February 2020 Student of the Month: Tamara
When did you start your pole journey?
In December 2018
Why did you decide to try pole dancing?
I started from aerial hoop. A dear friend who has been attending Pole Pressure for a while suggested I try it. I walked into my first class both terrified and intimidated. Francesca was my first teacher. Aside from being very approachable, she was detailed, broke down every step into mini-steps, used a lot of helpful metaphoric comparisons and patiently explained which muscles to activate, etc. It's been a slow, but a steady journey of overcoming fears and self-proclaimed limits. And then in the fall of 2019, I started coming to pole classes as well. Andrew was my first pole teacher, and frankly, the first few classes was coming simply because I liked the atmosphere during the class. Before I knew it, I loved it.
What do you love most about pole dancing?
Both hoop and pole feel liberating, empowering, confidence-boosting. Both play a huge role in overcoming body image fixation. You stop thinking about pounds and inches and start thinking about strength and flexibility. But my favorite thing about hoop and pole actually has more to do with the mind space than the physique. Hoop and pole require 100% of your attention, and so for the period of time during your day when you are in the hoop/on the pole, this is all you can think about. The world outside the studio might be falling apart, but it all will have to wait for an hour. IMHO this is like therapy.
Why do you love Pole Pressure?
The supportive community, the feel of inclusiveness, the empowerment of feminism. I love coming to Pole Pressure on Sundays to learn from John and afterwards to catch up over coffee with my girlfriends from the studio. And I love the evening classes at Pole Pressure, especially when they are in the larger room, because at times you almost feel like you are at a club on a week night: the deemed neon lights, the music, the dancing, all the sass. Except, it's better than being at a club: you don't have to drink alcohol and have a splitting headache the next day, there are no creeps asking if you'd like to ''get out of here"; instead there's a cool and supportive teacher and all your fun classmates. People cheer for each other's success, share tricks and tips and just laugh a whole lot.
What are some of your goals for this year?
Enhancing lower back flexibility, inversions, splits; improving overall body coordination.
If you could train with any of your pole idols, who would it be and why?
Olga Koda in Russia.
What motivates you to train?
As I started aerial hoop, at first every single class was an effort to push myself outside of my comfort zone. So it was quite surprising to find out that whatever is outside of that comfort zone is actually a happy place. Every time I come to class eager to find out how much more I can push myself and how much further can I reach in this journey.
