Now.

How It Ends

Poetry and dance are, for me, the most raw, intimate and intense kinds of creative expression. The kind that can rumble up from the earth and shake the foundation of your soul. Finally, I was able to breathe out this idea that I've been dreaming of for ages, and it's something completely different, and it felt wonderful. Poem by Andrea Gibson - "How it Ends."

What's in your bag?

Pole goodies. Here's what's in my bag. This photo is so nice because it makes me look organized. In reality I am constantly pulling out single legwarmers, granola bar wrappers, random fliers, hair ties and other junk that gets in the way of my finding what I really need. But these are the basics - what's always in there... somewhere.

Freedance Workshop @ The Vertitude!

A tutorial for my "signature" move... The Sparrowhawk!

So the Platinum Stages blog asked me to be an occasional guest blogger, doing tutorials, and here is my first attempt. In which I sound like a total and complete dork, but I think I successfully accomplish a decent explanation of the move. Have a watch and let me know what you think!

Simple freedance.

Finding Your Freestyle - Clothing & Contact

One of my great loves is freedance. When I first started pole, like many fledglings, I hated it when the instructor would make us just dance. I felt awkward and kept forgetting what I knew. Thinking on my feet and coming up with interesting choreography just wouldn't come easily. But now a good freedance is like exhaling. It's a personal moment with the apparatus. A chance to say something, or nothing at all, and just enjoy the movement. To break out of your own head. Sometimes I just roll around on the floor. Sometimes I try to stay in the air the entire time - but no matter what, I try to keep in mind that freedances are for me. They aren't a performance, they're 'me time', they're exploratory.

 Tracee Kafer, a phenomenal dancer and instructor clear across the country at the legendary Body & Pole studio, came up with the idea of Finding Your Freestyle classes. After great success teaching her improvisation and movement exercises in person, she took the idea onto the web and has been spreading the love around the world since then. I adore this concept, and I adore her ideas.

So tonight I worked with one of her recent "challenges". Playing with CLOTHING and CONTACT with the pole. Perfect for a chilly winter night, haha! It really did bring out something new in my dance and was an excellent mental exercise. Thank you for inspiring me, Tracee! More about this whole FYF thing: facebook.com/findingyourfreestyle

I filmed this at The Vertitude in Canoga Park, CA. Music is Jakwob - Turn to Stone. Can I just say I freaking love Jakwob and you should check him out and download his music, much of which is completely free. You won't be sorry!