Studio Review: Pole Chicks, Rockford IL

When I first moved here, I poured over the website of every single pole studio in the area. I was looking for work, and I didn't want to solicit any studios without having a firm idea of what they were up to. Pole Chicks in Rockford made an instant impression in my mind. It was the only site that had pictures of people doing really advanced moves. When I realized how far away it was, I knew there was no way I could work there. But I also felt like, "Well, they probably don't need somebody like me. Looks like they got it covered!"

Rockford is over an hour and a half's drive from me, so I had never intended on going there myself. But when Whitney announced on Facebook that they were offering $5 classes as a special, I reasoned that the trip was justifiable. Even if I spent $20 on gas, the cost for drop-ins at some places is $25, so I'd be kinda breaking even, you know? Well, it made sense to me anyway.

Some pole studios only offer one or two classes a night, but Pole Chicks has a full range. Today alone, I could choose from 10am, 11am, 5pm, 6pm, and 7pm. I decided 5pm would put me least in the way of Chicago rush hour traffic. Leave here around 3, leave there around 6. It worked. Smooth sailing the whole way!

All Pole Chicks' classes are mixed level, and I wasn't sure exactly how that would play out. These are instructed classes, after all, not open pole. It made more sense when I got there. The place is small, and only has a total of six poles. It's not like there was going to be a big class.

One thing I appreciated was the lack of obnoxiously feminine colors. No pink or purple; the room was white and orange, and the one silk they had was black. You can tell it's the kind of place people go to train.

There were four students: me and one other advanced poler, and two beginners (I assume they were beginners--I wasn't really watching to see what they were working on; could have been intermediate). So basically the way it worked was the instructor (Whitney) mostly focused on the beginners, and let the advanced students mostly train on our own, open pole style. She did toss out ideas and suggestions (Pippi, do you know this move? What about this one?), to me at least--I think the other woman was a regular, or another instructor, or something, who was just there to train. It was interesting, because although they didn't show me any moves I didn't know, they had different combos and transitions. For example, getting into a back elbow hold from a brass monkey, whereas I always do it from a pencil/iguana/whatever you call it. (It was a more interesting transition, but doing it from the floor I didn't have room to put my bottom arm straight, which I think is prettier than holding behind the neck).

They mostly just had spin poles, which was awkward for me since I don't spin to much. But it's good for me to be forced to practice like that. At home I tend to just stick to static. I'm a teacher, rather than a performer, and most of my students come to me for help on static. I don't have any problem with dizziness--I mean, I get dizzy, but it doesn't bother me--but some students have major motion sickness problems. Of course that can be combatted to an extent, but if they don't want to learn spin, I don't feel the need to force it on them. That's what you get when you take private lessons--you get to pick what to work on. (Long version of why I don't spin much.)

The poles were nice and grippy, but if I have one complaint it's that the room was a bit too hot. I had to change clothes early on (I had started in my fun grippy vinyl shorts, but was sweating balls), and I had to wipe my shoulder down with a towel three times before I was comfortable doing a fonji. There was a fan, but it wasn't doing a whole lot of good, even if you stood right in front of it.

The ceilings were 10 feet, which is a decent height for poles, but not for silks. I know because that's about what I have for my silks, and there's a ton that I just can't do on them because of that. But at least the ceilings were very easy to work with--there were no stray beams or pipes to worry about bumping, and no drop ceiling. Once I determined I wasn't sweating too much, I was able to do a solid ceiling lay without having to navigate around any ceiling obstacles, which I can't say about a ton of places.

I didn't get to talk to the beginners that much, since they were busy with their instructor. The other advanced student (who I had met briefly before but didn't really know) was very nice, and we got to exchange tricks and ideas (along with the instructor). It's good to be in that kind of environment where people are cooperative and not competitive.

I can't say too much about the quality of instruction, as my part of the class was mostly unstructured, but I can tell you that the beginners did conditioning both before and after, and had a thorough stretch down at the end. Whitney seemed like a really positive and encouraging teacher.

It's rare to find a place where you can do a drop-in at practically any time of day and receive advanced instruction. If I didn't live so far away, and they kept offering classes at $5(!!), I'd probably be in there multiple times a week.

STATS:
Pole Chicks
Equipment: 6 10' 50mm permanent poles, Markstaar, stainless steel, 5 spinning and 1 static. 1 aerial silk.
Amenities: Two bathrooms that double as changing rooms.
Drop-in price: Normally $15. For June 2012, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday classes are only $5. Get over there!!

I forgot to take a picture again, so the photo is from Pole Chicks' Facebook Page.

Studio Review: Tiger Lily Vertical Fitness & Dance, Geneva IL

Tiger Lily was the first pole studio I visited when I moved to Chicago. I mean, it's one of the first anythings I visited. I was right off the boat, and a local poler I'd been corresponding with tipped me off to their grand opening party, and invited me to meet up there. I didn't know anyone or anything about the local pole or aerial scenes, so this was my introduction.

Last night, over six months later, I went back for open pole. I'd been wanting to go for ages! They kept mentioning their Open Poles on Facebook, and it just kept not working out for me. Mostly because, as a severely underemployed grad student, I just didn't have the $20 (for non-Tiger Lily students). But I sincerely did want to go. I love my Platinum Stages brass convertible, but my space is just too tight for some of the things I need to do. I need to do hard climbs (shoulder inversion climbs, no-feet climbs, inverted climbs) to train my muscles, and I need height to climb. I mean, I can jump to the top of my damn pole at home. Plus, as an independent poler, I am pretty isolated, and I like to get out and meet people. And sometimes it's nice to train when other people are looking, 'cause then you have to make an effort to look good and not just drag your feet!

So I signed up for Open Pole online the night before. I got an email from Sarah, one of the co-owners (whom I've met several times in person--actually she took my conditioning class once, she's strong!), telling me the class was moved an hour later (and of course offering me a refund it that wasn't OK). That was fine, as Geneva is not that close to me, so I got to take the extra time to digest dinner before jumping around like a poling maniac.

The door was actually locked when I got there (they let me in when they saw me standing there looking confused though). Turns out I was the only Open Pole student, and there was a photo shoot going on before my class. I was disappointed that it wouldn't be a more social workout, and probably would have cancelled if I'd known it was going to be just me. But at least I got to hang out with Caroline, the other owner, who I hadn't gotten to really talk to much yet. She's cool, I like her!

Tiger Lily is not a huge studio, and while they do fall back on hot pink, they use it in much tamer quantities than other studios, alternating it with easier-to-digest shades of lilac. So we can forgive them that.

The dressing room--I'm not sure if that was their usual dressing room or if the photo shoot people were in the usual dressing room. Anyways, it was small but cute, I think it had a fainting couch or something. And it's OK that it's small because they only have one pole room, and there are only 8 student poles, and they only do one-to-a-pole classes, so there's not gonna be more than eight people needing to get dressed at the same time anyways.

The pole room is very simple, with nine poles--8 for the students and one for the teacher--reaching close to 10 feet high (they weren't able to give me an exact height measure so we were estimating). The really cool thing is that the eight student poles are at the front and back of the room, with the teacher pole in the center--not in the front of the class, as in a normal dance class. I think that's brilliant. Not only does each person get an equal view, but pole is a three-dimensional art form. There is a lot of spinning (and unintentional rotating), so you really do need a 360-view. After all, while theaters where traditional dance takes place usually present a two-dimensional, face-front view to the audience, like a TV screen, aerial pole has its origins in strip clubs and circus tents, both of which usually offer seating on all sides of the performer. So it only makes sense that we should perform it that way when we can, or at least teach it that way.

Since there wasn't a class before me, the poles weren't as warmed up/grippy as they might have been. They were stainless steel, and I know people say those are less grippy than brass, but I find that as long as they're warm they are about the same. I picked out the four poles that were the warmest (all towards the center of the room--those must have been the ones they were using for the photo shoot!), and used them for my climbing, and then settled on one towards the front so I could use the mirror.

There was a wall of mirrors, which is always helpful (I like to check to make sure I'm even on things like iron X's and shoulder planks), but there was a ballet bar attached to it that always seemed to be RIGHT in my way. Guess I'll have to practice my power moves aerially next time!

The ceilings are drop ceilings, and the ribbing is on the narrow side, so it's nigh impossible to do any ceiling work. I can usually find a happy place for my feet in a ceiling lay on a drop ceiling, but here no matter what I did I ended up poking through the ceiling.

The sound system was solid. Caroline offered to put my iPod on, but I'm sick of my own music so I let hers run. We didn't play it that loud 'cause we wanted to chat, but I'm sure it can get crazy in there for a dance party.

I don't think they had a shower (correct me if I'm wrong), but they did have a nice bathroom with baskets of complimentary q-tips and tampons for those in need, which I thought was cute! 

Like my last studio review, this was Open Pole, so I can't really say anything about the instruction. Caroline offered to spot me plenty of times though, and asked if I needed help if I even made the slightest grunt. So I guess that's the best "instruction" you can get in a non-instructed class!

I wish I could say something about the clientele, but obviously I can't in this case! Apparently there are usually a few women at Open Pole, but I just came on an off night.

Anyways, Tiger Lily is a smaller place than Flirty Girl and Tease and Rondi's and I think even Bombshell (trying to think of all the studios I've been to in Chicago), but it has a nice feel and friendly instructors. Open Pole is their only drop-in class, which is on Fridays at least once a month (sometimes more), so if you're in the area and looking for a place to practice, definitely check it out!!

STATS:
Tiger Lily Vertical Fitness & Dance
Equipment: 9 10' 50mm permanent poles, Platinum Stages, stainless steel, static-spinning convertible
Amenities: Just the entryway (some merch available) and the pole room, with one or two small dressing rooms
Drop-In Price: $20 for non-students, $10 for students. Open pole is currently the only drop-in class.


Photo from Tiger Lily's Facebook page, because I forgot to take one.

Studio Review: Flirty Girl Fitness, Chicago

I usually train at home or at Rondi's, but yesterday I had a huge gap between two commitments downtown, and was looking for some way to fill the time. Of course the first thing I did was check the area pole studios to see what was happening. And I was in luck: Flirty Girl Fitness had an Open Pole class that perfectly coincided with my downtime!

I booked over the phone, and the lady who took down my info was friendly. I had to give a credit card number to reserve my spot, even though I would be paying in person the next day. I assume that's so they can charge no-shows.

I had lost my CTA card the previous day, so I had to walk like 50 minutes to get there. The whole area was really dead; I dunno if that's cause it was Sunday afternoon, or because I'm used to the intimate hustle-and-bustle of New York.

The studio was down the street from the Oprah building, so I had a little tourist moment.

I had been instructed to get to the studio early to sign a waver. I got there really early, because I wanted to have time to check the place out and get comfortable.

The studio was really gorgeous inside! It looked like a converted something. You know, farm or bath house or train station or whatever Chicagans convert into things. So it gave it this really hip, indie feel, with the exposed wood and brick.

I signed my waver and paid by credit card and was directed toward the dressing room and where my class would be. They had two studios, the "Marilyn Monroe" and the "Bette Davis." Marilyn Monroe was the pole studio, Bette Davis was an open studio that was used (while I was there) for abs workouts and belly dancing. I think there might have been a third, smaller studio off to the side, but I didn't get a good look.

The locker room was really sweet. But I think I'll take this moment to broadcast a PSA to all pole studios everywhere. PLEASE LAY OFF THE HOT PINK. WE ARE FEMALE. I GET IT. WE ALL GET IT. IT'S A REALLY OBNOXIOUS COLOR. I mean, I LIKE pink. a LOT. I'm wearing pink right now. Put come ON already. Hot pink does not go with anything else, so when you chose to center your color scheme on it, you are completely restricted to hot pink, black, and white, and it becomes a little nauseating.

That said, I did like my hot pink towel.

I talked to a couple women in the locker room. One was there for belly dancing, and was talking with another woman about how she was afraid to try pole because she has sweaty hands, so the topic of *product* came up. I had some Dry Hands with me so I let her try it. Then she asked where to get it, and that's where it got awkward because I mentioned it's the brand we carried at my studio, but I had to stop there, because the LAST thing you want to do when you're a GUEST at another studio is start talking about where YOU work (or YOUR private lessons). That is just bad business etiquette and not fair to the studio. So I tried to downplay it when someone asked where I worked and be just like, "oh, it's wayyyyy out in the suburbs. Like, SO FAR."

So here was something awkward: I hadn't realized how big the studio would be (many are just one room), and since I was told class was barefoot (or in socks), I hadn't brought any shoes to walk around in. So I was timidly walking around the lobby barefoot, hoping not to get in trouble for a health code violation or something. Everyone else had socks, sneakers, ballet slippers, or flip-flops. I had come straight from a gig (in my other life as a musician), so all I had was pantyhose and business lady pumps. Nobody said anything, but I felt embarrassed to be the only asshole standing in the lobby with bare feet, like someone would think I was disgusting. (I personally don't mind, I got tough feet!)

I wasn't totally sure when class was starting, because I think most of the students in the class before Open Pole stayed for Open Pole, so there wasn't a big diaspora of students coming out. So I poked my head in timidly and a nice blonde Russian girl smiled at me to indicate that I was in the right place, and the teacher called me over and took my "attendance chip" and offered me the pole in front of her. (Yeah, they give you a poker chip to hand into your teacher for attendance, not sure what that's all about.)

The class before us was, I think, "Beginner Pole Tricks," and they were just wrapping up. Looked like they were working on the "Split heel." With all due respect for Pantera, is there a new name for this move yet? Now that most people dance barefoot, it's a bit of a misnomer. I direct my students to "step up" when using this mount, but that's not really a name, just a description of the transition.

So, the teacher's name was Diana, and she seemed really great, like really friendly and a lot of personality. But since it was Open Pole, she wasn't teaching per se, so I don't know what her teaching style is like.

My fear going into this was that, because it was the middle of Sunday afternoon, there would only be like 2 other people. Wow, was I wrong! The class was packed! Some people were sharing poles, but I don't know if that was because there weren't enough to go around or just because they were training together. It was hard to tell how many people were in class, because I never knew how many people were just overlapping from previous and next classes.

There were 13 50mm poles (I forgot to count but the lady at the front desk told me). Nobody could tell me the material or height. I think they were stainless steel, based on the way they looked. I'm a horrible estimator of height, but it took me six shoulder mount climbs to get to a ceiling lay both times I tried, so I'd say that's 11 or 12 feet. Plenty tall for most tricks. The pole was extremely grippy, because it was warm from the last person who used it, and also I think there was some grip product on it. I didn't see what the club sold, but the teacher (or somebody who's stuff was near the teacher's) had a bottle of Mighty Grip, so I assume that was their standard. I didn't have to put on anything or wipe the pole down.

I think the poles were homemade. They were just straight sticks permanently affixed to the floor and ceiling; nothing to imply that they were X-Poles or Platinum Stages or anything. But I'm just theorizing; I figured if no one could tell me the height or material they certainly wouldn't know the manufacturer.

The teacher took music requests, and I didn't ask for anything. I think it was mostly hip-hop with some standard club rock.

Since I didn't know anyone, I tried really hard to mind my own business and not stare at anyone else. In retrospect I probably should have been a little more smiley and gregarious, because I really did want to meet people. Anyways, from what I caught out of the corner of my eye, the levels were across the board. I saw people trying to learn Fireman spins, and people doing yoginis and spatchcocks. Again, I tried not to watch, because, you know, some people are competitive, and I'm advanced, and I didn't want anyone to think I was throwing down. I hope I didn't come off as a snob, because no one talked to me the whole time. And I didn't talk to anyone, so that's fair.

One other thing I should mention was that they had TONS of pole mats! There was more than enough for everyone, some people even had more than 1. It was the square kind that you velcro around the pole (if somebody knows the brand name I'll link to it).

The class was only one hour, but I had a really great workout. I enjoyed the atmosphere, the pole was just right, and I left feeling energized and in a great mood.

I was too shy to talk to anyone in the locker room. I did enjoy a nice hot shower.

On my way out, I asked permission to snap the photograph you see at the top of the page. The white walls are the perimeter of the pole room. See how it doesn't go all the way to the ceiling? I wonder if they do that to make it cheaper to heat, or for pole stability. I mean, if I had a tall ceiling like that, I'd want my poles to go all the way up!

My only one complaint about this class was the price. Open Pole was $25, for 1 hour. I can see charging $25 for an instructed class, or charging $25 for two hours of Open Pole. But $25 for one hour of open training is a lot. However, they have monthly memberships that seem like a really good deal, and I think most people who were there had memberships. Unfortunately I probably won't go again because of the price. But if I lived nearby and needed a place to train, I would love to be a member here!

STATS
Flirty Girl Fitness, Chicago
Equipment: 13 50mm poles, stainless steel (?), make unknown, static.
Amenities: spa, bar, nice locker room, gift shop
Price: $25 for a 1 hour class

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