More Confessions of a Twirly Boy...

    

    I Won! I won the Pole Dance Off against Lori!

    Wait, I better back up a little here. You may not know what I am talking about. 

    I was challenged to a Pole Dance Off by my friend Lori to win the heart of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. We had been going back and forth, for a while on which one of us The Rock wanted. Lori thought that she would be able to seal the deal by challenging me to a Pole Dance. She had two years experience on the pole and I had none. Well, I was not going to let that stand in the way, so I accepted.

     The Pole Dance Off was set to happen at the Lovely Rita Fundraiser, which only gave me nine weeks to get in shape and learn to pole dance. I got signed up for my first class at Twirly Girl Pole Fitness and my instructor was…. Lori. Crap, I am going to lose The Rock forever!

        So, let me get back to my pole training. I had a great instructor in Lori! She had me doing sways, fairies and lotuses in no time. I cannot forget Bel either. Bel is the owner of Twirly Girl Pole Fitness. She is an amazing person and was so patient in her teaching. At any rate, after some sore muscles and a few bruises (aka Pole Kisses); I had the basics down and was on my way to being a Twirly Boy.

    Next, we had to pick a song to dance too. Lori was gracious enough to let me choose and I went with Pink’s F**k’in Perfect.  Then we had to choreograph the number. At this point, I started going to Twirly Girl twice a week so we could rehearse the number. Again, this great group of ladies was there to help in the process, from suggesting movies to filming us while we worked on the number. Rita, as in The Lovely Rita, was a big help and so encouraging to me.

    At one point, I found that I was able to climb the pole while it was spinning. Lori and Rita said that I should use that in my solo part of the dance off. I worked on the climbing and then on the decent. I ended up with letting my legs swing out and slowly slide down the pole. I also continued to work on a few parts of the routine that I kept getting hung up on.

    Finally, the big day arrived. Surprisingly I was not nervous about the performance. However there was one little glitch in the day. The air conditioner had gone out in the studio. It was hot!

Amazingly, nobody let that hold them back. I watched every performer give it their all. Then came time for Lori and me to do our performance. We were given an introduction by Bel and Rita and we took to the poles.

    We nailed it! I loved hearing the audience cheer when I climbed the pole, but my favorite part of our routine is near the beginning. After walking around the pole a few times, Lori and I would come face to face. At that point, Lori would always get a big grin on her face. It is at that point you realize that the most important part of the routine is to just have fun. And that is what we did.

    After we finished our performance, we were greeted by The Rock! Ok, it was Rita’s husband holding a Rock mask in front of his face. Then both Lori and I were given photos of The Rock that Rita had photoshoped us into.

    So, I had won the pole dance off, but here is the real thing; I had already won in several bigger and better ways by just signing up for pole dancing. One of the wins, or should I say loses, is my wait. I have lost around twenty pounds. That is a good ego boost right there. The biggest win is that I have made new friends thru this whole process. I have found that everyone at Twirly Girl Pole Fitness is really supportive and encouraging. I was treated just like one of the girls. I have gotten to meet or know better some amazing people. I am even going to keep on taking pole classes.

    There is that old saying; it is not the destination that is important but the journey there. It’s true, and I am continuing on in my journey.

Here is the video of our Pole Dance Off

Confessions of a Twirly Boy

    “The Rock is mine!” I said.

    “No, He is mine!” Lori replied.

    Well, that is how it all started. That is what started me on this path with poles, booty shorts, bruises and Twirly Girls.

    The first time I met Lori while she was sitting on a large pumpkin. Our mutual friend Jimmy had invited her to join in on one of the Rainbow Community Center outings, which happen to be a trip to the pumpkin patch. Then after that, I would see Lori every first and third Sunday of the month at Holotta Tymes’s Un-BOY-lievable Drag Show at Club 1220, where I am the Door Whore. Over time, Lori has become a good friend and part of our close-knit little group.

    Now, add Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson into the mix. Lori and I have been bickering back and forth, for a while on whom The Rock belongs to. She just cannot except that The Rock wants me. Well, at any rate, the bickering has been slowly escalating and crossed over into the usage of social media, including tweeting The Rock himself. (For which some reason he has not yet responded to.) Finally, Lori called me out. She challenged me to a Pole Dance Off to determine who wins the heart of The Rock.

    I then figured that this Pole Dance Off should take place in front of a good size crowd. I knew that every year that Lori was part of the fundraiser for the Lovely Rita Foundation that raises money for the National Kidney Foundation. Therefore, I asked Lori if she wanted to do the Pole Dance Off at the coming fundraiser on April 22, 2012. “Yes!” was her answer. We were set then, I had nine weeks to get in shape and learn to Pole Dance.

    With a quick check in with Lori on Monday morning, I was signed up for my first class at Twirly Girls Pole Fitness Monday night. Now, I had to take care of a couple of things to make sure I was ready. First was to find a pair of booty shorts. I ended up at A-1 Dance & Theatrical in Castro Valley where I got great service and a cute pair of black booty shorts. The second thing was to trim the leg hair. I was informed that longer leg hair could be pulled while spinning on the pole.

    Twirly Girls Pole Fitness is located in downtown Pleasanton. It looks like it use to be an old auto mechanics’ shop from the outside. Inside, it is an inviting set-up with several dance poles. The class I was taking was a Taster Class, a great way to see if pole dancing is something that is for you. I of course was the only guy signed up for the class.

    I did feel a little self-conscious about being the only guy in the class. Pole Dancing is usually only associated with women, all though there are some amazing male Pole Dancers, like Philip Deal, who I recently got to meet. Anyways, I felt a little awkward, as if I was invading the girls’ clubhouse. Lori and Bel made me feel comfortable right away, just as if I was one of the girls. Bel is the owner of Twirly Girls and Lori was our instructor.

    Lori was a great instructor (even if I have to make sure she does not try to sabotage me for out Pole Dance Off).  She got us warmed up and was very good at teaching us the beginning moves of pole dancing. Lori taught us how to make sure our pole was ready to spin on while still looking sexy and then some basic moves to entice out viewing audience. Next, she moved on to teaching some basic spinning moves along with some moves we could do to relax while still dancing at the pole.

    Let me tell you, pole dancing is one major work out. I was feeling it muscles I did not even know I had. The next morning I was really feeling it! Every muscle in my body was aching. I was walking like the Tin-man. Then I notice the bruises on my inner thigh from where I was wrapping my legs around the pole. Lori called them pole kisses, hell it looked like the pole got up and swung itself at me. The thing is, even with the bruises and muscle pains, it was all worth it.  I had a great time in the class and I am looking forward to the next class.

   Win or lose the Pole Dance Off, I am excited about taking the pole dancing class. It is a lot of fun and I will be getting the much-needed exercise my body could use. I also have the feeling that it is going to be a great group of ladies that I will be taking the class with. Which reminds me, I first got laughed at by some of the other guys at work when I told them I was taking a pole dancing class, but when they learned I was the only guy dancing with these ladies… well, jealousy did not look good on them.