April 30, 2025 • 43 mins
In Part 2 of our Australian Pole Championships deep dive, we go beyond the performances to unpack everything that goes into stepping on stage at a national level. From costuming wins (and fails) to the coaching moments that shaped routines, we’re sharing insider tips on balancing training, managing nerves, and setting meaningful goals. Hear the backstage vibes, friendship stories, and the reality of what it takes to start competing — especially if you want to get seriously good at pole. Whether you’re dreaming of APC or already in prep mode, we’ve got cheat sheets, comp day tips, and the truth about what championship day really feels like. This episode is your guide to growing as a performer, competitor, and poler.
Thanks for tuning in to Pole Obsession with Felix Cane and Elizabeth Domazet! If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and leave us a review. Follow us on social media for behind-the-scenes content and updates on future episodes. See you next time for more pole excitement and insider insights! 🎙️✨
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hello everyone, welcome back to another episode
of Pole Obsession.
This is part two of ourdiscussion about the Australian
Pole Championships with pastcompetitors.
We have Shel Hafner, NicoleHarbour, Robin Russell, Buki and
Bec joining us today.
Is anything stuck with you thata judge has said to you or
(00:24):
another competitor?
Um...
Yes, one did.
And that's probably why I saidsame trick three times is
because I seem to not realizethat I was doing an entrance the
same time.
Like I did an entrance the sametime.
three times.
And I didn't realize that I was,I did that, but I know I was
(00:46):
doing different tricks, but withthe transition was the same.
It really did stick with mymind.
I was like, I didn't even pickup on that.
Even in my training videos, I'dchoreograph my own routines, you
know, train with coaches and Ididn't even pick up on that.
So that was really useful.
And now choreographing for mynext routine, I'm like,
different transitions peoplepick up on this stuff so yeah
(01:07):
that was actually quite helpfuland something to really pick up
on so um because I think wealways think about you know the
difficulty and um you knowtrying all those power moves and
things like that and yourchoreography but yeah I did the
same transition to get into anew trick three times so I was
like damn it Yeah, a lot of theexperienced judges will pick it
(01:29):
up really quickly, yeah.
Mine is the opposite from Iguess maybe from a judging
perspective too is that I don'tget, can I say it from a judging
perspective?
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Like costume, I don't get theminimal effort in costume
(01:50):
because you don't really have towork that hard to get those
points.
Yeah.
And it's like you can go onstage and have your automatic
whatever points just by puttingthe effort into your
presentation and costume.
You can't get them deducted.
Yeah, yeah.
They're automatically there.
Like you could slip and not doabsolutely anything.
(02:10):
And no, you'll get a guaranteed,say five points.
Yeah.
Like put the effort into that.
And even like little things.
I think, I think people don'tthink judges pick up on that,
but I'm like, I can tell ifyou've actually brushed your
hair and made an effort to likeget rid of these pits versus you
just putting your hair in aponytail.
Like if you step on stage.
I can see that when I'm judging,but just putting the effort.
(02:34):
I happen to agree with that,actually.
The costume is just from here tohere.
The costume is everything, yourwhole, you know, it's the hair,
it's the makeup.
What have you got on your feet?
What have you got on your body?
What have you got on, you know,it's all of it.
Are you wearing shoes?
What are the shoes?
Have you got gauntlets?
And does it tie in with yourmusic?
Is it making sense?
Yeah, I agree with that becausethat was actually– The only
(02:57):
thing that stuck with me becauseI won the Miss Pole Dance
amateur, the mixed pole dance,and all my scores were great.
I was super happy.
I was like, wow, I've reallynailed this.
I worked really hard and I gotthe points that showed that.
(03:21):
But my presentation and costumewas just like could have been
more.
And it was pretty low.
Like it was like two out of 10.
It was like, didn't fit thetheme.
Um, like could have been more.
It was just like, it let medown.
I was still lucky enough to havewon, but I mean, my scores could
(03:42):
have even been better.
But, um, the following year Iended up having, I did two comps
and I had the most amazingcostumes.
I was actually so lucky that my,um, family member, uh, started
dating this ice skater costumemaker and she was just like I
(04:03):
know I was so lucky I was likethank you for dating her thank
you thank you thank you and sheis amazing and her name is
Cassandra so please please go toher but her costumes, like
straight away, that was thefirst thing every single
competitor said to me backstage,everyone in the audience.
I felt amazing.
(04:23):
I like the confidence just cameso much out of me and everyone
was just like, oh my God, yourcostume.
I was like, I know.
And I just immediately was like,yeah.
So like going onto stage,knowing that if I did the worst
thing ever, I was going to getthese points and it felt really
good.
UNKNOWN (04:43):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:43):
Costume couture, she's writing it down.
Yeah, costume couture.
Costume couture, Cassandra.
Hit her up.
And what about you, Robyn?
Run everything by your coach.
Yes.
Point your toes, fix your lines.
Yeah.
(05:03):
The standard ones, yeah, that inmy mind 24-7, it's living in my
head rent-free.
UNKNOWN (05:08):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (05:09):
That's it.
Well, good, good.
Yeah, coaches are so importantwhen you get to a state or
national competition.
I think, yeah, neverunderestimate the power of a
coach.
They're going to see things thatyou will never see because
you'll quite often have tunnelvision when you're doing it.
No matter how good you get, likesome of you guys are like the
(05:32):
best in the world.
But it's still good to havefeedback from somebody who, who
is an outsider looking and thatknows what they're doing.
So I think it helps.
Like every single sport hascoaches.
Every single one.
When Elle told me not to use myfoot on an eagle, I was like,
(05:53):
run through.
I feel this cane.
Can you not wrap your foot onthat eagle?
Thanks, Felix.
She goes, are you going to dothat on stage?
I was like, no.
Obviously not.
Well, not now.
Not now.
I didn't send anything to Ellelast year and I definitely
(06:15):
copped it, so.
Yeah, no, I let Robyn do her ownthing because I, like...
Robert is an Aeroport Academygirl and I let her do her own
thing.
She didn't want to run it pastme and I was like, you do you.
Good girl.
You do you.
The next day she's like, so whyis it you didn't want to train
with me?
(06:37):
Sometimes on your own journeyyou have to get to the
destination your way, you know.
Yeah.
Last year was a rough year forme in general.
So that was the one thing I waslike, this is me.
I can control this.
I'm doing this.
Sorry, Elle.
Oh, well, she's changed to myhistory though, people.
So we've got, we've got acorrection on, this is
(07:00):
correction fairy coming in onthe name of, um, amazing ice
skater costume girl is show girlcouture and it's Cassandra.
Yes.
I'm so sorry.
I stuffed that up.
Show girl couture.
I just want to like say as well,like, um, with costumes and
stuff like that because I havelike a lot of people that you
know like if you're doing lotsof competitions in a year it can
(07:22):
become expensive I don't imaginethat her costumes are cheap
costumes that sometimes havinggood presentation is just going
to be make sure that yourcostume suits the song that
you're doing the music thatyou're doing your theme and
stuff like that and it doesn'tlike Amazing big costumes are
great, but it doesn't alwayshave to be that way, but it does
(07:42):
have to have a lot of thought init and it's got to tie things in
well.
Otherwise, that's what makes thedifference when it doesn't look
like you've made an effort onstage.
I think the great thing aboutstage is that the stage is very
forgiving in that you're notvery close to the costume.
So even if you've made ityourself, which...
(08:02):
I often make my own costumes.
I make my own costumes as well.
Yeah, I don't want to spendhundreds and hundreds.
If it's something I can't do, Idon't have the skill level.
Of course, I'm going to paysomeone else to do it.
But yeah, if you're doing a lotof shows or comps, then you will
save a lot of money learning howto craft yourself.
I taught myself to sew becausewhen I was working with the
circus, like doing so many showsevery single week, you buy an
(08:24):
expensive costume and you'regoing to run it into the ground.
So I taught myself to sewbecause it wasn't affordable to
be buying expensive costumes.
And then also you do getcreative.
You're like, oh, I've got thisold bit from this old costume
and this old bit from thiscostume and now it's a new
costume.
Yay! And I'm like sitting herenext to my bag of sparkles that
(08:47):
I'm going to stick toeverything.
It never ends.
No.
When I'm talking about not justcostumes but presentation, and
this is something someonementioned to me, especially when
I was looking back through likecomp photos and things like
that.
So when you're walking aroundbackstage and you know how you
do your nervous little likepacing before you get on stage
(09:07):
and everything, I don't knowwhat happens to me, but I'm
going to know this for the nextone.
When I'm not wearing shoes onstage, my feet go black and I'll
have this beautiful photo.
Don't take them off your feetthe whole time you're backstage.
Black feet.
Yeah.
And my videos and photos, I'mlike, God damn.
God damn.
Yeah.
(09:28):
Stages are notoriously dirty.
Like backstage area and even onstage, if you start with clean
feet, you're going to end withdirty feet.
Just stages are just the waythat they are.
Yeah, I wear socks and I takethem off side stage before I
step onto the stage.
That's how much I don't wantblack feet.
Yeah.
I need to, yeah.
Just walk on your hands.
UNKNOWN (09:49):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (09:52):
Never put your feet on the ground.
That's nice.
What was the biggest challengeyou faced during your prep and
how did you overcome it?
I've got a really good one forthis one.
I got back from a six-weekEurope trip and I had four weeks
out to MX, that comp that I wonthat I just talked about before,
(10:17):
and I hurt my hip.
It was terrible.
So painful.
And I actually hurt my hipbecause I slipped and it just,
it just went.
And so the entire duration, andI just explained to you before
how, you know, disciplined I amwith my comp prep.
This was my biggest learningcurve for that.
(10:40):
So this was how I worked out howI want to prep going forward,
because this was so much mentalhealth around this, because I
was like, do I pull out?
Do I keep going?
It's hurting me to do it.
What do I do?
And I just tried to stay aspositive as possible.
(11:00):
And I was so lucky that mycoach, she just kept me going.
And we basically had tochoreograph the entire routine
around my hip pain.
And some things did change alongthe way.
It was the most challenging comproutine I'd ever done.
Every single day I wascontemplating, do I...
(11:20):
Do I pull out?
Do I not pull out?
But I found along this challengeto work with it, not against it,
and that was actually the bestthing.
So I found that, okay, I canhardly walk today.
It's not working.
Why train?
It's not going to be a good day.
(11:42):
And I had a physio, so I waschecking in with my physio, and
They were still not really surelike kind of what happened.
It might have been a partialtear, like minimal.
It was enough to cause meexcruciating pain.
I basically was able to invert,basically able to do anything
(12:04):
upside down, but I could not forthe life of me.
I could bend down in a deepsquat, but I could not get back
up.
So if anyone goes back andwatches this routine, you will
see that I hold the pole to getup in the whole routine because
I actually can't.
And that's when I found justdon't fight it, just work with
(12:27):
it and just listen to your body.
And that's how I worked out whatworks best for me, just
listening and just being okaywith the challenges and just,
yeah, just don't fight it.
Just listen to your body.
If it means you have to takethree days off, just take three
days off.
and just breathe and take yourtime.
Sometimes you do have to befluid when you're working with
(12:50):
your body.
You can't make rules for itbecause it will inevitably break
them.
Yeah.
I'd love to ask all of you thisquestion.
What's your ultimate goal whenit comes to competing?
Maybe you start with you, Shell.
Ultimate goal.
(13:10):
Just to...
Get better and better everysingle time, like whatever I
perceive as the weaknesses in myhow I would like to be, work on
my weaknesses.
So every time that I perform, Ilike to feel like I improve and
I grow a little bit every singletime and to enjoy myself because
if I don't enjoy myself, there'sno point doing it.
(13:33):
Yeah, nice.
Is there any specific goal thatyou would like to get to as in a
title?
Not really.
I mean, I love competing, but Idon't do it.
for titles.
Like that's a little bit like acherry on top more than
anything.
Yeah.
Nice.
And for you, I'm just going togo this way.
(13:53):
For you, Bea?
Mine started with the titles.
Yeah.
I definitely think it startedthere.
I think being that pole monkeyand watching it all, the comp
happen and then watching peoplewho absolutely did amazing then
achieve this, you know,memorable achievement trophy to
showcase all their hard work.
(14:16):
I think that was definitely whatI strived for, especially at the
start.
And now that I've kind of beenfortunate enough to actually
reach that goal and I do havetitles and I do have trophies to
show, I know, especially in myvery, very last comp, I had,
which was APC, I had absolutelyno thought in my brain I was
(14:39):
going to place.
I did not think.
I was very lucky, but I did notthink that I was going to place.
And the only thing I had wasjust to have fun.
If I wasn't having fun, justlike Shell said, it wasn't worth
it.
And I went out there.
I had so much fun.
I met up with all my friends.
It was the best time.
And even if I didn't place, Iwas okay with it.
(15:01):
That was it.
Have you got an ultimate titlethat you would want to win?
I think, yeah, Australian polechampion would be pretty cool.
It would be cool.
It's a hard one to get.
Oh, extremely hard.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Absolutely.
But it would be, yeah,absolutely amazing.
(15:25):
And for you, Buki?
For me, I guess obviouslygetting a title is important.
amazing and would be awesomeit's definitely i wouldn't say
it's a goal for me um i comefrom a bit of a different
traditional dancing type i guessgrowing up i've been a hip-hop
dancer and i always grew upthinking i never fit in anywhere
(15:48):
because i tried to go down theprofessional route you know
becoming a professional dancerand because it's not a very
favorable sort of industry iwasn't ballet trained i wasn't
jazz trained um I found that nowthat I am in the pole world, I
get to express myself.
So all I want to do is I justwant to entertain.
That is my goal.
(16:09):
I go out there, I just want toput on a show and I want to hear
the applause and feel like,yeah, that hip hop girl, she's
doing some mad stuff now.
So that's my goal.
I just want to entertain.
Are you going to bring hip hopthis year?
Can we have a sneak?
UNKNOWN (16:27):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (16:30):
I've said to Buki, I really, because she's a hip hop,
we haven't seen like the big,the proper hip hop.
And I said to her, I want to seeit.
So.
Maybe.
Maybe.
We called it last year, Felix,when we were talking about Buki.
We said it's stupid.
What do we call it, Buki?
(16:50):
It wasn't urban funk, but itgave that vibe.
Do you remember you said urban?
Was it me?
Yeah.
It was cool.
Whatever you said that I waslike, oh, yeah, I'll take that.
Yeah.
I feel excited.
I think she said something like,Elle, I think the right
(17:13):
terminology is urban.
I don't fucking know anything.
What was I saying there?
Elle, listen to me.
Let me correct you, Elle.
(17:34):
Sorry, can we know we messed itup?
I like it.
Are we doing words?
Yeah, words.
Words.
All right, next, Robin.
Ultimate goal would be to have anational title, but...
(17:54):
At the same time, I want to behappy when I get a national
title.
I don't want to push myself tothe point where I'm miserable
and just doing it for the sakeof a title.
So taking my time doing what Ineed.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think that's a really good,good view as well.
Like, why would you do somethingthat, you hated doing after a
while and you weren't happy andit wasn't fun.
(18:16):
Like you've got to– it's alsoabout the journey.
Obviously, I compete a lot,guys, so, you know, I don't know
how it is.
But it is going to be about thejourney.
You've got to have fun along theway.
You'll just hate doing it.
And then, you know, once you getto that title, you'll be like,
yeah, I've got this title, butthe whole thing was horrible
for, you know, six months.
(18:38):
So, yeah.
I mean, do you want to– yeah.
UNKNOWN (18:41):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (18:41):
Sorry, I was just going to say, I think people who
do hang too much of theirhappiness, importance,
self-worth on a title or gettinga title, once you get that
title, you are no happier.
You have no more self-worth.
You know, those words on a pieceof paper don't change your
mental health.
So I think that we're in a timeand an age now where we do
(19:03):
understand the importance ofbeing balanced and, you know,
And doing things for the rightreasons.
So I think it's really importantto set realistic goals, do
things because you enjoy them,take the great things, see the
bad things and go, okay, nice tosee you, bye, I'm here with my
good things.
And yeah, really enjoy theexperience and the journey
(19:24):
because at the end of the day,like, The six, seven trophies
that I have in my garagegathering dust don't make me any
happier 20 years later.
Do you know what I mean?
But it's the experience that Iremember.
I don't, you know, win or lose.
I did these things and I enjoyedthe journey.
So, yeah, I think it's reallyimportant to say that going into
(19:45):
a competition to win it doesn'thave to necessarily be the only
reason you do it.
Like if it's a dream and a goal,amazing.
But I think the journey is theonly reason.
the main character.
Were there any backstage momentsthat felt just as special as the
performance?
I have a funny post-routinebackstage story, but not so much
(20:05):
a pre-routine.
Backstage?
It doesn't matter.
It's not like a great feeling,but last year I got so sick.
Like somewhere in between thetech run and the actual
performance, I just got so sick.
And I did my routine halfwaythrough it.
(20:27):
In my video, you can kind of seeme stumble a little bit before I
do my static.
Come back, do it.
I finished my routine.
I run off stage and I just laidon the ground, just spread out.
And all the backstage crew arefreaking out like, you okay?
And I'm like, yeah, good.
I'm breathing.
But I was the last person in mycategory before the break.
And so the judges are walkingbackstage to go do their
(20:50):
debriefs.
Elle literally walks over me.
He's like, you all right, mate?
I'm like, yeah, I'm good.
I'm good.
That's fine.
And I just walk past and I'mlike, oh, my God.
She was like, like she wasroadkill.
I was just dead.
Like that killed me.
To be fair to me, I see that allthe time.
(21:17):
Like that is not the first time.
There's no comp where I haven'tseen somebody like this
afterwards, side stage, everysingle comp.
So if there was something wrong,you know, the crew would have
picked it up.
That's generally my recoveryposition too as well.
Yeah.
I said that's my recoveryposition, being like flat out on
(21:39):
the side stage when I go offstage.
I hold it together with a smileand I'm not dying and I get off
stage and I'm like, Yeah.
Heaps of people do it.
Like it's really common.
The only time that we kind ofpay attention because it is so
common that people do it,they're just exhausted after.
UNKNOWN (21:57):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (21:57):
It's usually if they're making a noise, right?
So if they're making a noiserather than just laying there
and hopping and popping, that'sa different story.
Like if they're holding theirleg or something, then we know
something's happened, which israre as well, but it can happen
for sure.
I think it's a standard recoveryposition, isn't it?
Yeah.
Yeah.
(22:19):
I'm done.
I did it.
I'm finished.
My sweat can pour into the floornow.
Yeah.
I definitely, I definitely had agood moment at APC last year.
I was with me and Recy and itdefinitely, yeah, definitely.
This one's like, feels good tothe heart.
(22:42):
Right before we both went onstage, we were both there for
each other.
And that's what I love aboutcomps is that you all meet up
with your friends, even ifthey're in a different state and
you're lucky enough to go tonationals together.
You're like, Oh my God, likeI'll be there for you.
Like, right next to stage and,you know, I'll be there right
when you come off and thingslike that.
But the last time me and Recywould just, we were just
(23:03):
crumping for like a good, liketwo minutes beforehand, just
shaking out all the anxiety, allthe stress, everything, just
having a full dance party.
I probably exhausted myself.
Didn't, shouldn't have donethat, but I ended up having even
more fun.
And I actually just, that'sprobably my best backstage
memory was just, just dancingbefore we even went on.
Okay.
(23:24):
Before you competed, you weredancing.
Yeah.
Oh, that goes against yourrules, Bea.
Actually, I don't remember if itwas dancing.
I think it was dancing aftermine, but I think it was before
Recy's.
Right.
Yeah.
Because Recy was battle, so Ithink it was at the end.
Yeah.
(23:45):
It was a great time.
We were just dancing backstage,having so much fun.
UNKNOWN (23:50):
Aww.
Yeah, I think...
SPEAKER_00 (23:51):
The backstage is unlike any other.
Like there's so much support andeveryone's so great with each
other.
I think that's like a really bigthing that people, no one will
ever know unless they compete,you know, who you meet backstage
and then you become lifelongfriends with them.
And it's so nice how you alllook after each other and all
(24:12):
really care about each other.
Like there's just nothing likeit.
Is there any way?
Yeah, 100%.
Yeah, is there any goodexperience that any of you have
had that you want to share aboutthat?
I think I've actually...
developed this sort of outsidegroup.
And it's all because ofcompeting.
(24:32):
Like I've met all these peopleat comps and then you slowly
became friends.
And then we've all become like alittle group now that we hang
out on weekends.
We call the jam fam.
We just hang out and everything.
So it's really nice that I thinkthat if I could get across to
people who haven't competed,like when you're backstage and
Get talking.
They're not your enemies oranything like that.
(24:54):
Like everyone's in the sameboat.
Everyone's feeling a little bitanxious.
And you can just have aconversation with anybody
backstage.
You'll just be like, oh, they'rereal people.
They've been training for thisjust like I have.
So I think that's reallyimportant to know.
Yeah, definitely supersupportive backstage.
Everyone's just best friends bythe end of the night and you
(25:14):
just– looking out for each otherand just making sure everyone's
okay.
I notice a lot of the time ifsomeone walks past, like if
their costume's kind of tuckedin or sticking out or
something's wrong, like no oneis, you know, out to get anyone.
Everyone is so like, oh, my God,before you go on stage, like
here.
Or if someone's like, oh, myGod, can I grip, like here,
(25:36):
here.
Like everyone is so wonderfulbackstage because we all know
that at the end of the day, ifsomething goes wrong, we can
really hurt ourselves.
Like, it's not a matter of, oh,yeah, I hope they stuff up.
It's like, I really hope theydon't.
Like, at the end of the day,like, it's just, it's a
supportive community backstage.
Like, sometimes I forget I'meven competing because I'm just
(25:57):
having so much fun.
Like, everyone is so wonderful.
Even from the amateurs to thepros, we all end up merging into
rooms, even on our album likethat.
But we do have so much fun.
While the cat's away, the micewill play.
So supportive backstage and it'sjust, I've made the bestest
(26:20):
friends out of it, so it'swonderful.
Yeah, that's nice.
And you're always in the sameboat as well, you know, like
everybody knows, everyone's beentraining, everyone's feeling
anxious, like you're all doingthe same thing.
So, yeah.
What would you say to anyprospective people that wanted
to compete but were worriedabout it and not sure in APC
(26:43):
this year or the straight heat?
Just do it to have fun.
Like at the end of the day,you're your worst critique.
If anything, it's not about atitle.
It's not about going to the nextlevel.
It's about challenging yourself.
It's about having fun.
It's about making friends.
Yeah.
(27:04):
That's what I'd say, ifanything.
I think it's a great answer.
Yeah, we all like that answer.
Correct, yes.
Anyone want to add to that?
I would say that you don't haveto wait until you think you are
at a level to start competingbecause the act of competing and
(27:26):
the getting yourself ready forit will make you level up in no
other way that you could do.
by training.
Yeah, absolutely.
Like if you wanted to get reallygood at golf and you competed,
you will get really good fromputting the hours and hours in
and competing, right?
There's nothing like a deadline.
Yeah.
Do you guys have anyone that youwant to name and shame, like
(27:49):
shout out and be like, you needto do it this year?
Tell us the people.
Yeah, tell them to do it.
And we're going to tag you.
I have people I tell on a dailybasis.
Excellent.
Maddie messaged me today sayingthat she's going to do it.
(28:09):
Love you, Maddie.
Excited to train with you.
We love Maddie.
We've done it before.
No, this is her first time andshe listens to our podcast
religiously, yeah.
She said to me last weekend,Elle, I've caught up to date
with all the podcasts and now Ijust am looking forward to one
every week now.
(28:30):
So, yeah, we love you, Maddie.
We're going to get you on afterthe comp and see how you went.
Yeah, Maddie, wait, do we have aregular listener?
Yes, we do.
It's Maddie.
People like us.
Oh, my gosh, Maddie likes us.
We need to send her a t-shirt.
We need to send her a PoleObsession t-shirt.
Yes.
(28:51):
Right.
Anyone who's listening, what dowe call them?
We have names.
We started coming up with namesfor our Pole Obsession people.
Yeah, but then it was on Maddie.
The Obsessed.
The Obsessed.
The Possessed.
The Possessed.
I think we were trying to benice and obsessed tonight.
(29:12):
We're so bad at this namesituation.
We didn't even have a podcastname until like three episodes
in.
I know.
I know.
It's terrible.
I don't know.
We definitely know what we'redoing.
But it never worked.
Anyway.
We're getting better at it.
But yeah, we have a Maddie andI'm very excited that we have
(29:33):
that.
Can we call our podcastfollowers the Maddies?
To Maddie.
Oh, my gosh.
She's going to lose it.
Maddie's going to say thank youso much for bringing me up,
Robyn.
I really appreciate that.
I told her I was doing thistonight too.
(29:55):
I love Maddie.
She's my favourite.
We do love Maddie.
Maddie's my favourite.
Yeah, new favourite.
Oh, and Jamie, if she hasn'talready said she's doing it, we
should get Jamie to compete.
Yes, she is.
I spoke to her today.
Jamie better be tweeting now.
(30:15):
Jamie doesn't listen to us likeMaddie listens to us.
I'm not saying her name again.
We're going to get her tocompete.
Yeah, we need some camera peopledefinitely.
Cameras combined with New SouthWales is young.
And Victoria's combined withSouth Australia again.
So they're big.
And then Queensland's always gotQueensland, which is huge in
(30:38):
itself, of Queensland andNorthern Territory.
So that's pretty big.
So they're pretty big statesthis year.
But we definitely have plenty ofroom still.
So registrations close early.
on Monday, the 21st.
But we've still got a lot of WAas well.
We need lots of WA.
(30:59):
We want professionals.
We want amateurs.
I'd love to see some more groupstoo.
We never see enough groups.
So you can have between two andfive people.
And I'd love to see somebattlers.
Like it's just one minute oftricks.
One minute is all it takes.
It's so fun.
I was, like, thinking the wholetime.
(31:19):
I love battle.
It's so fun.
It's my favourite one.
Yeah.
And it's not hard because, like,anyone who's going to, well,
when I say it's not hard, ofcourse it is hard, but it's got
to be easier.
Shel, you've done both.
Yeah.
It's got to be easier than probecause it's one minute of
tricks, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, it's easier.
Like, it's not as expensive apreparation for it.
(31:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I would say that probably inbattle you're not going to bust
out anything new.
You know, you're going to do thethings that you know you can do
well.
Exactly.
Yeah.
And your endurance doesn't haveto be as hard as, you know, as
on point what it would be for aprofessional.
Yeah.
Professionals are a little bitof a killer in endurance rides.
(32:07):
Yeah.
How did you find that when youwent from two and a half minutes
to three and a half minutes,Bea?
UNKNOWN (32:13):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (32:14):
Oh, my gosh.
I mean, I was kind of used to itwith Mixed Pole and I think
maybe one other competition.
So I did have a little bit ofpractice but not actually at the
professional division andknowing I had to level up for
that three and a half minuteswas next level.
(32:38):
It was a challenge but I really,really enjoyed the journey.
Yeah, it was a really goodchallenge.
Yeah.
And you rose to it as well.
You know, like if you hadn't hadthat challenge, would your level
of like pull up as much as itdid in that time scale?
So go you.
I definitely don't think so.
Yeah, I think that if I didn'thave the pro to it, I do not
(33:03):
think I would be at the levelthat I am.
It really made me have to workso much harder.
Like I was doing– two-hourprivates, like, once a week.
It was training for three tofour hours every, like, second
day.
Like, I was just constant,constant, constant, constant
(33:25):
because I had to level up.
And I had a list of tricks.
Like, yep, I need this and thisand this and this.
But I was really enjoying it.
It was really fun because I waslike, I can't wait to get to
that point where I actually, allI ever wanted to feel was, okay,
now I'm in pro.
I want to feel like a pro.
I want to make sure that Ibelong in there.
I didn't want to feel like Ididn't belong.
(33:47):
I was happy to be the baby powerin the pro division, but I
didn't want to feel like Ididn't belong.
And I know everybody says like,oh, you belong there.
You belong there.
But it comes from in.
It absolutely comes from in.
And so working really hard toget to that point.
And I was really enjoying thejourney because by the time I
stepped onto that VPC stage,stage in the division I felt
(34:11):
like I'm with my people I'mready to be here it was good and
I don't think I would have beenthere that early if that didn't
happen so quickly so I'm reallyhappy with how it happened but
oh it was scary I'll tell youthat it was terrifying well you
(34:32):
did it and you did it very wellso yeah thank you thank you
thank you yeah I think we mightbe ready to wrap up shortly.
I just had one maybe sort of funquestion.
Do any of you have any ritualsor little superstitions that you
do before going on stage?
(34:53):
Boogie's nodding her head.
Give it to me.
I listen to the same song whilethe person before me is on
stage.
With my headphones.
The same song, whatever companyit is, it's the same song.
And it's Rage Against theMachine, Killin' in the Name of.
I don't know what that song doesto me, but I'm just like.
(35:18):
How interesting.
Does that not mess with yourcomp song?
No, because it's nothing likeanything I do, I think.
And it's not my style of musiceither.
Like I'm quite hip-hoppy andcommercial and things like that.
It's good.
It's completely opposite.
But, yeah, Rage Against theMachine, I'm telling you.
How did you find that?
(35:41):
I don't even know.
It even started when I was aprofessional dancer.
I would listen to it beforegoing into an audition.
I love it.
You know, it builds a littlefire inside you.
And when he swears, oh.
Oh, I love it.
We're going to add Skipping Rowand Rage Against.
(36:02):
And Socks on Stage.
And Socks.
We should do a little cheatsheet afterwards, Elle, you
know, something else for you todo while you're editing.
And you just make this littlecheat sheet of the things we
need to do before comp, duringcomp and after comp.
Can you imagine?
(36:23):
I can't.
I'll pass that on to Robyn.
Robyn's now, she's taken overfrom Gail.
We've lost Gail.
Gail.
Robyn's the new Gail.
Robyn.
Welcome.
Cheat sheet, Robyn.
Cheat sheet, Robyn.
Robyn, I'll take a cheat sheet.
Easter break.
(36:44):
Yes.
It's a public holiday, right?
Nobody's got a real job.
I'd love to know where peoplecan follow your poll journey.
what studios you're out.
So if you want to give a shoutout and your coaches, coaches,
studios, and where they canfollow your whole journey.
And your costume makers andanyone else you want to give a
(37:05):
shout out to, we'll take themall.
The person to me on the left inmy little grid is Robin.
So I'm going to start withRobin.
Oh, cool.
Well, I'm not consistent with myposting.
So I do it across two differentaccounts on my Instagram.
So it's either Robin, spelt withthree N dot R.
That's my first one.
And then my actual Paul accountis Robin Paul and Ariel's.
(37:30):
I've already forgotten thesecond part of what you said in
your question.
Your studio, your coaches, yourcostume makers.
My studio is Ariel Paul Academy.
My coach is Elizabeth Domizet.
The best coach.
UNKNOWN (37:48):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (37:48):
My costume maker from the last two years was
Tiffany Abbott.
She does costumes in Canberra.
Shell, do you want to go next?
You can follow me at ShellHafner.
It's Shell Hafner on Facebook orInstagram.
C-H-E-L-L-E, not Shell like aseashell.
(38:09):
I don't post very consistentlyonline.
Sorry.
I make my own group, ThirstySkin for dry skin.
I make my own costumes and I ammy own coach as well.
So all here.
(38:30):
And what about studio?
Studio, Hangar 66.
I knew there was something I wasmissing.
Hangar 66 in West Denver,Brisbane.
Amazing.
And Bee, do you want to take usaway?
So my Instagram is bb underscorepole underscore artist and I try
(38:54):
to post fairly often when work'snot too hectic but definitely
all my training videos are upthere.
I don't have a studio so I'm anindependent and But I do train
in my garage where I've kind ofset up something that's a little
bit fun and I teach a couple ofprivates and whatnot there.
(39:15):
But it's not a studio as such.
It's just my little garage.
And I am also a Maya therapist.
So...
I work for myself from my littlehome boutique studio or clinic,
as you would say, and I help alot of pole dancers with their
(39:36):
injuries, so musculoskeletal.
So it's really wonderful thatsometimes I will coach girls and
teach a private and immediatelyafter their private, they've
booked a myo session for me.
So they just get coaching for anhour and then immediately get a
massage and then laughy laugh.
So that's what I do basicallyall the time.
UNKNOWN (39:55):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (39:55):
and um yeah it's a great life i have some some on
the regular they just love itsomething like oh you know what
i can't be bothered pollingtoday i just want my massage so
um that is myocare underscoretherapy so if you want to follow
and support me on that thatwould be absolutely amazing and
so my goal pretty much is justto help help all pole dancers
(40:17):
just be injury free and just beable to continue pole dancing um
Is it just me?
So I have a dance studio calledBuki's Dance and Fitness Studio
out in Sunbury.
I do have an Instagram tag.
It's Buki spelled B-U-K-I, notBucky, underscore dance studio.
(40:41):
Yeah.
I would like to do a shout outto my coaches, which are Miss
Philly and Natty Stephens.
Sorry, I haven't trained in alittle while with you.
I promise I'm coming back toyour babies real soon.
And I have this amazing coach.
Costume lady.
(41:02):
She's independent.
She does a lot of costuming fora lot of people at the studio
and surrounds.
Her name is Kyra Porteus and sheis an absolute gem.
You literally give her a sheencostume and she'll make it into
our own thing for you.
So she is fantastic.
So if anyone ever needs anycostuming, Kyra is amazing.
(41:22):
And where can they find her?
What's her Instagram?
Yep.
It's yep.
at Kyra underscore Portia.
Amazing.
You're welcome, Kyra.
You'll find it in post.
And while you're looking forthat, we'll also, we will get
(41:43):
Nicole's later.
She, her phone ran out ofbattery.
So we will get that later andwe'll tag it on to the end of
this episode's notes, which Idefinitely know how to do.
We'll tag it on to the end ofthe show notes like we always
do.
Always.
(42:05):
Oh, my gosh.
Amazing.
Did you have her handle or youcan find it?
For me?
Yeah.
Yeah, sorry.
Yeah, it was Kyra, K-Y-R-A dotPorteus, P-O-R-T-E-O-U-S.
Nice.
And she's based in?
(42:26):
She's based in Melbourne.
Well, ladies, thank you so muchfor joining us today and for
sharing all those beautifulstories, moments, memories, and
also your training tips I thinkwere super useful and things
that we can apply very easily.
So thank you so much for that.
(42:46):
And good luck with all yourcomps moving forward and
anything you decide to do.
I know you're going to do anamazing job.
I've seen you all dance, so Iknow.
So thank you very much.
Thanks, guys.
We appreciate you coming on.
Thanks for having us.
Thanks for having us.
Thanks, everybody.
Hello everyone, welcome back to another episode
of Pole Obsession.
This is part two of ourdiscussion about the Australian
Pole Championships with pastcompetitors.
We have Shel Hafner, NicoleHarbour, Robin Russell, Buki and
Bec joining us today.
Is anything stuck with you thata judge has said to you or
(00:24):
another competitor?
Um...
Yes, one did.
And that's probably why I saidsame trick three times is
because I seem to not realizethat I was doing an entrance the
same time.
Like I did an entrance the sametime.
three times.
And I didn't realize that I was,I did that, but I know I was
(00:46):
doing different tricks, but withthe transition was the same.
It really did stick with mymind.
I was like, I didn't even pickup on that.
Even in my training videos, I'dchoreograph my own routines, you
know, train with coaches and Ididn't even pick up on that.
So that was really useful.
And now choreographing for mynext routine, I'm like,
different transitions peoplepick up on this stuff so yeah
(01:07):
that was actually quite helpfuland something to really pick up
on so um because I think wealways think about you know the
difficulty and um you knowtrying all those power moves and
things like that and yourchoreography but yeah I did the
same transition to get into anew trick three times so I was
like damn it Yeah, a lot of theexperienced judges will pick it
(01:29):
up really quickly, yeah.
Mine is the opposite from Iguess maybe from a judging
perspective too is that I don'tget, can I say it from a judging
perspective?
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Like costume, I don't get theminimal effort in costume
(01:50):
because you don't really have towork that hard to get those
points.
Yeah.
And it's like you can go onstage and have your automatic
whatever points just by puttingthe effort into your
presentation and costume.
You can't get them deducted.
Yeah, yeah.
They're automatically there.
Like you could slip and not doabsolutely anything.
(02:10):
And no, you'll get a guaranteed,say five points.
Yeah.
Like put the effort into that.
And even like little things.
I think, I think people don'tthink judges pick up on that,
but I'm like, I can tell ifyou've actually brushed your
hair and made an effort to likeget rid of these pits versus you
just putting your hair in aponytail.
Like if you step on stage.
I can see that when I'm judging,but just putting the effort.
(02:34):
I happen to agree with that,actually.
The costume is just from here tohere.
The costume is everything, yourwhole, you know, it's the hair,
it's the makeup.
What have you got on your feet?
What have you got on your body?
What have you got on, you know,it's all of it.
Are you wearing shoes?
What are the shoes?
Have you got gauntlets?
And does it tie in with yourmusic?
Is it making sense?
Yeah, I agree with that becausethat was actually– The only
(02:57):
thing that stuck with me becauseI won the Miss Pole Dance
amateur, the mixed pole dance,and all my scores were great.
I was super happy.
I was like, wow, I've reallynailed this.
I worked really hard and I gotthe points that showed that.
(03:21):
But my presentation and costumewas just like could have been
more.
And it was pretty low.
Like it was like two out of 10.
It was like, didn't fit thetheme.
Um, like could have been more.
It was just like, it let medown.
I was still lucky enough to havewon, but I mean, my scores could
(03:42):
have even been better.
But, um, the following year Iended up having, I did two comps
and I had the most amazingcostumes.
I was actually so lucky that my,um, family member, uh, started
dating this ice skater costumemaker and she was just like I
(04:03):
know I was so lucky I was likethank you for dating her thank
you thank you thank you and sheis amazing and her name is
Cassandra so please please go toher but her costumes, like
straight away, that was thefirst thing every single
competitor said to me backstage,everyone in the audience.
I felt amazing.
(04:23):
I like the confidence just cameso much out of me and everyone
was just like, oh my God, yourcostume.
I was like, I know.
And I just immediately was like,yeah.
So like going onto stage,knowing that if I did the worst
thing ever, I was going to getthese points and it felt really
good.
UNKNOWN (04:43):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:43):
Costume couture, she's writing it down.
Yeah, costume couture.
Costume couture, Cassandra.
Hit her up.
And what about you, Robyn?
Run everything by your coach.
Yes.
Point your toes, fix your lines.
Yeah.
(05:03):
The standard ones, yeah, that inmy mind 24-7, it's living in my
head rent-free.
UNKNOWN (05:08):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (05:09):
That's it.
Well, good, good.
Yeah, coaches are so importantwhen you get to a state or
national competition.
I think, yeah, neverunderestimate the power of a
coach.
They're going to see things thatyou will never see because
you'll quite often have tunnelvision when you're doing it.
No matter how good you get, likesome of you guys are like the
(05:32):
best in the world.
But it's still good to havefeedback from somebody who, who
is an outsider looking and thatknows what they're doing.
So I think it helps.
Like every single sport hascoaches.
Every single one.
When Elle told me not to use myfoot on an eagle, I was like,
(05:53):
run through.
I feel this cane.
Can you not wrap your foot onthat eagle?
Thanks, Felix.
She goes, are you going to dothat on stage?
I was like, no.
Obviously not.
Well, not now.
Not now.
I didn't send anything to Ellelast year and I definitely
(06:15):
copped it, so.
Yeah, no, I let Robyn do her ownthing because I, like...
Robert is an Aeroport Academygirl and I let her do her own
thing.
She didn't want to run it pastme and I was like, you do you.
Good girl.
You do you.
The next day she's like, so whyis it you didn't want to train
with me?
(06:37):
Sometimes on your own journeyyou have to get to the
destination your way, you know.
Yeah.
Last year was a rough year forme in general.
So that was the one thing I waslike, this is me.
I can control this.
I'm doing this.
Sorry, Elle.
Oh, well, she's changed to myhistory though, people.
So we've got, we've got acorrection on, this is
(07:00):
correction fairy coming in onthe name of, um, amazing ice
skater costume girl is show girlcouture and it's Cassandra.
Yes.
I'm so sorry.
I stuffed that up.
Show girl couture.
I just want to like say as well,like, um, with costumes and
stuff like that because I havelike a lot of people that you
know like if you're doing lotsof competitions in a year it can
(07:22):
become expensive I don't imaginethat her costumes are cheap
costumes that sometimes havinggood presentation is just going
to be make sure that yourcostume suits the song that
you're doing the music thatyou're doing your theme and
stuff like that and it doesn'tlike Amazing big costumes are
great, but it doesn't alwayshave to be that way, but it does
(07:42):
have to have a lot of thought init and it's got to tie things in
well.
Otherwise, that's what makes thedifference when it doesn't look
like you've made an effort onstage.
I think the great thing aboutstage is that the stage is very
forgiving in that you're notvery close to the costume.
So even if you've made ityourself, which...
(08:02):
I often make my own costumes.
I make my own costumes as well.
Yeah, I don't want to spendhundreds and hundreds.
If it's something I can't do, Idon't have the skill level.
Of course, I'm going to paysomeone else to do it.
But yeah, if you're doing a lotof shows or comps, then you will
save a lot of money learning howto craft yourself.
I taught myself to sew becausewhen I was working with the
circus, like doing so many showsevery single week, you buy an
(08:24):
expensive costume and you'regoing to run it into the ground.
So I taught myself to sewbecause it wasn't affordable to
be buying expensive costumes.
And then also you do getcreative.
You're like, oh, I've got thisold bit from this old costume
and this old bit from thiscostume and now it's a new
costume.
Yay! And I'm like sitting herenext to my bag of sparkles that
(08:47):
I'm going to stick toeverything.
It never ends.
No.
When I'm talking about not justcostumes but presentation, and
this is something someonementioned to me, especially when
I was looking back through likecomp photos and things like
that.
So when you're walking aroundbackstage and you know how you
do your nervous little likepacing before you get on stage
(09:07):
and everything, I don't knowwhat happens to me, but I'm
going to know this for the nextone.
When I'm not wearing shoes onstage, my feet go black and I'll
have this beautiful photo.
Don't take them off your feetthe whole time you're backstage.
Black feet.
Yeah.
And my videos and photos, I'mlike, God damn.
God damn.
Yeah.
(09:28):
Stages are notoriously dirty.
Like backstage area and even onstage, if you start with clean
feet, you're going to end withdirty feet.
Just stages are just the waythat they are.
Yeah, I wear socks and I takethem off side stage before I
step onto the stage.
That's how much I don't wantblack feet.
Yeah.
I need to, yeah.
Just walk on your hands.
UNKNOWN (09:49):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (09:52):
Never put your feet on the ground.
That's nice.
What was the biggest challengeyou faced during your prep and
how did you overcome it?
I've got a really good one forthis one.
I got back from a six-weekEurope trip and I had four weeks
out to MX, that comp that I wonthat I just talked about before,
(10:17):
and I hurt my hip.
It was terrible.
So painful.
And I actually hurt my hipbecause I slipped and it just,
it just went.
And so the entire duration, andI just explained to you before
how, you know, disciplined I amwith my comp prep.
This was my biggest learningcurve for that.
(10:40):
So this was how I worked out howI want to prep going forward,
because this was so much mentalhealth around this, because I
was like, do I pull out?
Do I keep going?
It's hurting me to do it.
What do I do?
And I just tried to stay aspositive as possible.
(11:00):
And I was so lucky that mycoach, she just kept me going.
And we basically had tochoreograph the entire routine
around my hip pain.
And some things did change alongthe way.
It was the most challenging comproutine I'd ever done.
Every single day I wascontemplating, do I...
(11:20):
Do I pull out?
Do I not pull out?
But I found along this challengeto work with it, not against it,
and that was actually the bestthing.
So I found that, okay, I canhardly walk today.
It's not working.
Why train?
It's not going to be a good day.
(11:42):
And I had a physio, so I waschecking in with my physio, and
They were still not really surelike kind of what happened.
It might have been a partialtear, like minimal.
It was enough to cause meexcruciating pain.
I basically was able to invert,basically able to do anything
(12:04):
upside down, but I could not forthe life of me.
I could bend down in a deepsquat, but I could not get back
up.
So if anyone goes back andwatches this routine, you will
see that I hold the pole to getup in the whole routine because
I actually can't.
And that's when I found justdon't fight it, just work with
(12:27):
it and just listen to your body.
And that's how I worked out whatworks best for me, just
listening and just being okaywith the challenges and just,
yeah, just don't fight it.
Just listen to your body.
If it means you have to takethree days off, just take three
days off.
and just breathe and take yourtime.
Sometimes you do have to befluid when you're working with
(12:50):
your body.
You can't make rules for itbecause it will inevitably break
them.
Yeah.
I'd love to ask all of you thisquestion.
What's your ultimate goal whenit comes to competing?
Maybe you start with you, Shell.
Ultimate goal.
(13:10):
Just to...
Get better and better everysingle time, like whatever I
perceive as the weaknesses in myhow I would like to be, work on
my weaknesses.
So every time that I perform, Ilike to feel like I improve and
I grow a little bit every singletime and to enjoy myself because
if I don't enjoy myself, there'sno point doing it.
(13:33):
Yeah, nice.
Is there any specific goal thatyou would like to get to as in a
title?
Not really.
I mean, I love competing, but Idon't do it.
for titles.
Like that's a little bit like acherry on top more than
anything.
Yeah.
Nice.
And for you, I'm just going togo this way.
(13:53):
For you, Bea?
Mine started with the titles.
Yeah.
I definitely think it startedthere.
I think being that pole monkeyand watching it all, the comp
happen and then watching peoplewho absolutely did amazing then
achieve this, you know,memorable achievement trophy to
showcase all their hard work.
(14:16):
I think that was definitely whatI strived for, especially at the
start.
And now that I've kind of beenfortunate enough to actually
reach that goal and I do havetitles and I do have trophies to
show, I know, especially in myvery, very last comp, I had,
which was APC, I had absolutelyno thought in my brain I was
(14:39):
going to place.
I did not think.
I was very lucky, but I did notthink that I was going to place.
And the only thing I had wasjust to have fun.
If I wasn't having fun, justlike Shell said, it wasn't worth
it.
And I went out there.
I had so much fun.
I met up with all my friends.
It was the best time.
And even if I didn't place, Iwas okay with it.
(15:01):
That was it.
Have you got an ultimate titlethat you would want to win?
I think, yeah, Australian polechampion would be pretty cool.
It would be cool.
It's a hard one to get.
Oh, extremely hard.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Absolutely.
But it would be, yeah,absolutely amazing.
(15:25):
And for you, Buki?
For me, I guess obviouslygetting a title is important.
amazing and would be awesomeit's definitely i wouldn't say
it's a goal for me um i comefrom a bit of a different
traditional dancing type i guessgrowing up i've been a hip-hop
dancer and i always grew upthinking i never fit in anywhere
(15:48):
because i tried to go down theprofessional route you know
becoming a professional dancerand because it's not a very
favorable sort of industry iwasn't ballet trained i wasn't
jazz trained um I found that nowthat I am in the pole world, I
get to express myself.
So all I want to do is I justwant to entertain.
That is my goal.
(16:09):
I go out there, I just want toput on a show and I want to hear
the applause and feel like,yeah, that hip hop girl, she's
doing some mad stuff now.
So that's my goal.
I just want to entertain.
Are you going to bring hip hopthis year?
Can we have a sneak?
UNKNOWN (16:27):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (16:30):
I've said to Buki, I really, because she's a hip hop,
we haven't seen like the big,the proper hip hop.
And I said to her, I want to seeit.
So.
Maybe.
Maybe.
We called it last year, Felix,when we were talking about Buki.
We said it's stupid.
What do we call it, Buki?
(16:50):
It wasn't urban funk, but itgave that vibe.
Do you remember you said urban?
Was it me?
Yeah.
It was cool.
Whatever you said that I waslike, oh, yeah, I'll take that.
Yeah.
I feel excited.
I think she said something like,Elle, I think the right
(17:13):
terminology is urban.
I don't fucking know anything.
What was I saying there?
Elle, listen to me.
Let me correct you, Elle.
(17:34):
Sorry, can we know we messed itup?
I like it.
Are we doing words?
Yeah, words.
Words.
All right, next, Robin.
Ultimate goal would be to have anational title, but...
(17:54):
At the same time, I want to behappy when I get a national
title.
I don't want to push myself tothe point where I'm miserable
and just doing it for the sakeof a title.
So taking my time doing what Ineed.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think that's a really good,good view as well.
Like, why would you do somethingthat, you hated doing after a
while and you weren't happy andit wasn't fun.
(18:16):
Like you've got to– it's alsoabout the journey.
Obviously, I compete a lot,guys, so, you know, I don't know
how it is.
But it is going to be about thejourney.
You've got to have fun along theway.
You'll just hate doing it.
And then, you know, once you getto that title, you'll be like,
yeah, I've got this title, butthe whole thing was horrible
for, you know, six months.
(18:38):
So, yeah.
I mean, do you want to– yeah.
UNKNOWN (18:41):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (18:41):
Sorry, I was just going to say, I think people who
do hang too much of theirhappiness, importance,
self-worth on a title or gettinga title, once you get that
title, you are no happier.
You have no more self-worth.
You know, those words on a pieceof paper don't change your
mental health.
So I think that we're in a timeand an age now where we do
(19:03):
understand the importance ofbeing balanced and, you know,
And doing things for the rightreasons.
So I think it's really importantto set realistic goals, do
things because you enjoy them,take the great things, see the
bad things and go, okay, nice tosee you, bye, I'm here with my
good things.
And yeah, really enjoy theexperience and the journey
(19:24):
because at the end of the day,like, The six, seven trophies
that I have in my garagegathering dust don't make me any
happier 20 years later.
Do you know what I mean?
But it's the experience that Iremember.
I don't, you know, win or lose.
I did these things and I enjoyedthe journey.
So, yeah, I think it's reallyimportant to say that going into
(19:45):
a competition to win it doesn'thave to necessarily be the only
reason you do it.
Like if it's a dream and a goal,amazing.
But I think the journey is theonly reason.
the main character.
Were there any backstage momentsthat felt just as special as the
performance?
I have a funny post-routinebackstage story, but not so much
(20:05):
a pre-routine.
Backstage?
It doesn't matter.
It's not like a great feeling,but last year I got so sick.
Like somewhere in between thetech run and the actual
performance, I just got so sick.
And I did my routine halfwaythrough it.
(20:27):
In my video, you can kind of seeme stumble a little bit before I
do my static.
Come back, do it.
I finished my routine.
I run off stage and I just laidon the ground, just spread out.
And all the backstage crew arefreaking out like, you okay?
And I'm like, yeah, good.
I'm breathing.
But I was the last person in mycategory before the break.
And so the judges are walkingbackstage to go do their
(20:50):
debriefs.
Elle literally walks over me.
He's like, you all right, mate?
I'm like, yeah, I'm good.
I'm good.
That's fine.
And I just walk past and I'mlike, oh, my God.
She was like, like she wasroadkill.
I was just dead.
Like that killed me.
To be fair to me, I see that allthe time.
(21:17):
Like that is not the first time.
There's no comp where I haven'tseen somebody like this
afterwards, side stage, everysingle comp.
So if there was something wrong,you know, the crew would have
picked it up.
That's generally my recoveryposition too as well.
Yeah.
I said that's my recoveryposition, being like flat out on
(21:39):
the side stage when I go offstage.
I hold it together with a smileand I'm not dying and I get off
stage and I'm like, Yeah.
Heaps of people do it.
Like it's really common.
The only time that we kind ofpay attention because it is so
common that people do it,they're just exhausted after.
UNKNOWN (21:57):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (21:57):
It's usually if they're making a noise, right?
So if they're making a noiserather than just laying there
and hopping and popping, that'sa different story.
Like if they're holding theirleg or something, then we know
something's happened, which israre as well, but it can happen
for sure.
I think it's a standard recoveryposition, isn't it?
Yeah.
Yeah.
(22:19):
I'm done.
I did it.
I'm finished.
My sweat can pour into the floornow.
Yeah.
I definitely, I definitely had agood moment at APC last year.
I was with me and Recy and itdefinitely, yeah, definitely.
This one's like, feels good tothe heart.
(22:42):
Right before we both went onstage, we were both there for
each other.
And that's what I love aboutcomps is that you all meet up
with your friends, even ifthey're in a different state and
you're lucky enough to go tonationals together.
You're like, Oh my God, likeI'll be there for you.
Like, right next to stage and,you know, I'll be there right
when you come off and thingslike that.
But the last time me and Recywould just, we were just
(23:03):
crumping for like a good, liketwo minutes beforehand, just
shaking out all the anxiety, allthe stress, everything, just
having a full dance party.
I probably exhausted myself.
Didn't, shouldn't have donethat, but I ended up having even
more fun.
And I actually just, that'sprobably my best backstage
memory was just, just dancingbefore we even went on.
Okay.
(23:24):
Before you competed, you weredancing.
Yeah.
Oh, that goes against yourrules, Bea.
Actually, I don't remember if itwas dancing.
I think it was dancing aftermine, but I think it was before
Recy's.
Right.
Yeah.
Because Recy was battle, so Ithink it was at the end.
Yeah.
(23:45):
It was a great time.
We were just dancing backstage,having so much fun.
UNKNOWN (23:50):
Aww.
Yeah, I think...
SPEAKER_00 (23:51):
The backstage is unlike any other.
Like there's so much support andeveryone's so great with each
other.
I think that's like a really bigthing that people, no one will
ever know unless they compete,you know, who you meet backstage
and then you become lifelongfriends with them.
And it's so nice how you alllook after each other and all
(24:12):
really care about each other.
Like there's just nothing likeit.
Is there any way?
Yeah, 100%.
Yeah, is there any goodexperience that any of you have
had that you want to share aboutthat?
I think I've actually...
developed this sort of outsidegroup.
And it's all because ofcompeting.
(24:32):
Like I've met all these peopleat comps and then you slowly
became friends.
And then we've all become like alittle group now that we hang
out on weekends.
We call the jam fam.
We just hang out and everything.
So it's really nice that I thinkthat if I could get across to
people who haven't competed,like when you're backstage and
Get talking.
They're not your enemies oranything like that.
(24:54):
Like everyone's in the sameboat.
Everyone's feeling a little bitanxious.
And you can just have aconversation with anybody
backstage.
You'll just be like, oh, they'rereal people.
They've been training for thisjust like I have.
So I think that's reallyimportant to know.
Yeah, definitely supersupportive backstage.
Everyone's just best friends bythe end of the night and you
(25:14):
just– looking out for each otherand just making sure everyone's
okay.
I notice a lot of the time ifsomeone walks past, like if
their costume's kind of tuckedin or sticking out or
something's wrong, like no oneis, you know, out to get anyone.
Everyone is so like, oh, my God,before you go on stage, like
here.
Or if someone's like, oh, myGod, can I grip, like here,
(25:36):
here.
Like everyone is so wonderfulbackstage because we all know
that at the end of the day, ifsomething goes wrong, we can
really hurt ourselves.
Like, it's not a matter of, oh,yeah, I hope they stuff up.
It's like, I really hope theydon't.
Like, at the end of the day,like, it's just, it's a
supportive community backstage.
Like, sometimes I forget I'meven competing because I'm just
(25:57):
having so much fun.
Like, everyone is so wonderful.
Even from the amateurs to thepros, we all end up merging into
rooms, even on our album likethat.
But we do have so much fun.
While the cat's away, the micewill play.
So supportive backstage and it'sjust, I've made the bestest
(26:20):
friends out of it, so it'swonderful.
Yeah, that's nice.
And you're always in the sameboat as well, you know, like
everybody knows, everyone's beentraining, everyone's feeling
anxious, like you're all doingthe same thing.
So, yeah.
What would you say to anyprospective people that wanted
to compete but were worriedabout it and not sure in APC
(26:43):
this year or the straight heat?
Just do it to have fun.
Like at the end of the day,you're your worst critique.
If anything, it's not about atitle.
It's not about going to the nextlevel.
It's about challenging yourself.
It's about having fun.
It's about making friends.
Yeah.
(27:04):
That's what I'd say, ifanything.
I think it's a great answer.
Yeah, we all like that answer.
Correct, yes.
Anyone want to add to that?
I would say that you don't haveto wait until you think you are
at a level to start competingbecause the act of competing and
(27:26):
the getting yourself ready forit will make you level up in no
other way that you could do.
by training.
Yeah, absolutely.
Like if you wanted to get reallygood at golf and you competed,
you will get really good fromputting the hours and hours in
and competing, right?
There's nothing like a deadline.
Yeah.
Do you guys have anyone that youwant to name and shame, like
(27:49):
shout out and be like, you needto do it this year?
Tell us the people.
Yeah, tell them to do it.
And we're going to tag you.
I have people I tell on a dailybasis.
Excellent.
Maddie messaged me today sayingthat she's going to do it.
(28:09):
Love you, Maddie.
Excited to train with you.
We love Maddie.
We've done it before.
No, this is her first time andshe listens to our podcast
religiously, yeah.
She said to me last weekend,Elle, I've caught up to date
with all the podcasts and now Ijust am looking forward to one
every week now.
(28:30):
So, yeah, we love you, Maddie.
We're going to get you on afterthe comp and see how you went.
Yeah, Maddie, wait, do we have aregular listener?
Yes, we do.
It's Maddie.
People like us.
Oh, my gosh, Maddie likes us.
We need to send her a t-shirt.
We need to send her a PoleObsession t-shirt.
Yes.
(28:51):
Right.
Anyone who's listening, what dowe call them?
We have names.
We started coming up with namesfor our Pole Obsession people.
Yeah, but then it was on Maddie.
The Obsessed.
The Obsessed.
The Possessed.
The Possessed.
I think we were trying to benice and obsessed tonight.
(29:12):
We're so bad at this namesituation.
We didn't even have a podcastname until like three episodes
in.
I know.
I know.
It's terrible.
I don't know.
We definitely know what we'redoing.
But it never worked.
Anyway.
We're getting better at it.
But yeah, we have a Maddie andI'm very excited that we have
(29:33):
that.
Can we call our podcastfollowers the Maddies?
To Maddie.
Oh, my gosh.
She's going to lose it.
Maddie's going to say thank youso much for bringing me up,
Robyn.
I really appreciate that.
I told her I was doing thistonight too.
(29:55):
I love Maddie.
She's my favourite.
We do love Maddie.
Maddie's my favourite.
Yeah, new favourite.
Oh, and Jamie, if she hasn'talready said she's doing it, we
should get Jamie to compete.
Yes, she is.
I spoke to her today.
Jamie better be tweeting now.
(30:15):
Jamie doesn't listen to us likeMaddie listens to us.
I'm not saying her name again.
We're going to get her tocompete.
Yeah, we need some camera peopledefinitely.
Cameras combined with New SouthWales is young.
And Victoria's combined withSouth Australia again.
So they're big.
And then Queensland's always gotQueensland, which is huge in
(30:38):
itself, of Queensland andNorthern Territory.
So that's pretty big.
So they're pretty big statesthis year.
But we definitely have plenty ofroom still.
So registrations close early.
on Monday, the 21st.
But we've still got a lot of WAas well.
We need lots of WA.
(30:59):
We want professionals.
We want amateurs.
I'd love to see some more groupstoo.
We never see enough groups.
So you can have between two andfive people.
And I'd love to see somebattlers.
Like it's just one minute oftricks.
One minute is all it takes.
It's so fun.
I was, like, thinking the wholetime.
(31:19):
I love battle.
It's so fun.
It's my favourite one.
Yeah.
And it's not hard because, like,anyone who's going to, well,
when I say it's not hard, ofcourse it is hard, but it's got
to be easier.
Shel, you've done both.
Yeah.
It's got to be easier than probecause it's one minute of
tricks, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, it's easier.
Like, it's not as expensive apreparation for it.
(31:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I would say that probably inbattle you're not going to bust
out anything new.
You know, you're going to do thethings that you know you can do
well.
Exactly.
Yeah.
And your endurance doesn't haveto be as hard as, you know, as
on point what it would be for aprofessional.
Yeah.
Professionals are a little bitof a killer in endurance rides.
(32:07):
Yeah.
How did you find that when youwent from two and a half minutes
to three and a half minutes,Bea?
UNKNOWN (32:13):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (32:14):
Oh, my gosh.
I mean, I was kind of used to itwith Mixed Pole and I think
maybe one other competition.
So I did have a little bit ofpractice but not actually at the
professional division andknowing I had to level up for
that three and a half minuteswas next level.
(32:38):
It was a challenge but I really,really enjoyed the journey.
Yeah, it was a really goodchallenge.
Yeah.
And you rose to it as well.
You know, like if you hadn't hadthat challenge, would your level
of like pull up as much as itdid in that time scale?
So go you.
I definitely don't think so.
Yeah, I think that if I didn'thave the pro to it, I do not
(33:03):
think I would be at the levelthat I am.
It really made me have to workso much harder.
Like I was doing– two-hourprivates, like, once a week.
It was training for three tofour hours every, like, second
day.
Like, I was just constant,constant, constant, constant
(33:25):
because I had to level up.
And I had a list of tricks.
Like, yep, I need this and thisand this and this.
But I was really enjoying it.
It was really fun because I waslike, I can't wait to get to
that point where I actually, allI ever wanted to feel was, okay,
now I'm in pro.
I want to feel like a pro.
I want to make sure that Ibelong in there.
I didn't want to feel like Ididn't belong.
(33:47):
I was happy to be the baby powerin the pro division, but I
didn't want to feel like Ididn't belong.
And I know everybody says like,oh, you belong there.
You belong there.
But it comes from in.
It absolutely comes from in.
And so working really hard toget to that point.
And I was really enjoying thejourney because by the time I
stepped onto that VPC stage,stage in the division I felt
(34:11):
like I'm with my people I'mready to be here it was good and
I don't think I would have beenthere that early if that didn't
happen so quickly so I'm reallyhappy with how it happened but
oh it was scary I'll tell youthat it was terrifying well you
(34:32):
did it and you did it very wellso yeah thank you thank you
thank you yeah I think we mightbe ready to wrap up shortly.
I just had one maybe sort of funquestion.
Do any of you have any ritualsor little superstitions that you
do before going on stage?
(34:53):
Boogie's nodding her head.
Give it to me.
I listen to the same song whilethe person before me is on
stage.
With my headphones.
The same song, whatever companyit is, it's the same song.
And it's Rage Against theMachine, Killin' in the Name of.
I don't know what that song doesto me, but I'm just like.
(35:18):
How interesting.
Does that not mess with yourcomp song?
No, because it's nothing likeanything I do, I think.
And it's not my style of musiceither.
Like I'm quite hip-hoppy andcommercial and things like that.
It's good.
It's completely opposite.
But, yeah, Rage Against theMachine, I'm telling you.
How did you find that?
(35:41):
I don't even know.
It even started when I was aprofessional dancer.
I would listen to it beforegoing into an audition.
I love it.
You know, it builds a littlefire inside you.
And when he swears, oh.
Oh, I love it.
We're going to add Skipping Rowand Rage Against.
(36:02):
And Socks on Stage.
And Socks.
We should do a little cheatsheet afterwards, Elle, you
know, something else for you todo while you're editing.
And you just make this littlecheat sheet of the things we
need to do before comp, duringcomp and after comp.
Can you imagine?
(36:23):
I can't.
I'll pass that on to Robyn.
Robyn's now, she's taken overfrom Gail.
We've lost Gail.
Gail.
Robyn's the new Gail.
Robyn.
Welcome.
Cheat sheet, Robyn.
Cheat sheet, Robyn.
Robyn, I'll take a cheat sheet.
Easter break.
(36:44):
Yes.
It's a public holiday, right?
Nobody's got a real job.
I'd love to know where peoplecan follow your poll journey.
what studios you're out.
So if you want to give a shoutout and your coaches, coaches,
studios, and where they canfollow your whole journey.
And your costume makers andanyone else you want to give a
(37:05):
shout out to, we'll take themall.
The person to me on the left inmy little grid is Robin.
So I'm going to start withRobin.
Oh, cool.
Well, I'm not consistent with myposting.
So I do it across two differentaccounts on my Instagram.
So it's either Robin, spelt withthree N dot R.
That's my first one.
And then my actual Paul accountis Robin Paul and Ariel's.
(37:30):
I've already forgotten thesecond part of what you said in
your question.
Your studio, your coaches, yourcostume makers.
My studio is Ariel Paul Academy.
My coach is Elizabeth Domizet.
The best coach.
UNKNOWN (37:48):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (37:48):
My costume maker from the last two years was
Tiffany Abbott.
She does costumes in Canberra.
Shell, do you want to go next?
You can follow me at ShellHafner.
It's Shell Hafner on Facebook orInstagram.
C-H-E-L-L-E, not Shell like aseashell.
(38:09):
I don't post very consistentlyonline.
Sorry.
I make my own group, ThirstySkin for dry skin.
I make my own costumes and I ammy own coach as well.
So all here.
(38:30):
And what about studio?
Studio, Hangar 66.
I knew there was something I wasmissing.
Hangar 66 in West Denver,Brisbane.
Amazing.
And Bee, do you want to take usaway?
So my Instagram is bb underscorepole underscore artist and I try
(38:54):
to post fairly often when work'snot too hectic but definitely
all my training videos are upthere.
I don't have a studio so I'm anindependent and But I do train
in my garage where I've kind ofset up something that's a little
bit fun and I teach a couple ofprivates and whatnot there.
(39:15):
But it's not a studio as such.
It's just my little garage.
And I am also a Maya therapist.
So...
I work for myself from my littlehome boutique studio or clinic,
as you would say, and I help alot of pole dancers with their
(39:36):
injuries, so musculoskeletal.
So it's really wonderful thatsometimes I will coach girls and
teach a private and immediatelyafter their private, they've
booked a myo session for me.
So they just get coaching for anhour and then immediately get a
massage and then laughy laugh.
So that's what I do basicallyall the time.
UNKNOWN (39:55):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (39:55):
and um yeah it's a great life i have some some on
the regular they just love itsomething like oh you know what
i can't be bothered pollingtoday i just want my massage so
um that is myocare underscoretherapy so if you want to follow
and support me on that thatwould be absolutely amazing and
so my goal pretty much is justto help help all pole dancers
(40:17):
just be injury free and just beable to continue pole dancing um
Is it just me?
So I have a dance studio calledBuki's Dance and Fitness Studio
out in Sunbury.
I do have an Instagram tag.
It's Buki spelled B-U-K-I, notBucky, underscore dance studio.
(40:41):
Yeah.
I would like to do a shout outto my coaches, which are Miss
Philly and Natty Stephens.
Sorry, I haven't trained in alittle while with you.
I promise I'm coming back toyour babies real soon.
And I have this amazing coach.
Costume lady.
(41:02):
She's independent.
She does a lot of costuming fora lot of people at the studio
and surrounds.
Her name is Kyra Porteus and sheis an absolute gem.
You literally give her a sheencostume and she'll make it into
our own thing for you.
So she is fantastic.
So if anyone ever needs anycostuming, Kyra is amazing.
(41:22):
And where can they find her?
What's her Instagram?
Yep.
It's yep.
at Kyra underscore Portia.
Amazing.
You're welcome, Kyra.
You'll find it in post.
And while you're looking forthat, we'll also, we will get
(41:43):
Nicole's later.
She, her phone ran out ofbattery.
So we will get that later andwe'll tag it on to the end of
this episode's notes, which Idefinitely know how to do.
We'll tag it on to the end ofthe show notes like we always
do.
Always.
(42:05):
Oh, my gosh.
Amazing.
Did you have her handle or youcan find it?
For me?
Yeah.
Yeah, sorry.
Yeah, it was Kyra, K-Y-R-A dotPorteus, P-O-R-T-E-O-U-S.
Nice.
And she's based in?
(42:26):
She's based in Melbourne.
Well, ladies, thank you so muchfor joining us today and for
sharing all those beautifulstories, moments, memories, and
also your training tips I thinkwere super useful and things
that we can apply very easily.
So thank you so much for that.
(42:46):
And good luck with all yourcomps moving forward and
anything you decide to do.
I know you're going to do anamazing job.
I've seen you all dance, so Iknow.
So thank you very much.
Thanks, guys.
We appreciate you coming on.
Thanks for having us.
Thanks for having us.
Thanks, everybody.
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