 4 hourly feeds. Eventually I was let out of hospital and ready for my first stay with my Nana; Looked after Samantha, Lesley and Bill at reception for Lord Mayor's Day. Heidi due on heat. Nice to know about my Nan's cocker spaniels pending period!

So as you can see I was problematic from day one! Apparently during my first few years I tried to swallow a razor blade, climbed out onto a balcony roof having just learned to walk, let the handbrake off one of my parent's cars and fell onto a door nearly slicing my throat open. My Old school friend, Claire Lloyd, may remember my antics in the playground at the age of 9 when I walked into a wall and seriously squashed my nose, The nose became flat where the bridge should have been and I had 2 matching black eyes and 2 operations ensued to repair the damage! Apologies to my Mum and Dad for all the stress caused! I hope I am now a little less hazardous now?

Now I have been let loose with the entire photographic family history I should warn all of those on facebook to be aware of being tagged in some old, embarassing photos! I will leave you with this photo of me taking my first steps with my Mum on the grass outside the Moat House on the Hoe.

Stay Healthy,

Sam x