Dying To Start Again

[ThatGirl]

As a meditation from this "so-called Life", I enjoyed clipping together a 2nd set of "pole diary" clips to a song by a band I've been following for a while now. 

If the body and ever-changing commitments cooperate, I can keep fitting in this hobby which brings me joy for SO many reasons. 

 Video LINK: Dying To Start Again

Password: live

 (and! Minimonk got cleared Friday to go BACK to being a kid!. I'm so happy for him.

It was another tough summer for him)

[Marie]

Wow! Look at you! Whoot! Whoot! Beautiful!

Be very gentle with your hand injury... listen to it.

The most frustrating thing about my accumulation of sports injuries is seeing something like this - so much fun - and not be able to try it out myself. My mind can still do it all ... but my body is not able to any more. *chuckles*

[Chig]

Triumphant!   You should have been the next batman... or bat... however that whole thing would work out.

[BlancheNoE]

HOly CRAP woman.

That's some SERious skills right there. If I had those skills and a few less scars, I'd be making a HELL of a lot more money right now. < That's not a joke.

AWEsome.

[ThatGirl]

@Marie - Thank you for the encouragement and appreciation for what I'm doing here.    , It's been a long road working through the challenges to get this far and i hope to keep going. I've got tons AWKWARD-clunky Moves that need improvement (like a GAG REEL).

gurlfriend? Dont laugh at me; You can do this at any level-there is a level for every woman if you just want to stay fit while having FUN.

--It's awful to be frustrated by injury and in pain....I'm telling them to bugger off and let me dance for the moment!  HOOPING was a great find. You might find you're able to do that-It's low impact and a great core workout-its like belly dancing..super fun and smexy! (Mel meeperson-Artgurl is A Hoop Diva here, she showed me all the sites to find lessons and help making hoops).  

 don't laugh or think it's out of reach.... CHeck Greta Pontarelli. She's one strong 63 year old woman- Girlpower!!  One of the world's top competitors/teachers had a serious back injury and it was poling that helped heal her and get her back on her feet -Alethea Austin.  so, who knows what the future holds?  No matter what you do, just have fun. 

@ Blanchie -  You can get strong enough to hold yourself up, climb and spin at whatever level you want to explore, and.....no one has to see your scars if you dont want to show them.  Some of the global pole-stars have more than scars and several children who have left their marks too. Your scars make you the woman you are. I am learning to wear mine with more confidence, even tho i dont want a flashlight ON them either. see? dark mood lighting in clubs would work for us..we should TALK

I have gone from not being able to peddle a bicycle 2 summers ago to suspending FROM my bad leg. I can never run but i can do This.

MONEY--You would make a nice ton of money! its always been a running joke here "to pay for school I would be swinging on a pole if I weren't so old and scarred"....BESIDES< I read revenues are TAXABLE, now-- so screw that!! I want to keep my hard earned dollahs.

dollah dollah bill y'all...make it RAIN on them hoes...! see, I'm trying to be all innocent and athletic here, but you cant take the club out of pole--especially if you play the kind of music I do. it IS what it is.

@Steve - All forms of dance are smexy no matter anyone says. unless its tap dance. Thanks for the encouragement and I am kind of proud of how far I have come, Its been frustrating at times having the pole there when i couldnt even use it, so getting a few things DONE

feels kinda good:

@ CHIG -  I love the word "TRIUMPHANT".. WIN!

one of those inverted transition is actually called a "Batwing" but I'm not doing it right yet.  SO,I hope to be BATMAN SOMEDAY!! Bat chick? Bat old lady?  I always wanted to find a way to get kickazz moves from the pole into an Andromeda fight scene. but never did.  Someone made a film about a crime fighting pole dancer who basically does that. She swings arond and spike heels bad guys in the face! AWESOME. A cartoon artist related to Stan Lee actually made a series based on some of the well-known pole athletes in AU and Vegas. I gotta find those links for ya. 

[ThatGirl]

@Steve - The young un went from looking something like THIS all summer:

to THIS on Saturday:

"did you just say I can play ice hockey?"

[ThatGirl]

@Chig -Anthony Lee Winn is the artist who created characters based on the dancers and works "with' Stan Lee.

Can't find the title of the film they just finished in 2012, but I will find it after i contact people who were IN it and see if it's been released.

and for cartoon enthusiasts and the like there's always Stripperella

[SydTheSkeptic]

"Everything you need is already inside."  So true.  

That looked like some hard work and amazing fun!  I had no idea pole dancing was such an art- seriously!

[ThatGirl]

@Syd - Pole Art has been evolving rapidly to an infusion of aerial arts, dance, contortion, and gymnastics. Competitive Pole Artists are entering from all branches of the performing arts and incorporating skills from those areas. Chinese pole is the origin of most of the new strength and climb moves and each artist brings a unique style to their performances which are always driven by their music choice as well. My favorites include a former Olympic gymnast, cirque performers, former ballerinas, and acrobats. Instructors are entering that field when their competitive career or performance career ends in the dance world (ballet mostly). New York Pole has instructors who are graduates of Juilliard, Broadway dancers, former ballerinas and personal trainers who transitioned into it.

Just for reference here are 4 stylistically different performances that might demonstrate how fascinating a pole show can be: 

..I feel akin to Karol. ..Wearing toe shoes and a tutu, against the grain.

for now, most of the audience at competitions and Expos are pole enthusiastics. I hope they stop petitioning to make it an Olympic sport because I feel that would simply KILL the artistry of it and make it a starkly technical performance. There are already Olympic trained teens performing and the art is just lost in those routines. 

It has been a long road of hard work but the payoff is immeasurable for me personally.

[ThatGirl]

@Syd..OH OH OOPS. Oh!  did I get so excited about the sport, I forgot to say THANK YOU???

Thank you!!

[NatureJunkie]

WoW, Holy Moly! You are amazing. You did something at 1:42 that I'm pretty sure is physically impossible. Knowing a little bit about what you've endured and recovered from, this gives me a lot of hope in grappling with the (so-far) small encroachments of arthritis.