Pole Plateau
Every pole dancer reaches a point where their skills plateau. Much like the picture above of Tony Hawk's first attempt at a back flip in 1997, this is where we all start. If you're truly pushing yourself chances are you've fallen a few times. Early in your pole dancing life your skills quickly increase as you learn a multitude of beginner moves, spins, and tricks, but eventually things begin to slow down. It's difficult when you reach the edge of your abilities and realize all the maneuvers that are beyond you. I have reached that point. I've built up a new level of strength I never had before finding pole and learned all the moves I can physically handle, but I will always want MORE! I know I've reached my plateau because I have mastered this skill set so well it is rarely uncomfortable anymore.
I think back to earlier in my pole life and I vaguely remember not being able to invert from the air on spinning pole. I remember straining to get my hips up and clumsily using my feet to pull me the rest of the way upside down. Now when I try a trick that is difficult for me it is so advanced I don't feel I can even begin to strain or hold it and they feel almost unimaginable for my body to achieve. I wonder if I've been in a comfortable place for too long. I don't know what it's like to feel uncomfortable anymore and many things I want to try simply aren't safe without someone experienced to spot me. As an instructor, dance company director, and working day jobs on the side I have lost the time to continue my own training. There are always too many dances to be choreographed and too many classes spent teaching people who are at a less advanced place than I to focus on myself.
But I am realizing making time to continue my own education and being forever a student is extremely valuable to myself and the people I train who also need to expand their skill set. This brings me to a warning. There are many online resources nowadays where you can learn from home and even youtube can be a simple solution for finding inspiration, but there is no substitution for face to face instruction. Learning at home through an online resource especially for beginners can lead to many unsafe situations and injury. I think these online classes are great for instructors and more advanced polers that have plenty of body awareness to expand their repertoire. Even after pole dancing for three years and growing up classically trained in dance, I still find things on youtube I want to try and will attempt over and over to figure it out to no avail. Then I'll take a class and ask a teacher about the same trick and get it in five minutes. This is because the instructor knows how to do this trick well and can physically cue me on top of explaining it in detail. You cannot be physically cued over a computer. Point being: always take new moves to an experienced instructor to help you with until you can do it on your own at home!
We cannot forget our humble beginnings attempting to spin, struggling to climb and invert, bearing the pain on our skin, and sometimes falling flat on our face like Tony Hawk. In our pole dancing and life in general, we thrive on stress and struggle and progress through challenges. It is essential to continue to push ourselves into places of discomfort and vulnerability in all aspects of life or we will remain stagnant on the plateau when we could be climbing mountains.
-Jessica