Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of the most popular video I’ve put on YouTube, a pole routine starring Sarah, a former student of mine. Sarah had been doing (and teaching!) gymnastics for several years before she started pole dancing with me, and she puts a lot the skills and techniques she learned there into her pole work to create striking – and amazingly bendy – performances.

The video

Pole moves in detail

• Shoulder Mount from sit – A nice variation on the shoulder mount. Kick off from the ground to help you get up. Make sure you can perform the shoulder mount comfortably before attempting this.
• Pole Push Up – Use this as a transition move to mount the pole.
• Drop leg splits – Keeping the tension on the pole the whole time, drop one leg to get into the drop leg splits.
• Basic back bend – Arch your back as far as you can comfortably go. Stretching every day will help increase your back flexibility.
• Climb – To increase your hand strength for climbing, practice the Hang Tough grip, lifting your legs off the ground and then lifting your legs into the climb position. Repeat as many times as you can.
• Invert to Serpent – If you normally kick into an invert you’ll need to use your abs a lot more from this position. Start by inverting on the ground without kicking up.
• Handstand Away From Pole (straight edge) – Practice this move with your legs vertical. Slowly increase the distance between your legs and the pole as your strength grows.
• Brass monkey – Arch your back and lock in your armpit for greater grip.
• Transition Up Pole – Keep yourself locked to the pole by really squeezing with the leg gripping the pole.
• Superman – Keep your hand low on the pole when you start the move, and lift your leg nice and high as you get into the superman.
• Climb
• Fang – Getting into the fang quickly looks really dramatic, but start slowly until you’re comfortable with the move.
• Full Moon – Depending on your back flexibility, this move can help stretch your back and increase arm strength.
• Bow & Arrow – Arch your back and lift your head up to create a curved line with your body.
• Back Bend with leg Hook – Hook one leg and repeat the back bend.
• Splits lean and transition into Backwards Showgirl – If you aren’t flexible enough to do the back bend, try doing this move from an arabesque to give a similar effect.
• Back bend
• Floater – Sarah performs this with slightly straighter legs than the typical floater position, making her legs look longer and allowing her to arch her back even more!
• Splits lean and transition into Backwards Showgirl
• Splits back bend into floor – Practise stretching to gain the flexibility to do this move
• One handed Handstand – Use the pole for support when you first try this move. And make sure you’re comfortable with normal handstands too!
• Yoga arch with splits – This is similar to a handstand, but keep your elbows on the floor for support instead of your hands. Practise with your legs on the pole for support.
• Forward roll into splits – Sarah says this is “a rather difficult move requiring lots of bendyness.” Probably one to skip initially then…

Want more tips from Sarah?

Sarah will be covering some gym and flexibility techniques here in a lot more detail soon. Do leave a comment if there are any moves in particular that you’d like to her to go over for you.

Sorry for the long delay between this post and the previous one – we should be back on our normal schedule from now on.

Here’s the breakdown of a pole dance performance I put on YouTube a few months ago, together with tips for each move that I’ve found useful myself or when teaching. I’ve often been inspired watching other people’s pole work, sometimes even taking my own performances in completely new directions. So I hope it inspires some of you too!

The video

Pole moves in detail

• Floater – Keep good body tension while pushing your hips forward.
• Variation of the Pole Pull Up – Lift up onto the pole, release your non-dominant hand and take your non-dominant foot. Hold this as a pose. You could even add this to your own pole strength training for a bit of variety.
• High Kick – Imagine you’re kicking two people you don’t like (just imagine please!); this will make your leg thrusts much more explosive.
• Backwards Showgirl – Arch your back and look at the ceiling to help your body position.
• Climb – Take your time with the climb; controlled climbs are harder as they require more strength.
• Crescent Moon – Hold this pose for as long as you feel comfortable, reach out to increase the stretch in your back.
• Teddy – Lock in your arm as tight as possible and make sure your bottom is resting on the pole. Don’t wear synthetic shorts – this will make you to slip down and really hurt your armpit!
• Chopper – I pulse my legs down and lift up and over my head (really pushing my hips up) to help me invert.
• Variation of the Half Chopper – A simple but effective transition into the next move. Take your time and make sure your legs are secure before removing your hands.
• Hercules (no handed chopper) – Look down to the floor to create a nice line with your spine on the pole.
• Knees (with added arm wiggling!) – Practice wearing thigh high boots to get through the initial discomfort this move causes on the knees.
• Shoulder Mount – Experiment with different grips on the pole; try the dominant hand above or below to see what feels best for you. Some people use a clasped handgrip (link your fingers together behind the pole with your palms pressed on either side), though a split grip is more secure when you’re upside down.
• Serpent – If you’re a little uncertain about this move, practice getting into it with your hands on the ground.
• Gold Rush – Arch your back and lift up towards the ceiling to increase the line of this move.
• Pole Push Up – experiment with different leg positions, first on the pole for more support and then towards the split legs which becomes much harder.