Ballet and Burlesque with Miss Maleficient Simona Martini

It's been the rainiest autumn in 140 years in Finland this year and you might think that all this fuss about fifty shades of grey refers to the colour scheme of an average day in Helsinki. The weather doesn't manage to get me down, though, as I'm happily busy at work all day and spend most of my spare time either pole dancing, dancing or doing yoga. Who cares what the weather is like?

Today we enjoyed our own personal sun at Pole4Fit as we had Simona Martini as our guest teacher. She lights up the room with her presence and her gracious way of moving is bordering on otherworldly. We've had the pleasure of having her as a guest teacher twice before. If you've followed my blog, you know that I've danced ballet for just over 1,5 years and it hasn't really come naturally to me at all. The pole ballet classes that we have every week I can still pretty much follow, but the lessons with Miss Simona Martini are always a reality check that remind me that I still have a long way to go, even at beginners' level.

Miss Martini gave us a 75-minute ballet class and a 75-minute burlesque class. Her lessons are not easy and she pushes us to learn by making us repeat the routines without her. That's why after all her classes I feel like I'm a terrible dancer, but still a lot better than 75 minutes earlier.

Simona Martini has danced ballet since she was 5 years old. She joined Rome's Teatro Dell'Opera when she was 11 and started studying at the Royal Ballet in London at 15. She has worked with many famous ballet dancers such as Elisabetta Terabust, Alexander Floris, Zarcko Prebil, Massimo Moricone, Merle Park, Jonathan Cope and David Drew. Like said before, her teaching me is a complete waste of talent, but it's still so inspiring and pushes me so much forward that I'm not going to complain!

Me and Miss Simona Martini at Pole4Fit. What do you mean I'm not built like a ballet dancer?

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