California Pole Dance Championship - 2013

The fifth annual California Pole Dance Championship was held in Los Angeles, California on November 3, 2013.

As I was down in LA for Comikaze, I decided to extend my stay for one night and go to the competition. 

The competition was slated to be held at Circus Hollywood.  Literally one day before the competition, I started seeing posts on Facebook that the venue had changed (to Arena Hollywood, which is in the same parking lot at least).  Also the time was moved up by an hour and a half or so, which bummed me out since I was supposed to go watch a panel on women and size diversity at Comikaze.  I was also disappointed because I never got an e-mail announcing the time change.  If I hadn't noticed the posts on Facebook, I would never have known.  I found out later, that was because I was not on "the list."  Luckily, I was able to show the door the receipt for my $99 ticket and my reserved seat had been left empty, so there was no harm, no foul.  

My shirt from Poleitical Clothing

It was great to run into Leen Isabel and Danielle of Poleitical Clothing, two of the vendors with tables.  I know there were a couple of other vendors there but I didn't have a chance to stop by the tables.  There was also a photobooth there.  They were asking us to pose with stickers from United Pole Artists, so I hope the photos will be published on their website at some point. 

The Circus nightclub is a much larger venue than Arena.  I felt like the tables were really squashed together in order to get the same number of people into Arena.  The stage was also smaller and there was no awesome sparkly background.  At the same time, watching an event of this magnitude in a smaller venue is kind of cool and makes everyone feel like they have a front row seat.  It appears that the venue was at fault for over-booking.  CPDC was forced to start earlier and literally the minute the show was over, the lights went on and everyone was told to go home so they could set up for the next event.  Considering how many events Anjel has now done with this club, you would think they would have a little more respect for her.  I seriously hope she was given a large refund for this mistake.  Despite all of this, the club was packed and the show went on!  I saw Nadia Sharif (last year's winner) working her booty off as she hustled around the club keeping everything on schedule. 

There was no video allowed at this event so I haven't been able to go back and re-watch performances to give a better reaction.  If you are interested in watching performances, I believe United Pole Artists and MFEO.tv are offering them for 99 cents.  Therefore, I am commenting on this contest only by memory and notes.  My phone also didn't take many great photos because the lighting was whiting everything out. 

Judging this competition: Natasha Wang, Mina Mortezaie, Amy Guion, Flying Laura Martin, Kelly Maglia and Josiah "BadAzz" Grant.   BadAzz started the show off with a reprise of his winning Midwest Prince routine.  And Flying Laura closed the show in the only way she knows how -- with her bad ass flying tricks and spins. 

Neo Division

Neo (amateur) category included: Drusilla Ray, Nancy Ly, Uyen Hoang (took third place in amateur division in 2012), Moana Moon, Tehera Nesfield, Jhasmynne Hider, Candi Vastlik, Venus Manuel, Adrienne Strauss, Heather West and Margarita Evans.  

Dru

First off, let me start by saying holy f*cking $hit.  The Neo category was off the hook, and these performers could hardly be called amateur.  I counted at least four performers out of eleven attempting a Fonji.  THESE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE AMATEURS.  I was caught between being ridiculously impressed and slightly frustrated that these are supposed to be the non-professional competitors.  They completely raised the bar for competitions in the pole community.  I still remember when I saw Natasha Wang do a Fonji for the first time and I was like, that is some voodoo magic and I can't believe I just saw her flip on the pole like that!  But that's Natasha-Freaking-Wang.  Now the "beginners" are doing it??  Let me also say that, despite this being a competition, it seemed like some were willing to sacrifice fluidity for the shock of a crazy trick.  There was a lot of slipping out of moves in both categories, which I realize you can't always control, and must be insanely frustrating for the competitors, especially at this level.  But at this level, I did have high expectations for quality routines.  I would like to see cleaner routines, and less dramatic tricks for a more well-rounded performance.  If you are starting with a Fonji, where do you go from there??  I guess maybe a Death Lay into Fonji into Spatchcock, then just dance off stage because no one can beat that with a stick and you win!

Indeed, I felt like the winners did put on well-rounded, and often emotional performances.  Margarita took first (with her cooking-themed routine, which I saw showcased at Pole Expo in Las Vegas; she was also crowned Champion in Level 3/Senior at Pacific Pole Championship earlier this year).   Venus (one of my personal favorite people in general) took second with her very, very emotional routine.  She also won People's Choice Award from Mighty Grip and X-Pole.  Moana placed third.  She also had a very beautiful routine. 

Pro Division

Pro category include: Shelly Lamb, Brandon Rosario, Sasja Lee, Brynn Route, Lily Huang (took first in amateur division in 2012), Stacey Craven (took second place in amateur division in 2012), Drea Roers, Crystal Gibson, Amanda Rose and Katherine Voorhees (not listed on the program).  Side note:  To see other past winners, click HERE. 

First off, little Amanda Rose sailed on to the pole competition circuit only this year after turning 18.  Keep an eye on her.  She has big things coming.  I believe adding Brandon to the pro line-up is the first step in adding a men's division to future CPDC competitions.  I was also slightly saddened that only one Northern California poler made it into the entire competition.  Congratulations to Shelly Lamb for representing all of Nor Cal.

BadAzz

After such a shocking Neo Division, I wasn't really sure what to expect with the Pros.  Will they dangle from the ceiling and do a death drop while twirling a baton of fire?  Will they have back-up dancers and sing while they pole?  I really didn't know where the Pros could go after what we had already witnessed.  What I believe we ended up getting are the well-rounded, story-driven routines that won for those in Neo Division.  There was, in fact, only one Spatchcock that I counted.  And I believe I stopped counting Fonji's, so I couldn't even tell you if any of the Pros did one!  I will be writing a post after this one about how Fonji is the new Spatchcock (just my personal commentary on where the future of competitive pole might be headed), so check it out. 

Sasja Lee (another one of my favorite people in general) took first place.  She also won Most Athletic.  Amanda Rose took second place with her energetic routine.  She also won Most Artistic and Most Entertaining.  Brynn Route took third, and also won Most Flexible.  Crystal Gibson (another of my favorites) won X-Pole and Glitter Heel's Miss Congeniality award. 

All-in-all, despite the last-minute monkey wrench, this was another fun pole event.  I am really glad I stuck around to watch and thank you to Nadia and Anjel for a great event!

Do you agree with my assessment of the performances?  If you watched any of them, let me know what you thought! 

Pole Expo 2013

There were so many great things about Pole Expo, I almost couldn't contain them in one blog.

Being able to see the Yosemite fire from the plane (sad but still very interesting).  

Having almost my entire Boys, Girls and Twirls class in Vegas with me.

Patrick and Sean Michael competing in the Pole Classic.

Meeting Timber Brown.

Fun workshops even though my foot was still injured.

Twirly Girls winning the Bring the Pole Gang contest.

Vegas in general.  Duh.

Really, I couldn't even list every cool thing that happened on this trip.

So I thought it would make a photo journal of some of my fun stuff instead!

I literally took a thousand photos so it was hard to just choose a few but I don't want to bore you with an hour long slide show.  So, in no particular order (mostly because I'm lazy and that would require organizing them on my computer), here are some of the highlights of my trip to Vegas for Pole Expo!

Meeting fellow blogger, Nina

Amy's new shoes

Robert, Missy and Amy at the pool

Look, I can do Timber Brown's stand on the pole trick!

Robert and me on the plane home...after many delays

TIMBER BROWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Karen, Kate and Rita in Bel's ridiculously awesome tub

Me, Robert and Yolanda at the Pole Classic

Minion Todd...the minions might require their own blog post

Roz the Diva showing us how it is done!!

Zoraya admiring Robert's pole kiss (obtained in her workshop)

Me sporting my sexy boot

Patrick, Missy and me

Platinum Stages' after-party

Yolanda on the plane home

Accro and Timber having a hot boy pole-off

The Twirly Girl gang

Sean Michael in all his amazingness

My favorite photo from the trip...Missy in the background, Sean Michael, Kate and me on the bed

Amy, Robert, Miss, me, Karen and Yolanda out in Vegas

Karen, me and Missy at the Pole Classic

The view from the plane...the water is so clear, the boats look like they're floating on air

Timber Brown doing Iron X on me with my anchor Sean Michael helping

Robert and Sean Michael

Playing around with Pole Sleeves

Sean Michael, Timber Brown and Robert -- the men of pole!

clouds under the plane

x-pole and silks...yay!

Timber and Robert

Missy and Nadia Sharif

Josh, Patrick and Nena

The view from Bel's room

Accro and Robert

Bad Azz

Jack from Bad Kitty and Robert

The view from our room

Missy and Flying Laura

Me fighting the monsoon

Sean Michael and Samantha Star

our room

Robert and Pole Sleeves

I can't wait for next year...I'm already planning!!!

A Poletastic Nadia Sharif Weekend

Last weekend was one of those unexpected, fun adventure weekends.  I knew Nadia Sharif would be in town but couldn't sign up for any workshops.  Wonky foot is having a bad life right about now (surgery in two weeks!!).  I did, however, hope to at least see her since she is the biggest lover of my boobies (it's good she doesn't mind them...they are face height for her). 

On Saturday, my good friend Kate from Pole Etak had hooked up some of us Twirly Girls with the opportunity to have bit parts on a reality TV show.  If you've ever filmed a reality TV show, it isn't all that real.  But we got to sit around for the afternoon and chat and have fun with our friends while we were waiting for our turn.  The show is called Let It Ride, which will be on the National Geographic channel.  You can read an article about it HERE. 

That evening, Kate, Rita and I met up with awesome pole ninja, Nadia Sharif to have dinner.  On our way, we stopped for a photo adventure on Grizzly Peak.  It is really beautiful up in the hills between Moraga and Berkeley.  And it often feels like I am rushing from one thing to the next without really enjoying what I'm doing.  So it was nice to take a few minutes to be silly and take in the beautiful views.

On Sunday, Nadia had a workshop at Sedusa in Campbell, California, which is about an hour away.  She asked if I could drive her and I am always down for an adventure with Nadia!  I asked if Kate could join us.  She did and we had a great time.  The studio was really beautiful.  There were ten poles in the main room -- three up on a stage.  There was also an 11th pole inside a cage on the side of the room, which I claimed as my home.  It was awesome.  I loved the cage.

My foot really limits me physically right now but I did do the warm-ups for each workshop.  Oh man was I sore on Monday!  I made me realize how much strength and flexibility I've lost since my foot really started hurting in April and I started limiting my exercise.  I have made a new commitment to at least get some yoga in four or five times a week (which I did last night at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco -- Yoga on the Labyrinth -- check it out!). 

After the workshops, we stopped for dinner before delivering Nadia to the airport.  Kate was participating in a yogangster yoga pose photo challenge.  So, in front of the strip mall restaurant, we stopped to take photos of Kate attempting a crow pose variation with her leg extended behind her (I couldn't even dream of doing it).  A drunk dude from some nowhere bar (no really, I think it was called Nowhere Bar & Grill) came out and was staring and talking shit. So we left and Kate didn't get her official yogangster pose.  He felt like Nadia and I weren't being supportive enough of Kate.  bahahahahaahahahahahaha!  He drunkenly stumbled to his motorcycle where his wife informed him that he'd ruined our day.  HA! 

We left San Jose and sadly dropped Nadia off at the airport.  Kate and I continued our adventure into San Francisco where I dropped her off at her apartment in the Tenderloin district.  The Tenderloin in San Francisco is such an interesting place.  Mostly little white girls like Kate should not be hanging out in that area.  The night before, there had been two shootings within blocks of Kate's apartment.  We tried to find the body chalk outline but apparently the police don't use those anymore.  I dropped Kate off and started my own adventure across the Bay Bridge to get home (WTF is up with that much traffic on a Sunday?!). 

Thanks again to all my poletastic friends for a lovely weekend!!  I can't wait for the next one!