Wow. I could literally just say that, drop the mic and walk away. The best way to describe my experience with producing
NCPP is: WOW! From start to finish, I had no idea what to expect! This adventure started over a year ago, when Amy Bond first brought the idea to me. (You can read up on some of that
HERE.) Shit got real when Ellen stepped in, secured a location and we actually opened up the website for sign-ups in March.
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| Looks like a pole move to me! |
I don't really know what I expected to happen. We planned. We planned again. And then we planned some more. (You can read my one-week-ago update
HERE.) And while I stressed myself out for months prior to the show by using most of my lunches, and after-work hours preparing, once it came time to set-up, I felt nothing. Just peace. It was the calm before the storm, I told myself. I was certain I wouldn't sleep Friday night and even more certain I would be a ball of nerves on Saturday -- show day. Nope. Still all good. I went down to Ellen's on Thursday night to organize things. We spent Friday picking up water and supplies. Then we got a call that Chobi, the amazing rigger from Los Angeles, was at the venue and ready to set up. Little did we know, once we arrived, he had actually arrived two hours earlier and was *completely* set up.
I worried I hadn't secured enough goodies for backstage. Then I heard someone excitedly talk about the gifts we had set out. I worried I messed up the music and maybe forgot a song or made the playlist too confusing to understand. But, nope. The music tech, David, commented that the playlist was one of the most organized he had ever seen. I worried that I had nothing to worry about. Then I worried that I was going to cause something to happen by making myself worry about nothing. My exterior was completely calm. Whatever happens happens, I told myself. The day was here and we had done everything we could to make it a great event.
There was a moment when I went to run up the stairs to the sound booth and I saw my grandfather in a dark corner of the audience. He passed away years ago and I have been told by more than one medium that he is my guardian angel. It almost stopped me in my tracks. He looked young and happy. It brought tears to my eyes. As I continued up the stairs, I realized it was actually my friend's husband sitting in the shadows. That moment was short but it brought me even more peace. I knew that I didn't need to worry because we had done everything possible to make the event perfect and it was going to be a great day.
And a great event it was. We have received tons of feedback -- almost all positive. Most have said this was the smoothest, most positive event they had ever been a part of. You don't know how much that means to us. This is EXACTLY what I wanted. If you want the pressure of competing, there are many avenues for you. However, if you'd like to get on a big stage, with lights and music and 200 of your closest friends watching, there are not always a ton of opportunities. I am tickled at how awesome the day was.
Ellen and I have so many people to thank. We thank all of the dancers (we had about 65 performances throughout the day). We thank all of the studios in the Bay Area (and out of the Bay Area, since Southern California, Nevada and Colorado were also represented). With the exception of perhaps two studios, everyone had a dancer representing them. We thank the audience members who came to support the local pole community. We thank our judges, as most traveled from out of the area. We triple thank our volunteers, who were so amazing and jumped in to help any time we needed it. We thank our
sponsors, and our
vendors, who were selling fun things in the lobby. We thank the San Jose Stage Company, for trusting us when we were like, "no really, we're just going to put up some big metal poles in your theater and bring a bunch of people." We thank Chobi for bringing his own rigging and keeping our dancers safe, and for also watching out for us and playing bouncer when necessary. We thank his son, William, for coming with him and sitting all day as well! We thank Alloy Images for their amazing photography and videography! We thank Clif Bar for providing snacks for the backstage. We thank Girlie Grip and Tite Grip for sending samples for the dancers to try. We thank Poleitical Clothing, PoleandAerial.com and Girlie Grip for providing pole cleaner outfits. And we thank PSO for providing guidance for us during the last year. I also personally want to thank Bel and Twirly Girls for always supporting me. Even though this event was for all of the Bay Area studios, they are my home studio. And I especially want to thank Ellen. NCPP could not have happened without her. She totally gets my crazy, or at least tolerates it. And for that, she is owed a million thanks. I hope I didn't forget anyone. This is why I hate giving acceptance speeches.
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| Here's me not stressing out during the show |
I want to go back to the dancers to talk about how special I think each and every one of them is. I am not a performer. I dance for Twirly Girl events or at Robert's 1220 events, but I am in no way the-best-performer-ever. At the end of the day, I know I am safe because I am performing at home. It takes a ton of guts to put yourself out there in a larger theater like this. I was so proud of each and every person who took the stage. I know some were disappointed with their routines but I did not see one bad routine last Saturday. Thank you for bringing your heart and dancing for us. Also, thanks for all the cool new music ideas. I actually wrote my PDBA blog hop this month about
NCPP songs. I was only supposed to pick 10 for the blog hop but I really loved every song submitted to me.
We received only one piece of negative feedback so far. It's the
damn bear again. It is kind of funny to me that Pat elicits such a hateful reaction out of some people. People either love or hate Pat -- there is no in between. But, Pat is here to stay. As we say in our FAQ's: "The bear in our logo is a reference to the California “Bear Flag.” As
our showcase is in Northern California, we thought it would be fun to
incorporate that into our logo. We also want this showcase to be light
and fun. We understand you have many options for competitions, and
believe that some polers are hungry to showcase their talents without
the pressure of competing. This does not mean that we do not take this
showcase seriously, but we believe we can put on a safe show without
losing our sense of humor." Like I said on Facebook, if hating our logo is the only negative thing anyone can come up with, then we're doing it right.
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| Thanks to Alloy for catching Ellen and me crying like babies |
We received a great write-up from SF Weekly. I know some people were bummed that stripping is mentioned, but that is what the general public associates pole dancing with. So, I don't mind the reference. I am proud, however, that events like NCPP are showing that pole is a legitimate sport and is not just for the strip clubs anymore. You can read that piece
HERE (in fact, I urge you to leave a comment on their page so they can see how many polers there are around the world!).
The day was surreal. Sometimes it still feels like it didn't happen. I feel like there is so much more I could say but I don't want to get too wordy. So thank you again to everyone who supported us. I am excited to announce we are already planning the show for 2015.
We are still looking for feedback, so if you would like to leave a comment below, we would love to hear what you thought about NCPP 2014!
The studio is beautiful, but what I loved most about the showcase is that this is a family, just like Twirly Girls! A studio recently opened down the street from my office (Hello Spin Sity!!). My co-worker asked why I wouldn't be attending regular classes. He asked if it was about competition. I said, no, not really. The studios in the Bay Area are pretty good about supporting each other, are far enough apart to not really have to compete, and I adore the ladies at Spin Sity, however, Twirly Girls is my family. While I certainly hope to attend some open pole or occasional classes at Spin, I certainly look forward to going home to Twirly Girls for my regular classes each week. That isn't because the ladies (and potential gents) at Spin Sity aren't awesome -- it just means I love my family. Phoenix is my extended family and I was extremely happy to support their show and see that they are just like us -- they love and support each other and provide a safe place for these dancers to express themselves and feel beautiful. 
