Luenell learns to pole dance

On a beautiful evening down in Los Angeles, California, I was very lucky to be at BeSpun for Pole Show LA.  Sitting behind me was someone I recognized.  I couldn't place it but I knew she was SOMEONE.  The very short blonde hair...  I racked my brain.  Then it hit me...FRENCHIE DAVIS!  I don't watch a lot of TV but I remembered her vaguely from American Idol years and years ago and heard she was on The Voice.  I was certain that Frenchie Davis was sitting behind me at Pole Show LA.

Ummm....WRONG!

Not unlike asking a woman if she is pregnant when she's just chubby (I've always said, unless you see a baby hanging OUT or her body, never ask), don't tell a celebrity who they are...unless you know with 100% certainty.

I was schooled.  Quickly.  And on Twitter.

The lovely lady sitting behind me was Luenell, the hooker with a heart of gold from the movie, Borat.  In my defense, I haven't seen Borat since it came out six years ago!  Ahhh but there is no excuse and I feel very lucky that Luenell has tolerated me ever since.  I found out she learned how to pole dance for the upcoming movie, That's My Boy with Adam Sandler, so I wanted to include her in my blog.  Since she travels a lot for movies and her comedy tours, typing her answers out for me wasn't an option.  We tried a Skype session but the audio somehow wasn't recorded.  Then Luenell came to town on tour, so I loaded up Rita and some camera equipment and off we went!  

Here is the video interview with the hilarious and amazing LUENELL:

Here are some photos (including one of Frenchie Davis...so you too can make fun of me for being an idiot):

 Luenell on stage at Tommy T's in Rancho Cordova for her surprise birthday party!

 Luenell showing us one of the awesome t-shirts that was made for her.

 During the interview...calling me out for calling her Frenchie.

 At Pole Show LA!

 Frenchie Davis.

LUENELL!

Here are some photos from our evening at the comedy show:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/lolorashel/sets/72157629281986422/

Keep up with Luenell at her website, www.heyluenell.com, or on twitter: @Luenell.

Pole Show LA Interviews and Performance Videos

In January, Lorita Productions attended Pole Show LA on behalf of The Pole Dancing Shop.  I wanted to post interview and performance videos in one place, so here we go!

http://www.thepoledancingshop.com/pole-show-la-2012/#.T005RHl9Yuc

http://lolorashel.blogspot.com/2012/02/lolorashel-pole-dance-italy-and-pole.html

The show started with “The Honey Fall Girls”, which was choreographed by Leigh Ann Reilly (owner of BeSpun) and included five BeSpun dancers: Andrewa Britz, Kate Chanthanakaew, Emma Danoff, Yvonne Huffman-Lutz and Cash Roses.  Their costumes, designed by Kelly Maglia, were adorable.  They also featured Glitter Heels, which are made by BeSpun instructor, Tiffany Hayden.

Ariel Jacobs:

The first headliner was Prana, who is from Paris, France.  She has been pole dancing since 2008 and teaches at Pole Dance Paris.  Her routine was very wild cat-like.  She is so strong and beautiful to watch.

Interview with Prana:

Alice Hodge:


Unfortunately, this video was blocked due to copyright issues with the song.

BeSpun’s manager, Amy Guion was next in a piece called “A Long time ago, in a desert far, far away.”  It started with contortionist Fiona Luna and Amy’s partner David Garcia.  The pole portion was set to the Christina Aguilera song, Genie in a Bottle.  It was a really cute routine and really showcased Amy’s flexibility.

Interview with Amy Guion:

Lena Lockerby:

Zoraya Judd was the second headliner.  If you have not seen Zoraya perform, you really need to watch her.  She is an outstanding performer.  From her hair and make-up to her routine.  She took it to the next level when her husband Nic joined her on stage to hand over a python snake.  She finished her routine on the pole with a snake wrapped around her neck.

D'Lorian "Bad Azz" Fox:

Interview with Bad Azz:

The next piece was called Gemini 3000 and included BeSpun dancers Sergia Louise Anderson, Tami Brandel, Jennifer Jim and Lacy McGarry.  One of the highlights was when all four performers were spinning on one pole.

Interview with Jennifer Kim:

Becca Armijo:

Flying Laura Martin absolutely rocked the show.  She pulled out an amazing and completely unexpected hip hop routine with backup dancers, Marta Karwowska and Isabella Konald.  Flying Laura is another performer that you must see in person if you can.  She is such a powerhouse.

Jess Leah:

Leigh Ann Reilly was next with “In the Night.”  It included BeSpun dancers Alex Catalano, Pamela Morency and Angela Relucio.   Leigh Ann started the performance on a motorcycle and later rocked a shoulder stand on it.

Interview with Leigh Ann Reilly:

Estee Zakar started her performance in a really cool cat mask.  She is so strong and her routine was really fun to watch.  She does some kind of Iron-X round about that is hard to explain but amazing to watch.

Amber Richard:

Interview with Amber Richard:

Steven Retchless was next.  His routine was ballet-based and so beautiful. Sadly, the sound was still out, although it gave us an opportunity to enjoy his movement.

Interview with Steven Retchless:

Kelly Maglia:

The next routine, “Ligature”, was based on Amy Guion’s third-place 2011 California Pole Dance Championship routine.  It involved four dancers: Paula Cavajal, Christine Fields, Tracey Mueller and Lisa Wilhoit.  It included dominatrix inspired costumes and red ropes, from which the dancers could hang from the poles.

Breezelle Fox:

Natasha Wang based the character in her routine on a spider that conquers the pole.  Natasha is definitely the sweetheart of pole dancing and we always love watching her performances.  With the sound still not working properly, it did allow the crowd to truly take in her movements.

Interview with Natasha Wang:

Margarita Evans:

[need video]

“Wonderland” was an Alice-in-Wonderland inspire routine danced by Audra Bennett, Lindsey Kimura, Sienna Spalding and Adrienne Strauss.  Sienna also wrote and performed the music for the piece and created the art in the background.  It was a really fun routine.  Happily, the  speakers started working again about half way through their performance.

Interview with Lindsey X-Pole:

Interview with Sienna Spalding:

Interview with Adrienne Strauss:

Jennifer Strand:

Amber Kittle amazed us all by starting her routine on the ceiling in a 20-foot death lay.  Her performance was so fast and athletic.  She had some designs on her body highlighted with a black light, but you didn’t notice them because she moved so quickly.  This girl requires a sturdy pole that connects to the ceiling to do her impressive walk on the ceiling.  No wonder she was not able to compete in 2011′s California Pole Dance Championship on X-Stages!

Interview with Amber Kittle:

Tiffany Hayden:

Interview with Tiffany Hayden:

Karol Helms and Alethea Austin teamed up for “Education.”  Alethea was almost unrecognizable at first in a black wig.  Their school girl-themed doubles routine rocked the house and included backup dancers Andrea Britz, Ariel Jacobs, Valarie Miller, Lana Sales, Melissa Schrader and Jennifer Vigil.

Dana Davidson:

Jenyne Butterfly closed the show.  She is such a sweetheart and is always the crowd favorite.  She claimed earlier in the night that she had not been on the pole much in the previous two months, but you couldn’t tell by the performance she gave.  She has definitely earned the title of “Pole Queen!”

Bonus videos:

Nadia Sharif (recent winner of National Aerial Pole Artist Championship), who wasn't able to perform at Pole Show LA (she explains here):

Giggle Reel:

The End of Pole Show LA:

Poletry in Motion: BeSpun

Last weekend, Rita and I went down to Los Angeles for the California Pole Dance Championship.  Since I was going to be in town, I wanted to take classes from different studios.  So, we scheduled classes at BeSpun in Hollywood and OC Pole Fitness in Aliso Viejo.  While driving home, I told Rita I wanted to create a little "corner" of my blog for reviews of studios I try while I'm traveling.  Rita came up with "Poletry in Motion."  I LOVED it so here we go!!

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I first heard about BeSpun when I found videos of the owner, Leigh Ann on YouTube.   I was still new to the pole dancing industry, so I didn't realize that a lot of the pros were coming out of BeSpun.  The current US Pole Dance Champion, Natasha Wang, is from BeSpun.  Amy Guion, a recent interviewee in this very blog, and competitor in last weekend's CPDC, manages BeSpun.  Alethea Austin, who performed at Poletential's Air Show a few months ago, teaches at BeSpun.  Amber Richard, from Poletential in Redwood City, is going to school in Southern California and also teaches at BeSpun.  Anjel Dust, who put on the CPDC, teaches there too.  I am sure I am leaving out many other important pole dancers, but those are the names currently listed on their website that I recognize. 

Rita and I made reservations to take class with Amber Richard.  Our class was scheduled for 2 p.m.  The studio is located in a pretty interesting part of Hollywood.  We didn't have to park too far away but we definitely wouldn't have made the walk if it had been dark.  You walk into the back of the building -- through a chainlink fence and a large, heavy rolling door -- into an MMA gym.  It's a big building that smells of testosterone and sweat.  BeSpun is actually inside of the MMA gym, Legends.  Two girls were standing at the front desk.  I could see Alethea sitting behind a desk.  We chatted with the girls for a minute, then realized we were actually talking to THE Leigh Ann!  She was so sweet.  The receptionist checked us in and had us sign paperwork while we chatted with Leigh Ann.  Rita asked her about whether she was offering other aerial arts and Leigh Ann said that they wanted to focus on what they did well -- pole dancing.  They were shaping competition level athletes.  Fair enough.

Leigh Ann told us to go through the pink door and watch the end of the class before ours (which was being taught by Amy).  Amber happened to walk by and we quickly said hello and then Rita and I walked to the pole room.  There were a few guys on the mats grappling.  The place definitely smelled like sweaty man (not necessarily a bad thing).  I saw the pink door and opened it.  The room seemed so small and a couple of girls turned around to look at us.  I thought I was interrupting and quickly closed the door.  We waited until Amber came back and she told us to follow her.  

It was like falling through the tree into Wonderland.  We walked into a completely different environment.  The pink door opened into a small room, which seemed to be like a warm up area.  But when you turned to the right, there was this extremely long room with tall ceilings and a bunch of poles.  There were couches set up to sit on, a fire place and cool brick walls.  There was a huge X-Pole sign on the wall.  The lights were all red.  It was no longer an MMA room.  It was a pole dancing studio.  

The class was much more advanced than Rita and I -- we call ourselves Bel's special needs class.  Yes, we've been dancing for almost two years.  But we have injuries and issues and we think maybe Bel doesn't want to push us too hard so we've spent a lot of time not advancing in pole.  I think we both walked away from BeSpun wanting to fix that.  We are ready to get strong and start really dancing!  

We started with a great warm-up and stretch, almost yoga-style, including some sit-ups.  Amber is a great teacher.  She describes a move, demonstrates it, then comes around to make sure everyone is doing it properly.  Rita and I went to the very end of the room so we could muddle through without getting in the way.  Amber checked on us several times.  We ended class with a free dance.  I took a few things away from the class:  First, I want to start warming up better.  Second, I learned how to climb prettier (and busted out a new move!!!).  Third, Amber (and I would assume BeSpun) absolutely believes that you should learn each move on both the right and left sides.  I currently only use my dominant hand (right) and only do moves one way.  So we spent a lot of time doing basic moves on our non-dominant side. That was pretty cool.

BeSpun was nothing like Twirly Girls.  Not to say they weren't friendly -- everyone was amazing and so nice to us.  But in class, they were very serious.  There was very little interaction between students.  They worked hard from the second they arrived until class was over.  The studio is definitely a place for people to train and become pro competitors.  Still, we had a great experience there and liked seeing how other studios worked.  Amber is an excellent teacher and she dances so beautifully.  I especially like that she is so tall (so many dancers are these tiny little things).  She's got these beautiful muscular and long legs.  Her abs look great.  She said she's been doing a lot of plyometrics, so maybe she can teach a class for us at Twirly Girls when she comes back for a visit!

So anyway, that is my first Poletry in Motion review, which will be my personal opinion of the studios I visit.  BeSpun in Hollywood is definitely a place you should check out if you're in the Southern California area.  Other than being a little star struck when you see famous instructors and dancers, their classes are well-taught and structured.  I am hoping to make more trips down to So Cal for Social Sonar and other pole events.  I am looking forward to taking another class from Amber and checking out other studios!

Oh yeah, before I go...when we left, Rita and I hit up the bathroom, which is really a big locker room/shower area for both men and women.  There were some lockers and one said, "E. Balfour."  I love the actor, Eric Balfour.  I was like, could he possibly train here??  I whipped out my cute little smart phone and typed in "Eric Balfour and Legends."  He does in fact train there (and may actually be a co-owner or investor), so I rubbed my body all over his locker (sorry, Mr. Balfour!!).  :-D  When I got home, I told Rob about it and he said that when he watched a recent episode of Haven, Eric's character did a martial arts type of move and Rob thought he pulled it off well for someone who supposedly wasn't trained in martial arts.  But now we know that he IS actually trained in martial arts.  Totally random piece of information...and gave me a good giggle because Eric Balfour is hot and I totally molested his locker!

 Amy Guion

 Rita twirling

 My new move...I'm not touching the floor!!!

Amber Richard

Eric Balfour's locker -- yes, I am a stalker