This was primarily the result of a New Year's resolution I made, not so much because I wanted to perform in a showcase, but because performing in a showcase simply seemed like the next logical step in my pole journey. It should be obvious by watching, however, that I had no idea how to put a routine together, and really no meaningful performance skills--I knew some tricks, and I knew how to make some shapes, and so I did.
In all fairness to myself, however, this showcase took place about a week after Hurricane Milton, and less than a month after Hurricane Helene, storms which pretty much skuttled much of my intended conditioning and practice sessions; what you see here is simply an invert, outside leghang, inside leghang, chopper, and a Marley (sort of). Then I take a break (literally) before climbing again into a figurehead and transitioning into a masthead. That’s it. This was simply me running through stuff I knew I could do, stuff I had been practicing for a while. Having lost so much prep time, I wound up simply used a song which had been edited down to about a minute-and-a-half, because I knew I could fill up a minute-and-a-half on the pole, provided I took a break at some point. Which is what I did.
While my performance is cringey, it took me nearly two-and-a-half years to be able to pole at this level. So its not nothing, especially for a fifty-six year-old. More importantly--once it was over, I immediately knew that I wanted to perform again, not out of some vague sense that it might be worthwhile, but because the moment I had just experienced was so incredibly intoxicating.
TRIVIA:
* That is Jessa Jaguar introducing me!
* Yes, that is Kathleen in the foreground!
* That little thing at the end where I put my finger on my tongue is a tribute to Dr. Maria K., who was unable to attend that night as her home had been severely damaged in the storms. As for why that specific gesture...all I can say is that for some reason, it makes Dr. K. laugh. Which is all the reason I need.
* Finally, this was filmed by Jojo, the woman responsible for both the “Yes! Monique!” soundbite, and for sculpting me into Monique the Muscle-Bound Freak.
Considering the fact that, as I write this, my second showcase performance was less than six months ago, I'm nonetheless kind of shocked to note how much stronger I am today than I was then. Frankly, this kind of makes me cringe--there is another video of me, informally running through a few of these shapes during a warm-up earlier that afternoon, where everything looks so much smoother--but in that moment, I felt only like the nervous wreck I was, focused on the show ahead.
Watching this video now, it bothers me that I really didn't climb all that high--because at the time, it never really occurred to me use the top part of the pole. And I kind of screwed up the second part of the showcase: The platforms I was wearing were brand-new, an emergency replacement pair that I had only worn a couple of times. During the aforementioned informal run-through, I tried taking them off, but they had a different type of buckle/strap than my previous pair, and it was a struggle to get them off. So I gave myself plenty of time to take them off in the actual show, and as you can see, they came off right away, leaving me with nothing left to do for the final thirty seconds or so.
And I love that Samantha Styx introduced me. After I was finished, she returned to the microphone and, referring to my audio clips, paid a wonderful tribute to Molly, who had moved out of Florida just a month earlier, and I'm sorry that part wasn't recorded. And I love Sam’s floofy dress.
But I (mostly) achieved my mission for this performance: I wanted to pay tribute to my pole models and to Impulse. After the performance, however, it dawned on me how many more of these little tributes I could have included (starting with Sam) and I knew my next showcase would make up for that.
FUN FACTS:
* My friend Lola Schmoozy, of the Cannonball Cabaret, came all the way out to Brandon to see me perform! That's her with the pink hair, taking photos!
* The opening windshield wipers (at the 1:21 mark) were my tribute to Ms. Anne.
* I had learned the hang-glider (at 2:01) from Jojo probably not even a couple of weeks prior to this show.
* At the 2:21 mark, as I make a star (a tribute to Ms. Jessica), you can also see Em Phoenix seated on the floor to the left, taking the photo which I would later post with my five-star Google review for Carmella, my aesthetician. Which is why I now refer to that shape as a "Google review"
* At the end, where it looks as though I was humping for floor, I was actually making backfarts, but people really couldn't hear them over the music. Live and learn.
* Finally, the song I used, "Sex World," performed by Toni McVey, was the theme song from the 1977 pornographic film of the same name.
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