Steven Retchless's TRIXXX Workshop @Vertical Club

Steven Retchless blew us away in Stockholm with his Pole Art performance. Luckily he followed us to Finland to give two workshops at the new Vertical Club.

I attended the TRIXXX workshop described below:

TRIXXX

INT/ADV 75min

This class is all about the TRIXXX! This 75min workshop will PUMP YOU UP!!! With a detailed breakdown of power moves, flips, inverts, twists, contortion and introduction to original and creative new moves. if your above beginner come take this awesome class. The “trixxx” will be modified to fit your level. I know you can do it, I believe in you so, LET’S DO IT!!!

I walked in just as they were finishing the previous workshop, 8" Spike. It looked like a lot of fun! I wish I could move in heels the way Steven does. Even more I wish I could move like he moves barefoot. Goddammit.

It seems that Steven really wants his students to learn in his workshop. He continuously walked around the classroom, giving pointers and tiredlessly redemonstrating the moves.

Steven taught us the spin combination that he did at the beginning of his Pole Art 2012 routine. I shared a pole with Pole4Fit teacher Carmen, who nailed the spin quite quickly. Luckily we've kept on practising it in her classes.

I usually never do this but I had to have a photo with Steven Retchless - and post it on Facebook. And yes, those are his pants on the floor. He specifically wanted to take them off for this photo.

All in all, a great workshop. Everything from warm-up to cool down was original, very Steven-esque. I'll have to work on the butt cheek lifts, impressive stuff! All the tricks or variations of tricks that we learned were new to me, which is exactly what I hope from workshops. If you have the change to attend Steven's workshops, do it! Very inspiring.

Please come to Poleranking to discuss this topic!

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Natasha Wang's Signature Tricks @North Pole STHLM

Natasha Wang had just won a runner-up title at Pole Art the previous night and came to the North Pole studio still wearing the beautiful braids. She was met by 12 enthusiastic students, among them our group of five Finns.

The workshop description was:

Natasha Wang

"Signature tricks"

Level: Intermediate/Advanced

Price: 450 SEK (~53€, $68)

Class description: This tricks class will focus on unique transitions on and off the pole, innovative aerial tricks, Chinese pole techniques, as well as movement that transforms the human body into beautifully strange shapes. This will be a barefoot class, as we’ll be executing tricks that require all parts of the human body -- including the bottom of your foot!

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After a thorough warm-up we started with a beautiful but painful side climb variation. We practised several tricks that were completely new to all of us, such as the transition (more like a dive) from standing on the pole to scorpio (a.k.a. inside leg hang). We also practised several variations of the meat hook (see photo of me below) and from that flipping yourself back right-side up and grapping your front leg (see the quick snapshot of Natasha demonstrating this transition below).

Natasha has astonishingly beautiful lines, even if she's just quickly showing how something is done.

Natasha is also one of those teachers who does everything to help you get it just right.

My take on the meat hook.

Pole4Fit's students and teachers were all smiles after the workshop.

What an inspiring, fun and useful workshop! We all agreed that this was money well spent. Thank you Natasha!

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Jenyne Butterfly's Spin Sister workshop @North Pole STHLM

If you watched the live stream or watched the videos or if you were there yourself you already know that Pole Art 2012 was the most inspiring pole dancing event ever. But it wasn't just the amazing performances that inspired us mere mortals, the weekend was also filled with workshops with the best pole dancers in the world. I attended Natasha Wang's Signature Tricks class and Jenyne Butterfly's Spin Sister at North Pole Studio in Stockholm and Steven Retchless's TRIXXX at Vertical Club in Helsinki the following Tuesday. All the workshops were inspiring, but I'll start with the one that didn't quite meet my high expectations: Jenyne's Spin Sister workshop.

The class description was:

Jenyne Butterfly

"Spin Sister"

Level: Intermediate / Advanced

Price: 550 SEK (~65 €, $83)

Class description: This 2-hour workshop will focus on spinning pole and also spinning on static pole. You will learn take off and landing, how to lengthen your flight time with each spin, the importance of and how to condition your grip, what moves are good for spinning verses static, where the momentum comes from, the benefits of spinning pole, and an all-around basic understanding of graceful movement around the pole. Get ready to be dizzy lizzy!

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The spins on static were intermediate. I struggled with a one-handed spin that was supposed to end in a shoulder mount - I just didn't have the strength left to actually mount the pole. We also worked on bringing the popular breakdance move flare legs into a spin on the pole. I wish we had done more spin combinations like the pike spin - piroutte - backhook -spin that we did.

The part on static pole was fun, but that's not why I came to Jenyne's workshop as we have spin classes at Pole4Fit every week and we work on even more advanced spins in every class. I really came for some tips on rocking the spin mode. I haven't worked much on it even though I have a spinning pole even at home. For two weeks before Jenyne's Spin Sister I did a little bit of spinning pole every single night just to get used to it - I didn't want to throw up in the two-hour workshop!

However, the part on spinning pole was hardly intermediate/advanced. I'm a complete newbie on spinning pole and I still didn't really learn anything new. We practised the very basics of spin mode. I checked my watch to see that we should still have 20 minutes left of the workshop when Jenyne asked if anyone had any requests. I tried asking about inverted moves on the spinning pole but all I got was a very brief reply. We started stretching and ended the 65 € workshop 15 minutes ahead of schedule even though we had started late. So, understandably, I was a bit disappointed with the workshop, even though it's of course an honour to get practice with the likes of Jenyne Butterfly.

Jenyne gave us a good piece of advice: Do a freestyle every time you practise on the pole. Just put on song on and move. Even if you're tired, come on, it's a 3-minute song!

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