Hello! I’m Amanda!
Amanda Grant is a pole dance instructor and competitor with years of experience. She is also is a certified personal trainer, dual certified pole instructor and licensed FloorFlow instructor. She also instructs and performs Lyra. Amanda teaches at Rockstar Pole Fitness.
So you’ve been pole dancing for a little bit and have decided to enter into your first pole competition. Of the many comps I have performed in I have grown and learned so much from each one.
Here is 5 things that I hope will help you on your own journey to the stage!
1) Pole Dance is Art, not just an athletic event. The performances that captivates audiences are relatable and take the audience on a ride. You should showcase your strengths but use them to portray a story or an emotion that represents a time in your life that has a lot of meaning to you. Or you can develop a character to bring onstage. Is your song sentimental? Be thinking about a sentimental moment in your life and let those feelings guide how you move, how you look out into the audience, how you grab the pole, etc…
2) Rest is part of training. Over training is so common for new competitors. The mindset of “Just Do It” and “Push Past,” are often wrongly interpreted as the notion that truly dedicated athletes ignore their body when it’s telling them it’s time to slow down or stop. Ignoring mental blocks is one thing, but ignoring your body is an injury waiting to happen! Allowing your muscles and joints to recover from training is part of the training process. It’s how you get stronger. Otherwise you’re just beating yourself up. Pole competition is so demanding on our body, so let’s show it some love!
3) Trust your creativity. Don’t ever think your ideas are too extra or doubt how awesome they are because you’ve never seen it done. Let your own creativity shine! That’s how you’ll stand out from a crowd. Don’t get caught up wanting to look like everyone else. Don’t be a basic b*tch!
4) Judging is subjective. Different judges see different things in the same performance. You could show two different panels of judges the same routines and end up with different placements. Don’t base your success solely on how the judges place you. A true win comes from knowing that you challenged yourself, put in the hard work and then did the damn thing on
stage like a boss.
5) Making a mistake is not the death of your performance. The audience is there to support you! They know how hard Pole is and they appreciate all the work you’ve put in. If you have a blip or two while performing, don’t get stuck in a whirlwind of negative thoughts. You’re human, sh*t happens!! Stay in character, recover, then go on to nail the rest of your routine!
