May 9, 2025 • 33 mins
Get ready to go hardcore! In this episode, Elizabeth and Felix sit down with Dani, Kym, and Unnie to give you the ultimate sneak peek into the upcoming Hardcore Pole Competition — where raw strength, fierce artistry, and boundary-pushing performances take centre stage.
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
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome back to Pole Obsession.
I'm Felix, and I'm here with myfabulous co-host, Elizabeth.
On today's episode, it's goingto be full of lots of tasty
treats for you guys.
So anybody who has any inklingof curiosity about pole
competitions, what it takes togo from studios to stage, what
happens behind the scenes, andall the fun stuff on stage, we
(00:22):
have with us Miss Dani, who isthe owner and advanced
instructor at Studio Pole.
She has been for the past 12years.
She is also the coach of ourother two guests that we have
coming up.
She is the owner and founder ofHardcore Pole Dancing
Championships co-owner withSister Megan B of Black Apparel
and upcoming, hardcore up andcoming in Melbourne.
(00:46):
She's judged pole comps allaround Australia and is an
extremely experienced bothcompetitor, coach and pole
dancer.
So we're really excited to haveher here today.
We also have the incredible Unihere with us today.
She is the winner of Miss PoleDance Australia 2024.
Miss Pole Dance New South Wales2024 first runner-up, the
(01:09):
hardcore semi-professional 2024winner, exotic generation 2024
winner in floor work, and exoticgeneration 2022 floor work
winner.
So she has an amazing accoladesin a very short amount of time.
So we're super excited to hearwhat she has to say.
We also have with us theincredible Kim Chia.
Kim has a passion for learningnew skills that pushes her
(01:32):
physically and mentally.
After 12 years of competitivegymnastics, she was looking for
a new challenge and started poledancing at Studio Pole in 2012.
Her love of the sport hasevolved since then and for the
first time became a winner in2014 at the New South Wales
Olympics.
pole championships as anamateur.
Since then, she's been exploringdifferent styles, placing in
(01:53):
several different competitions,including South Wales Pole
Championships 2018 ProfessionalFirst Place, Miss Pole Dance
Australia New South Wales 2022First Place, and Miss Pole Dance
Australia 2022 First Place.
Kin's journey has been one ofconstant evolution and learning,
and she continues to step out ofher comfort zone to bring
(02:14):
something new to this stage withintent to inspire others.
We'll start Up with Dani.
Can you give us a sneak peek,because Hardcore's coming up
next weekend, a little bit aboutthe talent that's hitting the
stage in Hardcore next weekend?
Yes.
So hardcore has very, veryamazing talent.
(02:35):
I feel like every year it justgets stronger and stronger and
better and better.
So I feel like this year, thesemi pros in particular, I feel
like are definitely the ones towatch.
I just feel like they're at thestage where they're pretty much
ready for professional almost aswell.
So I think they'll be amazing.
(02:56):
And then I'm really excited tosee the amateurs because we have
some brand new ones that aretaking the stage.
And again, the talent every yearjust gets higher and higher and
higher.
So if you want to kind of seethe best of the best, then
definitely worth coming to watchHardcore this year.
Have you got any standouts?
(03:17):
Oh, there's too many to name.
Too many to name.
And sometimes like theiraudition video versus what they
bring to the stage can be twodifferent things.
So I guess it makes it reallyexciting because I don't
actually know what people aregoing to bring to the stage.
So I feel like everybody is astandout.
Yeah.
(03:37):
And I think that's exactlyright.
You don't know what they'regoing to do on the night.
So their audition video might belike, oh, should we put this
girl in?
Is she quite ready for it?
And then on the night they canwin.
You just don't know.
A hundred percent.
It's really, it's anyone's game.
And at the end of the day, itall comes down to how you
deliver on the night.
(03:58):
Basically.
I think there's so much to besaid as well about a live
performance versus a videoperformance.
You know, there's so much morethat you get when you see
someone live and so much morethey can give you when they're
performing in front of youversus a video.
So it's such a differentexperience.
Even if you know what moves theycan do, how they perform is so
unique and different and youdon't get that across the video.
(04:21):
You can't.
It's not the same.
100% agree with that.
Yes.
How many have you got competingnext weekend?
I think we're down to 39.
So I had 40 finalists, which iskind of normal to have about 40.
And then we've had one personwho unfortunately had to pull
(04:42):
out.
So at the moment, we're at 39.
That's a lot.
Yeah.
Their routines.
How long are the routines?
So the amateurs go from two anda half to maximum three minutes
and then the semi-pros can gothree minutes to maximum three
and a half.
So they get a bit of a buffer.
(05:05):
That is a big, big comp.
How do you keep thatinteresting?
Because that would be, what,four hours?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, about that, about that.
I guess one thing that I likeabout hardcore is there are so
many different styles that cometo the stage.
(05:26):
So when we're going through anddoing the running order to kind
of keep it more interesting, wetry to make sure that we put
different styles next
SPEAKER_01 (05:36):
to
SPEAKER_00 (05:36):
different styles.
So it's not like three, youknow, slower songs back to back.
Do you know what I mean?
Like we really try and break itup.
So I think that helps it becomemore interesting for everybody
as well.
Yeah.
And somebody who's maybe neverbeen to a hardcore or seen any
videos from hardcore, what makeshardcore different from other
pole competitions and why shouldwe be excited about it?
(05:59):
I mean...
To be fair, every comp youshould be excited about.
Oh, bless your soul, yes.
These people are on stage and,you know, it's just so amazing
to see the creativity that comesfrom all these performers.
And I think with hardcore, likeif I go back to the roots of
hardcore, I started hardcorebecause there wasn't a lot of
(06:21):
amateur comps.
So hardcore was only amateurwhen I first started it 11 years
ago.
And I started it then because...
there was only really pub compsthat were kind of around for
that type of level.
And I judged and binged so manypole comps where the setup
wasn't really great or the poleswould fall down and all that
sort of thing.
So I wanted to create a platformwhere these amateurs had
(06:45):
somewhere to grow on a bigstage.
The poles were all rigged.
We had a big audience.
We had the stalls.
We had like the whole big, bigcomp vibe.
So I guess that's what I wantedto create.
And then over the years, it justgrew.
The talent grew.
The amount of competitorsapplying just kept growing.
(07:06):
So I then brought in a semi-prodivision because I felt like it
needed the gap because therewasn't, again, and still isn't
really much now specifically forsemi-pros either.
And I felt like the amateursmaybe still needed another level
to go to after semi, sorry,after amateur, still needed
another level to go to beforethey hit, professional type of
(07:29):
thing so and probably lastly Ifeel like hardcore it's a very
overall sort of comp like wewant the great tricks we want
the great pole but we also wantthe dance we also want the show
we want the performance so thecriteria is fairly um fairly
even in terms of dance versuspole so yeah that's why I don't
(07:50):
know I created hardcore and Iguess it's unique I love that
Would you, we love the tales ofthe wild, wild west pole dancing
era when everything was a bitcrazy.
Do you have any stories to shareabout the sort of types of pole
competition that inspired you tomake things better for the
(08:11):
amateurs?
The things that were happeningthat you were like, well, these
girls need something better andI'm going to give it to them.
Yes.
So I had been lucky enough tojudge.
Actually, I think it started offwith taking Kim actually to some
of the pub comps.
And, you know, it was all greatand stuff, but the setup was
always the dome pole that waslike suctioned to the top.
(08:34):
And normally it was a securityguard there just kind of putting
it up and kind of, you know,watching it.
And, yeah, there was two compsin particular that I, one that I
was judging and one that I waswatching where the pole fell
down while I competitors were onit and it was just really scary
to see and you know just reallyjust disheartening for the
(08:55):
competitors as well um justdefinitely not safe either so it
was kind of like oh shit I feellike something we need to change
this and you know like I get itrunning comps are hard they're
expensive so a lot of peopleprobably were like I don't want
to put money and time into allthis.
But at the end of the day, youhave to look at the safety and
(09:16):
the comps just weren't reallysafe at the pubs.
You know, the setup just wasn'tideal, I guess.
So I guess, yeah, that's kind ofwhere it started from.
SPEAKER_01 (09:25):
But I think as well, sorry, in terms of like that
security as well, it's likephysical security was one thing.
But you know how you mentionedbefore that the security guard
was kind of there too.
There was no real crowd controlas well.
So I think even just for some ofthe competitors, they might have
found that quite intimidatingbecause you had no idea who was
in the crowd.
So whereas with these ticketedevents, you can control that a
(09:46):
bit more.
So that's also a huge thing too.
Yes, 100%.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (09:51):
And just gives it an air of professionalism as well,
you know, like going to a pubversus going to a venue.
You know, it elevates it a lotmore.
I've never been to a pub comp.
Can you believe it?
Like I've been polling for 17years and I've never been to a
pub comp.
I want to know what these pubcomps were.
(10:14):
Let's go.
Let's enter one now.
Can you imagine me thinkingthat's all it's not?
No one wants these 52-year-olds.
I do.
We'll take a poll on Instagram.
We'll take a poll, Elle, onInstagram.
Who wants to see Elle on a bitof popcorn?
Because I think there will be alot of us.
(10:36):
Can you imagine?
They'd come just for the laugh.
They would.
And I, yeah, I wouldn't begetting out there.
But I need to know about thesepub calls.
Tell me, what do you mean theyweren't ticketed, they didn't
have pub calls?
I mean, yeah, I kind of thinkthat was what, well, that was
kind of what was happening inSydney.
(10:57):
It must have been Sydney, right?
Yeah, I'm referring to Sydneybecause, yeah, I'm referring to
Sydney, not Melbourne.
So...
yeah, like some of our students,like for example, Kim wanted to
compete and there wasn't reallymuch like for her to do.
So there was a few, um, Some ofthem were up Central Coast.
The worst one was probably up inNewcastle where the pole fell
(11:20):
down, hit the judges' table,smashed the table, and then the
dome was actually like a bitdamaged.
And I was there with Gemma fromG-Force and we were both just
like, holy shit, like, yeah, itwas pretty scary.
And, again, there was acompetitor on the pole.
Luckily they weren't injured.
(11:41):
Both these times no one wasinjured.
But it was just like there needsto be a huge change here.
We can't be running events likethis.
So, yeah, they kind of all sortof stopped.
It's just a matter of time,though, with things like that,
isn't it, where if you just keepon going without a standard or a
(12:02):
duty of care, then somebody willget hurt or worse.
So, yeah, good on you forstepping in and giving us
options.
Thank you.
Yeah.
And was it mainly like reallyamateurs, Dani, that were going
into that or was it like peoplemore advanced as well?
The pub comps?
Yeah.
I mean, they were supposedlyamateurs, but like it's where
(12:25):
Kim started, but I'm pretty sureshe ripped out a rainbow here
and there on a pub stage.
So it was like she was amateurbecause she hadn't really
competed before, but her tricklevel was definitely not
amateur.
Yeah.
No, you know, I'll tell you onefunny thing about it.
I'll give you Kim's story thatKim doesn't even know this
story.
I've never told her.
(12:49):
I'm
SPEAKER_01 (12:49):
excited.
SPEAKER_00 (12:51):
So in 2018 when you won the New South Wales Pole
Championships, I had a pastcompetitor that had competed.
She was an OG that competedalongside, I guess, Felix in
Miss Pole Games.
one million years ago.
And she came up to me and shesaid, after you'd competed and
you'd won New South Wales, andshe came up to me and she goes,
(13:13):
who is that?
And I said, you don't know whoshe is.
And she's like, no, none of usknew who she was.
And I said, let me tell you onething.
One day everybody in Australiais going to know who that is.
I was like, you were that goodin 2018.
It was only a matter of timebefore you were winning a
(13:35):
massive title, which you did.
So, yeah, very exciting.
So that's my little Kim story.
Thanks, Elle.
You were never amateur, Kim.
You were never really amateur.
So, yeah, no, that's it.
But, like, I think that therewas a big gap.
Obviously there was theAustralian Pole Championships
(13:56):
and there was Miss Pole Dance,but Miss Pole Dance never had an
amateur title.
division back then.
They do now the MX, but wealways did.
But let me just say, guys, ourrigging was solid from the
start.
Every rig was good.
I think I had a ton of weights.
We had, you know, engineered.
But you're right, Dani, theremustn't have been too many back
(14:18):
then.
No, it wasn't because it was atthe time where I was competing
in APC and stuff.
So unless you were doingprofessional, there was nothing
really before that except formaybe some studio sort of
in-house stuff, which mainlypeople kind of stay at their own
studio.
Yeah, and then those few randompub comps, which didn't last
(14:40):
long.
too long, I guess, probably forthe better.
So yeah, that's when I broughthardcore.
And then since then, obviouslylots of other new comps have
popped up and developed, whichis really great for the
industry.
I'd love to know about hardcore,like 2.0.
So that's your Melbourne one.
Tell us about that.
Yeah, so hardcore up and comingis like literally kind of going
(15:05):
back to where hardcore kind ofstarted in terms of When I've
been running, we'll just call itbig hardcore in Sydney.
When I run big hardcore inSydney, I get a lot of
applications from Victoria.
So, of course, me and my sisterwere talking and she's like,
let's do one in Melbourne.
Although in previous years, I'dhad heaps of Melbourne
(15:27):
competitors say, can you do onein Melbourne?
And I was like, no, no, no.
One's enough.
One's enough.
Megan and I got talking.
She convinced me.
to, we should do it inMelbourne.
So I was like, okay, here we go.
Um, and yeah, it was basicallyopening another platform for
these brand new amateurs again,and we wanted to make it a
little bit different.
(15:48):
And that's why we included thedance section because The last
few years, I mean, Exogen hasbeen booming around the world
and I feel like a lot ofstudents have taken interest
into the dance side of pole.
So we kind of were like, oh,let's open up like a dance
division.
So, again, it's like a platformbefore you kind of hit the big
(16:11):
league and the big professionalscene.
So that's why we decided to do,yeah, Hardcore Up and Coming,
which is for the fresh people.
fresh faced new amateurs and thedance divisions.
That's kind of how thatdeveloped.
And it was quite successful lastyear.
So we're going for round twothis year.
So we'll see how we go.
(16:32):
Is dance division is just justdancing, no tricks?
Yeah, so like we incorporatetricks but mainly base work and
like lower thirds.
So like you don't need to get upand do big combos and stuff.
I mean you can but you're notreally going to get scored on it
because it's not part of thecriteria.
It's more just you can dancebarefoot, heels, like whatever
you like and just introducing,yeah, like some base work, lower
(16:57):
third type stuff.
So, yeah.
Love it.
For those who don't know whatlower third is.
The bottom third of the pole.
So if you cut the pole intothree sections, top, middle,
bottom, it's the bottom one.
I don't know.
(17:18):
Some people might not know.
Well, that's right.
And is that amateur and semi-prothat get to do that as well as
the regular criteria?
So there's two differentdivisions?
Yes.
I didn't know.
different divisions yes sothey're different divisions and
they have slightly different umeligibility criteria so the
(17:39):
amateur division is obviouslyfor brand new amateurs so if
you've done hardcore in sydneyyou can't do up and coming
SPEAKER_01 (17:46):
but
SPEAKER_00 (17:47):
with dance division we have different eligibility
depending on what they've donebecause we haven't really
counted pole comp so much inthat criteria like because it's
very different dance it's verydifferent yeah poll so like
they're separate they haveseparate criterias yes and
they're judged separately so whocan end off the top of my head
(18:10):
criteria basically anyone likefor the dance division anyone
who hasn't done exogen in any ofthe professional divisions can
pretty much enter and then withthe amateur division anyone who
hasn't um competed at anynational sort of level
(18:30):
competitions and then there's acouple of other comps we've
pretty much listed all the compsyou can and can't have competed
in or placed in to make itreally really clear because now
there's so many comps it's hardto kind of follow oh if i've
done this can i do this if i'vedone that so yeah like out i
have to look at the criteriait's like damn And Kim and Uni,
(18:55):
have you competed in hardcore?
And if you have, how is yourexperience doing that?
SPEAKER_01 (19:02):
Uni, do you want to go first?
UNKNOWN (19:07):
Go first.
Okay, no worries.
SPEAKER_01 (19:09):
So, oh gosh, when did I first compete, Dani?
This was like, so I did my firstpub comp, right?
And that was the one we weretalking about before, which was
in Newcastle.
And that was more just...
for the first, I guess,experience for me to be on stage
and perform because I'd neverdone anything like that before.
And then I think a couple ofmonths later I did Hardcore when
it was first running or maybethe second year.
I can't actually remember fromthe top of my head.
(19:31):
And then I think in that it waslike my first experience on this
big stage and it was awesome.
Like not only was it run reallyprofessionally, really smooth in
terms of the whole night, it wasalso just I think the
environment backstage, everyonewas really friendly and it felt
like a really nice community.
And I think that's one thingthat I love about hardcore.
(19:51):
It's still the same way now aswell.
And to be fair in quite a lot ofcomps these days too, it's
everyone's just kind of likethere to do their own thing.
Everyone's really sort of likewelcoming and friendly and
everyone's always willing tohelp is something I've noticed
too, which is really lovely.
So yeah, my couple ofexperiences, I only did hardcore
twice and then Danny was like,no, not allowed back.
(20:13):
You're a professional now.
I was like, please, Jenny, can'tyou create a pro division?
She wrote.
No.
No, she wrote.
And all my experiences wereamazing.
Even helping backstage I reallyenjoyed too.
SPEAKER_00 (20:29):
So did you win, Kim, hardcore?
Is that why you weren't?
SPEAKER_01 (20:33):
No.
So what happened was I camethird, I think, in the first
year.
And then when I did semi-pro,after competing, I think I did
New South Wales PoleChampionships not long after
that.
And then that was as amateur.
And because I won that, Icouldn't go back into amateur.
So then in semi-pro, I think Icame, I didn't, maybe semi-pro.
I can't remember.
I should know this.
SPEAKER_00 (20:55):
I should know
SPEAKER_01 (20:55):
this.
Because you placed?
Is that why?
I placed.
But then I also got into MissPole Dance Australia for the
first time.
So then that bumped me right upinto pro.
And I think, yeah,
SPEAKER_00 (21:06):
quickly.
That's what happens when you'regood.
Do you think that like havingthat hardcore stage experience
prepared you for things thatwere to come later, like having
the opportunity to compete at anamateur level, but on a big
(21:27):
stage in a professionalenvironment, prepared you for
those comps that you then wenton to do later.
SPEAKER_01 (21:33):
100%.
You know what, honestly,reflecting back on it, if I had
have just gone straight into NewSouth Wales Pole Championships
without that experience, I thinkI would have been quite like, I
think because the competition,the title is so big as well.
In my head, it probably wouldhave like made me a little bit
more nervous than how I felt.
So it was a good way to kind oflike dip my toes in a little bit
(21:53):
and go like, this is kind ofwhat to expect.
And then I'm really glad I did.
Then I came to New South WalesPole Championships, even bigger
theatre, even bigger crowdbecause it had high capacity.
And I was like, well, like thisis intense and scary, but I'm
really glad that I had a bit ofthat exposure up front.
SPEAKER_00 (22:10):
And you said that you hadn't performed before.
Is that so you don't you had noexperience performing before
pole dancing?
SPEAKER_01 (22:19):
Nothing.
I had no dance background.
So dance is all like brand newto me.
Even just winning like an awardin dance for Icon blew my mind.
Like last year, I was like, I'ma dancer now, apparently.
um but yeah so none none of thatlike on stage experience
actually first time was uh withpole all my background is in
(22:41):
gymnastics so there is stillsome sort of like you know
crossover there um but nothingactually on stage and performing
to like a large group of people
SPEAKER_00 (22:50):
wow amazing you're just a natural darn it thanks
felix i figured she'd just beentraining her whole life Have you
done hardcore, Uni?
I have.
I've competed in hardcore fortwo years, so last year and
2023.
Yeah, she's the only one that'swon both titles.
(23:15):
That's back, right?
Oh, sorry, no, incorrect.
Second person that's won bothtitles.
Who was the other one?
Tiffany Grace, apparently.
We should know, really,shouldn't we?
I mean, yeah, I should know allthis, but I don't know 11 years.
I don't know what I'm doingyesterday.
(23:37):
You're pregnant, aren't you,Dani?
Yeah.
Yeah, well, how do you rememberanything?
Can we just tell the wholeworld?
Not a secret.
I'm 20 weeks.
Oh, congratulations.
I am so out of the woods.
Maybe I should know, but Ididn't.
I'm so happy for you.
Yeah.
(23:58):
It's like the best and worstthing you'll ever do.
Okay.
Do you think that, so hang on,hang on, hang on, hang on.
Okay.
I've already prefaced that I'mout of the loop.
You did, you did hardcoreamateur in 2022, three.
(24:21):
Yeah.
Then you did hardcore semi-pro.
In 2024.
And then you did Miss Pole DanceAustralia.
Yes, in 2024.
So you went amateur 2023,semi-pro 2024, winner, winner,
and then winner pro comp 2024.
(24:45):
So, yeah, New South Wales firstrun up and then Miss Pole Dance
Australia, yeah, winner.
Winner, yeah.
UNKNOWN (24:52):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00 (24:52):
That was fast.
Two minutes.
Yeah, that was fast.
Have you got any danceperformance background?
I have a very strong ballet,contemporary, jazz and
commercial dance backgroundbecause I started dancing and
competing like around sevenyears old.
(25:15):
Yeah.
So that really helped me.
understand how to prepare for acomp, how to choreograph and all
that jazz.
And how long, when did you startpole dancing?
July, 2020.
So then three years, then youstarted just wiping the floor
with everyone.
(25:36):
You were like, I'm just going toget quite good at this.
Again, I'm pretty good.
And then I'm just going to wipethe floor with everyone.
You guys both actually gotreally, really good, really,
really quickly.
I mean, dance really helped me,like all the training that I've
done because I was a two-timedancer at Bread Street and I've
(26:00):
just been dancing like beforeschool, after school.
So all that that I did helped mea lot, like a lot when I started
to compete.
Yeah.
Yeah, it is important, I think,to say that, like, you haven't
just been training for threeyears.
You've been training.
And same with Kim.
(26:21):
Like, you have the gymnasticbackground that translates very
well.
And while they are differentthings, and I'm not saying that
you guys are only good at poledancing because you have that
training behind you, it helps somuch to understand the body once
you've had that rigoroustechnical training to, like,
transfer over to the pole.
(26:41):
Do you think there is anybenefit in people who are
polling first, maybe withoutthat background, the dance
background, the jazz background?
Do you think there's any benefitto them maybe cross training
with either dance or gymnasticswhen they start later?
Or do you think that advantagecan only be had if you have it
like when you're a child?
SPEAKER_01 (27:01):
I feel like I always believe in cross training just
because I think it helps createbalance and it also avoids
injuries.
So whether that's like trainingwith like Pilates, gym, any sort
of movement that's a bitdifferent, I think it's always
really good.
But I do see a lot of benefit interms of like any other sort of
I guess, style that helps youbuild body awareness because
that's so hard.
(27:21):
My gosh, I think that is onething that's really hard to
learn is kind of when you'reupside down, what am I actually
doing here because you get sodisorientated.
So, yeah, I mean, personally forme I see a huge advantage to
doing that.
Yeah.
I would agree on that
SPEAKER_00 (27:36):
one
SPEAKER_01 (27:36):
too.
SPEAKER_00 (27:38):
Always cross train.
Always.
I agree too.
I agree with myself.
What would you like to say toAustralia about hardcore and
about coming?
I know there's no live streamthis year.
Tell us a little bit about whyyou've chosen no live stream.
(28:00):
I reckon I probably know.
Tell us about that and why theyshould come and watch.
Okay.
And before we start...
where they can get tickets,where the event is, and your
time and date and everything, sodetail specifics so that we can
(28:22):
say it and then type it and thenmaybe link it as well.
Elle, can you do that?
I don't know.
Yeah, mate, sure.
If you can't, you need to figureit out, right?
I don't know how to do it.
Oh, Elle, I don't know whatyou're doing.
So Hardcore is next Saturdaynight, which is on the 17th of
(28:43):
May.
It's in New South Wales, Sydney.
So it's at the Hornsby RSL Club.
Tickets are on sale directlythrough the Hornsby RSL Club.
So you can just jump online andbuy your tickets.
It's all general admin tickets.
So there's all tables that youcan sit on.
And basically, it's not just apoll comp.
(29:05):
It's a night where where youcan...
watch amazing talent from aroundAustralia in both semi-pro and
amateur divisions.
We also have food and drinksbecause you're on tables, so you
can buy food, you can buydrinks, and of course, you can
do some pole shopping.
So it's a big night out.
(29:25):
It's great to get a couple ofyour friends together, family,
studios to get groups togetherand come and support the
industry.
So yeah, that's pretty much whatHardcore is all about.
So if you want to come.
You've still got a week to buytickets.
And the reason why we don't dolive stream and we never, ever
(29:46):
have ever done live stream, andI never will, is because you
just don't get the same effectwatching live stream.
Like it's just, it just doesn'ttranslate the same.
Like you've got to be there.
You've got to feel it.
You've got to see it.
You've got to have that vibe.
So that's why we never do livestream.
I know it's hard because we havea lot of people obviously from
(30:08):
interstate.
So their friends and family, youknow, sometimes always can't fly
down to see them.
But we do some social mediasnippets and things like that.
But yeah, I just find withvideos, live stream, especially
you just don't get the same.
the same feel and the sameeffects.
That's why we never do it,unfortunately.
Especially with like a one-offevent, you know, it's not
(30:30):
like...
It's not like this thing isrunning for six weeks and you're
doing the same show over andover again.
Like this is the one time you'regoing to see it.
It's like a once in a lifetimeopportunity to go and see this
event.
Like go see it with youreyeballs.
I can't say enough about goingand seeing things live.
Everybody who is in thevicinity, go out and get your
tickets because there's so muchinspiration and energy that you
(30:52):
can't feel when you don't seethese performers live and they
do such an amazing, incredible,beautiful job.
So I hope everybody on thatstage has a fabulous time.
I I wish all the best for yourevent and I hope it's super
wonderful.
I just want to add into thecompetitors themselves, they
absolutely thrive off thecheering and the atmosphere as
(31:12):
well.
So it's like the more people wehave cheering for them, the
better they're going to feel andthe more they can just blow
everybody away.
So, yeah, I really want that forthe competitors too because,
yeah, they feed off that energy.
And they deserve it as well.
They put so much work into it,you know.
So if you're going, make twotimes the noise of a normal
(31:33):
person and if you're not going,go and make two times the noise
of a normal person.
Yeah, and I'd just like to saysomething to the Pulse studios
that have a student or aninstructor in there, it is such
a big thing for you to go andsupport them and to watch them
and cheer for them.
(31:53):
They will perform differentlywhen they have people in the
audience that's their specialpeople.
I know everyone's going to cheerfor them, but when a pole studio
goes and supports them, it'sreally great for the studio as
well because they get to go witha group of people outside of a
class, socialise, and then goand watch something that they
all love and support somebodyfrom their studio.
(32:13):
So if you do have a student oran instructor in there, it's
such a great thing to go as astudio together and go and watch
them and cheer them on.
It's just so much fun.
I have been to a hardcore whenI've had my girls in it one
year.
And the really good thing, Ithink, about a hardcore that I
noticed running 1,000 compsmyself that's very different is
(32:37):
that The venue that it's in, youget to go and you can go and,
you know, eat dinner and there'sall like little restaurants and
all little places that you cango before and afterwards and
have a drink and catch up withpeople.
So you've got that and then whenyou're in there, it's just a
really nice sort of differentatmosphere because there's big
round tables and you get to talkto people around your table
(32:58):
rather than sitting in atheatre.
So it is quite different in thatway and it's just such a nice,
fun night.
So go and watch them.
Thank you.
Go and watch.
Everybody go and watch.
Thank you, guys.
Welcome back to Pole Obsession.
I'm Felix, and I'm here with myfabulous co-host, Elizabeth.
On today's episode, it's goingto be full of lots of tasty
treats for you guys.
So anybody who has any inklingof curiosity about pole
competitions, what it takes togo from studios to stage, what
happens behind the scenes, andall the fun stuff on stage, we
(00:22):
have with us Miss Dani, who isthe owner and advanced
instructor at Studio Pole.
She has been for the past 12years.
She is also the coach of ourother two guests that we have
coming up.
She is the owner and founder ofHardcore Pole Dancing
Championships co-owner withSister Megan B of Black Apparel
and upcoming, hardcore up andcoming in Melbourne.
(00:46):
She's judged pole comps allaround Australia and is an
extremely experienced bothcompetitor, coach and pole
dancer.
So we're really excited to haveher here today.
We also have the incredible Unihere with us today.
She is the winner of Miss PoleDance Australia 2024.
Miss Pole Dance New South Wales2024 first runner-up, the
(01:09):
hardcore semi-professional 2024winner, exotic generation 2024
winner in floor work, and exoticgeneration 2022 floor work
winner.
So she has an amazing accoladesin a very short amount of time.
So we're super excited to hearwhat she has to say.
We also have with us theincredible Kim Chia.
Kim has a passion for learningnew skills that pushes her
(01:32):
physically and mentally.
After 12 years of competitivegymnastics, she was looking for
a new challenge and started poledancing at Studio Pole in 2012.
Her love of the sport hasevolved since then and for the
first time became a winner in2014 at the New South Wales
Olympics.
pole championships as anamateur.
Since then, she's been exploringdifferent styles, placing in
(01:53):
several different competitions,including South Wales Pole
Championships 2018 ProfessionalFirst Place, Miss Pole Dance
Australia New South Wales 2022First Place, and Miss Pole Dance
Australia 2022 First Place.
Kin's journey has been one ofconstant evolution and learning,
and she continues to step out ofher comfort zone to bring
(02:14):
something new to this stage withintent to inspire others.
We'll start Up with Dani.
Can you give us a sneak peek,because Hardcore's coming up
next weekend, a little bit aboutthe talent that's hitting the
stage in Hardcore next weekend?
Yes.
So hardcore has very, veryamazing talent.
(02:35):
I feel like every year it justgets stronger and stronger and
better and better.
So I feel like this year, thesemi pros in particular, I feel
like are definitely the ones towatch.
I just feel like they're at thestage where they're pretty much
ready for professional almost aswell.
So I think they'll be amazing.
(02:56):
And then I'm really excited tosee the amateurs because we have
some brand new ones that aretaking the stage.
And again, the talent every yearjust gets higher and higher and
higher.
So if you want to kind of seethe best of the best, then
definitely worth coming to watchHardcore this year.
Have you got any standouts?
(03:17):
Oh, there's too many to name.
Too many to name.
And sometimes like theiraudition video versus what they
bring to the stage can be twodifferent things.
So I guess it makes it reallyexciting because I don't
actually know what people aregoing to bring to the stage.
So I feel like everybody is astandout.
Yeah.
(03:37):
And I think that's exactlyright.
You don't know what they'regoing to do on the night.
So their audition video might belike, oh, should we put this
girl in?
Is she quite ready for it?
And then on the night they canwin.
You just don't know.
A hundred percent.
It's really, it's anyone's game.
And at the end of the day, itall comes down to how you
deliver on the night.
(03:58):
Basically.
I think there's so much to besaid as well about a live
performance versus a videoperformance.
You know, there's so much morethat you get when you see
someone live and so much morethey can give you when they're
performing in front of youversus a video.
So it's such a differentexperience.
Even if you know what moves theycan do, how they perform is so
unique and different and youdon't get that across the video.
(04:21):
You can't.
It's not the same.
100% agree with that.
Yes.
How many have you got competingnext weekend?
I think we're down to 39.
So I had 40 finalists, which iskind of normal to have about 40.
And then we've had one personwho unfortunately had to pull
(04:42):
out.
So at the moment, we're at 39.
That's a lot.
Yeah.
Their routines.
How long are the routines?
So the amateurs go from two anda half to maximum three minutes
and then the semi-pros can gothree minutes to maximum three
and a half.
So they get a bit of a buffer.
(05:05):
That is a big, big comp.
How do you keep thatinteresting?
Because that would be, what,four hours?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, about that, about that.
I guess one thing that I likeabout hardcore is there are so
many different styles that cometo the stage.
(05:26):
So when we're going through anddoing the running order to kind
of keep it more interesting, wetry to make sure that we put
different styles next
SPEAKER_01 (05:36):
to
SPEAKER_00 (05:36):
different styles.
So it's not like three, youknow, slower songs back to back.
Do you know what I mean?
Like we really try and break itup.
So I think that helps it becomemore interesting for everybody
as well.
Yeah.
And somebody who's maybe neverbeen to a hardcore or seen any
videos from hardcore, what makeshardcore different from other
pole competitions and why shouldwe be excited about it?
(05:59):
I mean...
To be fair, every comp youshould be excited about.
Oh, bless your soul, yes.
These people are on stage and,you know, it's just so amazing
to see the creativity that comesfrom all these performers.
And I think with hardcore, likeif I go back to the roots of
hardcore, I started hardcorebecause there wasn't a lot of
(06:21):
amateur comps.
So hardcore was only amateurwhen I first started it 11 years
ago.
And I started it then because...
there was only really pub compsthat were kind of around for
that type of level.
And I judged and binged so manypole comps where the setup
wasn't really great or the poleswould fall down and all that
sort of thing.
So I wanted to create a platformwhere these amateurs had
(06:45):
somewhere to grow on a bigstage.
The poles were all rigged.
We had a big audience.
We had the stalls.
We had like the whole big, bigcomp vibe.
So I guess that's what I wantedto create.
And then over the years, it justgrew.
The talent grew.
The amount of competitorsapplying just kept growing.
(07:06):
So I then brought in a semi-prodivision because I felt like it
needed the gap because therewasn't, again, and still isn't
really much now specifically forsemi-pros either.
And I felt like the amateursmaybe still needed another level
to go to after semi, sorry,after amateur, still needed
another level to go to beforethey hit, professional type of
(07:29):
thing so and probably lastly Ifeel like hardcore it's a very
overall sort of comp like wewant the great tricks we want
the great pole but we also wantthe dance we also want the show
we want the performance so thecriteria is fairly um fairly
even in terms of dance versuspole so yeah that's why I don't
(07:50):
know I created hardcore and Iguess it's unique I love that
Would you, we love the tales ofthe wild, wild west pole dancing
era when everything was a bitcrazy.
Do you have any stories to shareabout the sort of types of pole
competition that inspired you tomake things better for the
(08:11):
amateurs?
The things that were happeningthat you were like, well, these
girls need something better andI'm going to give it to them.
Yes.
So I had been lucky enough tojudge.
Actually, I think it started offwith taking Kim actually to some
of the pub comps.
And, you know, it was all greatand stuff, but the setup was
always the dome pole that waslike suctioned to the top.
(08:34):
And normally it was a securityguard there just kind of putting
it up and kind of, you know,watching it.
And, yeah, there was two compsin particular that I, one that I
was judging and one that I waswatching where the pole fell
down while I competitors were onit and it was just really scary
to see and you know just reallyjust disheartening for the
(08:55):
competitors as well um justdefinitely not safe either so it
was kind of like oh shit I feellike something we need to change
this and you know like I get itrunning comps are hard they're
expensive so a lot of peopleprobably were like I don't want
to put money and time into allthis.
But at the end of the day, youhave to look at the safety and
(09:16):
the comps just weren't reallysafe at the pubs.
You know, the setup just wasn'tideal, I guess.
So I guess, yeah, that's kind ofwhere it started from.
SPEAKER_01 (09:25):
But I think as well, sorry, in terms of like that
security as well, it's likephysical security was one thing.
But you know how you mentionedbefore that the security guard
was kind of there too.
There was no real crowd controlas well.
So I think even just for some ofthe competitors, they might have
found that quite intimidatingbecause you had no idea who was
in the crowd.
So whereas with these ticketedevents, you can control that a
(09:46):
bit more.
So that's also a huge thing too.
Yes, 100%.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (09:51):
And just gives it an air of professionalism as well,
you know, like going to a pubversus going to a venue.
You know, it elevates it a lotmore.
I've never been to a pub comp.
Can you believe it?
Like I've been polling for 17years and I've never been to a
pub comp.
I want to know what these pubcomps were.
(10:14):
Let's go.
Let's enter one now.
Can you imagine me thinkingthat's all it's not?
No one wants these 52-year-olds.
I do.
We'll take a poll on Instagram.
We'll take a poll, Elle, onInstagram.
Who wants to see Elle on a bitof popcorn?
Because I think there will be alot of us.
(10:36):
Can you imagine?
They'd come just for the laugh.
They would.
And I, yeah, I wouldn't begetting out there.
But I need to know about thesepub calls.
Tell me, what do you mean theyweren't ticketed, they didn't
have pub calls?
I mean, yeah, I kind of thinkthat was what, well, that was
kind of what was happening inSydney.
(10:57):
It must have been Sydney, right?
Yeah, I'm referring to Sydneybecause, yeah, I'm referring to
Sydney, not Melbourne.
So...
yeah, like some of our students,like for example, Kim wanted to
compete and there wasn't reallymuch like for her to do.
So there was a few, um, Some ofthem were up Central Coast.
The worst one was probably up inNewcastle where the pole fell
(11:20):
down, hit the judges' table,smashed the table, and then the
dome was actually like a bitdamaged.
And I was there with Gemma fromG-Force and we were both just
like, holy shit, like, yeah, itwas pretty scary.
And, again, there was acompetitor on the pole.
Luckily they weren't injured.
(11:41):
Both these times no one wasinjured.
But it was just like there needsto be a huge change here.
We can't be running events likethis.
So, yeah, they kind of all sortof stopped.
It's just a matter of time,though, with things like that,
isn't it, where if you just keepon going without a standard or a
(12:02):
duty of care, then somebody willget hurt or worse.
So, yeah, good on you forstepping in and giving us
options.
Thank you.
Yeah.
And was it mainly like reallyamateurs, Dani, that were going
into that or was it like peoplemore advanced as well?
The pub comps?
Yeah.
I mean, they were supposedlyamateurs, but like it's where
(12:25):
Kim started, but I'm pretty sureshe ripped out a rainbow here
and there on a pub stage.
So it was like she was amateurbecause she hadn't really
competed before, but her tricklevel was definitely not
amateur.
Yeah.
No, you know, I'll tell you onefunny thing about it.
I'll give you Kim's story thatKim doesn't even know this
story.
I've never told her.
(12:49):
I'm
SPEAKER_01 (12:49):
excited.
SPEAKER_00 (12:51):
So in 2018 when you won the New South Wales Pole
Championships, I had a pastcompetitor that had competed.
She was an OG that competedalongside, I guess, Felix in
Miss Pole Games.
one million years ago.
And she came up to me and shesaid, after you'd competed and
you'd won New South Wales, andshe came up to me and she goes,
(13:13):
who is that?
And I said, you don't know whoshe is.
And she's like, no, none of usknew who she was.
And I said, let me tell you onething.
One day everybody in Australiais going to know who that is.
I was like, you were that goodin 2018.
It was only a matter of timebefore you were winning a
(13:35):
massive title, which you did.
So, yeah, very exciting.
So that's my little Kim story.
Thanks, Elle.
You were never amateur, Kim.
You were never really amateur.
So, yeah, no, that's it.
But, like, I think that therewas a big gap.
Obviously there was theAustralian Pole Championships
(13:56):
and there was Miss Pole Dance,but Miss Pole Dance never had an
amateur title.
division back then.
They do now the MX, but wealways did.
But let me just say, guys, ourrigging was solid from the
start.
Every rig was good.
I think I had a ton of weights.
We had, you know, engineered.
But you're right, Dani, theremustn't have been too many back
(14:18):
then.
No, it wasn't because it was atthe time where I was competing
in APC and stuff.
So unless you were doingprofessional, there was nothing
really before that except formaybe some studio sort of
in-house stuff, which mainlypeople kind of stay at their own
studio.
Yeah, and then those few randompub comps, which didn't last
(14:40):
long.
too long, I guess, probably forthe better.
So yeah, that's when I broughthardcore.
And then since then, obviouslylots of other new comps have
popped up and developed, whichis really great for the
industry.
I'd love to know about hardcore,like 2.0.
So that's your Melbourne one.
Tell us about that.
Yeah, so hardcore up and comingis like literally kind of going
(15:05):
back to where hardcore kind ofstarted in terms of When I've
been running, we'll just call itbig hardcore in Sydney.
When I run big hardcore inSydney, I get a lot of
applications from Victoria.
So, of course, me and my sisterwere talking and she's like,
let's do one in Melbourne.
Although in previous years, I'dhad heaps of Melbourne
(15:27):
competitors say, can you do onein Melbourne?
And I was like, no, no, no.
One's enough.
One's enough.
Megan and I got talking.
She convinced me.
to, we should do it inMelbourne.
So I was like, okay, here we go.
Um, and yeah, it was basicallyopening another platform for
these brand new amateurs again,and we wanted to make it a
little bit different.
(15:48):
And that's why we included thedance section because The last
few years, I mean, Exogen hasbeen booming around the world
and I feel like a lot ofstudents have taken interest
into the dance side of pole.
So we kind of were like, oh,let's open up like a dance
division.
So, again, it's like a platformbefore you kind of hit the big
(16:11):
league and the big professionalscene.
So that's why we decided to do,yeah, Hardcore Up and Coming,
which is for the fresh people.
fresh faced new amateurs and thedance divisions.
That's kind of how thatdeveloped.
And it was quite successful lastyear.
So we're going for round twothis year.
So we'll see how we go.
(16:32):
Is dance division is just justdancing, no tricks?
Yeah, so like we incorporatetricks but mainly base work and
like lower thirds.
So like you don't need to get upand do big combos and stuff.
I mean you can but you're notreally going to get scored on it
because it's not part of thecriteria.
It's more just you can dancebarefoot, heels, like whatever
you like and just introducing,yeah, like some base work, lower
(16:57):
third type stuff.
So, yeah.
Love it.
For those who don't know whatlower third is.
The bottom third of the pole.
So if you cut the pole intothree sections, top, middle,
bottom, it's the bottom one.
I don't know.
(17:18):
Some people might not know.
Well, that's right.
And is that amateur and semi-prothat get to do that as well as
the regular criteria?
So there's two differentdivisions?
Yes.
I didn't know.
different divisions yes sothey're different divisions and
they have slightly different umeligibility criteria so the
(17:39):
amateur division is obviouslyfor brand new amateurs so if
you've done hardcore in sydneyyou can't do up and coming
SPEAKER_01 (17:46):
but
SPEAKER_00 (17:47):
with dance division we have different eligibility
depending on what they've donebecause we haven't really
counted pole comp so much inthat criteria like because it's
very different dance it's verydifferent yeah poll so like
they're separate they haveseparate criterias yes and
they're judged separately so whocan end off the top of my head
(18:10):
criteria basically anyone likefor the dance division anyone
who hasn't done exogen in any ofthe professional divisions can
pretty much enter and then withthe amateur division anyone who
hasn't um competed at anynational sort of level
(18:30):
competitions and then there's acouple of other comps we've
pretty much listed all the compsyou can and can't have competed
in or placed in to make itreally really clear because now
there's so many comps it's hardto kind of follow oh if i've
done this can i do this if i'vedone that so yeah like out i
have to look at the criteriait's like damn And Kim and Uni,
(18:55):
have you competed in hardcore?
And if you have, how is yourexperience doing that?
SPEAKER_01 (19:02):
Uni, do you want to go first?
UNKNOWN (19:07):
Go first.
Okay, no worries.
SPEAKER_01 (19:09):
So, oh gosh, when did I first compete, Dani?
This was like, so I did my firstpub comp, right?
And that was the one we weretalking about before, which was
in Newcastle.
And that was more just...
for the first, I guess,experience for me to be on stage
and perform because I'd neverdone anything like that before.
And then I think a couple ofmonths later I did Hardcore when
it was first running or maybethe second year.
I can't actually remember fromthe top of my head.
(19:31):
And then I think in that it waslike my first experience on this
big stage and it was awesome.
Like not only was it run reallyprofessionally, really smooth in
terms of the whole night, it wasalso just I think the
environment backstage, everyonewas really friendly and it felt
like a really nice community.
And I think that's one thingthat I love about hardcore.
(19:51):
It's still the same way now aswell.
And to be fair in quite a lot ofcomps these days too, it's
everyone's just kind of likethere to do their own thing.
Everyone's really sort of likewelcoming and friendly and
everyone's always willing tohelp is something I've noticed
too, which is really lovely.
So yeah, my couple ofexperiences, I only did hardcore
twice and then Danny was like,no, not allowed back.
(20:13):
You're a professional now.
I was like, please, Jenny, can'tyou create a pro division?
She wrote.
No.
No, she wrote.
And all my experiences wereamazing.
Even helping backstage I reallyenjoyed too.
SPEAKER_00 (20:29):
So did you win, Kim, hardcore?
Is that why you weren't?
SPEAKER_01 (20:33):
No.
So what happened was I camethird, I think, in the first
year.
And then when I did semi-pro,after competing, I think I did
New South Wales PoleChampionships not long after
that.
And then that was as amateur.
And because I won that, Icouldn't go back into amateur.
So then in semi-pro, I think Icame, I didn't, maybe semi-pro.
I can't remember.
I should know this.
SPEAKER_00 (20:55):
I should know
SPEAKER_01 (20:55):
this.
Because you placed?
Is that why?
I placed.
But then I also got into MissPole Dance Australia for the
first time.
So then that bumped me right upinto pro.
And I think, yeah,
SPEAKER_00 (21:06):
quickly.
That's what happens when you'regood.
Do you think that like havingthat hardcore stage experience
prepared you for things thatwere to come later, like having
the opportunity to compete at anamateur level, but on a big
(21:27):
stage in a professionalenvironment, prepared you for
those comps that you then wenton to do later.
SPEAKER_01 (21:33):
100%.
You know what, honestly,reflecting back on it, if I had
have just gone straight into NewSouth Wales Pole Championships
without that experience, I thinkI would have been quite like, I
think because the competition,the title is so big as well.
In my head, it probably wouldhave like made me a little bit
more nervous than how I felt.
So it was a good way to kind oflike dip my toes in a little bit
(21:53):
and go like, this is kind ofwhat to expect.
And then I'm really glad I did.
Then I came to New South WalesPole Championships, even bigger
theatre, even bigger crowdbecause it had high capacity.
And I was like, well, like thisis intense and scary, but I'm
really glad that I had a bit ofthat exposure up front.
SPEAKER_00 (22:10):
And you said that you hadn't performed before.
Is that so you don't you had noexperience performing before
pole dancing?
SPEAKER_01 (22:19):
Nothing.
I had no dance background.
So dance is all like brand newto me.
Even just winning like an awardin dance for Icon blew my mind.
Like last year, I was like, I'ma dancer now, apparently.
um but yeah so none none of thatlike on stage experience
actually first time was uh withpole all my background is in
(22:41):
gymnastics so there is stillsome sort of like you know
crossover there um but nothingactually on stage and performing
to like a large group of people
SPEAKER_00 (22:50):
wow amazing you're just a natural darn it thanks
felix i figured she'd just beentraining her whole life Have you
done hardcore, Uni?
I have.
I've competed in hardcore fortwo years, so last year and
2023.
Yeah, she's the only one that'swon both titles.
(23:15):
That's back, right?
Oh, sorry, no, incorrect.
Second person that's won bothtitles.
Who was the other one?
Tiffany Grace, apparently.
We should know, really,shouldn't we?
I mean, yeah, I should know allthis, but I don't know 11 years.
I don't know what I'm doingyesterday.
(23:37):
You're pregnant, aren't you,Dani?
Yeah.
Yeah, well, how do you rememberanything?
Can we just tell the wholeworld?
Not a secret.
I'm 20 weeks.
Oh, congratulations.
I am so out of the woods.
Maybe I should know, but Ididn't.
I'm so happy for you.
Yeah.
(23:58):
It's like the best and worstthing you'll ever do.
Okay.
Do you think that, so hang on,hang on, hang on, hang on.
Okay.
I've already prefaced that I'mout of the loop.
You did, you did hardcoreamateur in 2022, three.
(24:21):
Yeah.
Then you did hardcore semi-pro.
In 2024.
And then you did Miss Pole DanceAustralia.
Yes, in 2024.
So you went amateur 2023,semi-pro 2024, winner, winner,
and then winner pro comp 2024.
(24:45):
So, yeah, New South Wales firstrun up and then Miss Pole Dance
Australia, yeah, winner.
Winner, yeah.
UNKNOWN (24:52):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00 (24:52):
That was fast.
Two minutes.
Yeah, that was fast.
Have you got any danceperformance background?
I have a very strong ballet,contemporary, jazz and
commercial dance backgroundbecause I started dancing and
competing like around sevenyears old.
(25:15):
Yeah.
So that really helped me.
understand how to prepare for acomp, how to choreograph and all
that jazz.
And how long, when did you startpole dancing?
July, 2020.
So then three years, then youstarted just wiping the floor
with everyone.
(25:36):
You were like, I'm just going toget quite good at this.
Again, I'm pretty good.
And then I'm just going to wipethe floor with everyone.
You guys both actually gotreally, really good, really,
really quickly.
I mean, dance really helped me,like all the training that I've
done because I was a two-timedancer at Bread Street and I've
(26:00):
just been dancing like beforeschool, after school.
So all that that I did helped mea lot, like a lot when I started
to compete.
Yeah.
Yeah, it is important, I think,to say that, like, you haven't
just been training for threeyears.
You've been training.
And same with Kim.
(26:21):
Like, you have the gymnasticbackground that translates very
well.
And while they are differentthings, and I'm not saying that
you guys are only good at poledancing because you have that
training behind you, it helps somuch to understand the body once
you've had that rigoroustechnical training to, like,
transfer over to the pole.
(26:41):
Do you think there is anybenefit in people who are
polling first, maybe withoutthat background, the dance
background, the jazz background?
Do you think there's any benefitto them maybe cross training
with either dance or gymnasticswhen they start later?
Or do you think that advantagecan only be had if you have it
like when you're a child?
SPEAKER_01 (27:01):
I feel like I always believe in cross training just
because I think it helps createbalance and it also avoids
injuries.
So whether that's like trainingwith like Pilates, gym, any sort
of movement that's a bitdifferent, I think it's always
really good.
But I do see a lot of benefit interms of like any other sort of
I guess, style that helps youbuild body awareness because
that's so hard.
(27:21):
My gosh, I think that is onething that's really hard to
learn is kind of when you'reupside down, what am I actually
doing here because you get sodisorientated.
So, yeah, I mean, personally forme I see a huge advantage to
doing that.
Yeah.
I would agree on that
SPEAKER_00 (27:36):
one
SPEAKER_01 (27:36):
too.
SPEAKER_00 (27:38):
Always cross train.
Always.
I agree too.
I agree with myself.
What would you like to say toAustralia about hardcore and
about coming?
I know there's no live streamthis year.
Tell us a little bit about whyyou've chosen no live stream.
(28:00):
I reckon I probably know.
Tell us about that and why theyshould come and watch.
Okay.
And before we start...
where they can get tickets,where the event is, and your
time and date and everything, sodetail specifics so that we can
(28:22):
say it and then type it and thenmaybe link it as well.
Elle, can you do that?
I don't know.
Yeah, mate, sure.
If you can't, you need to figureit out, right?
I don't know how to do it.
Oh, Elle, I don't know whatyou're doing.
So Hardcore is next Saturdaynight, which is on the 17th of
(28:43):
May.
It's in New South Wales, Sydney.
So it's at the Hornsby RSL Club.
Tickets are on sale directlythrough the Hornsby RSL Club.
So you can just jump online andbuy your tickets.
It's all general admin tickets.
So there's all tables that youcan sit on.
And basically, it's not just apoll comp.
(29:05):
It's a night where where youcan...
watch amazing talent from aroundAustralia in both semi-pro and
amateur divisions.
We also have food and drinksbecause you're on tables, so you
can buy food, you can buydrinks, and of course, you can
do some pole shopping.
So it's a big night out.
(29:25):
It's great to get a couple ofyour friends together, family,
studios to get groups togetherand come and support the
industry.
So yeah, that's pretty much whatHardcore is all about.
So if you want to come.
You've still got a week to buytickets.
And the reason why we don't dolive stream and we never, ever
(29:46):
have ever done live stream, andI never will, is because you
just don't get the same effectwatching live stream.
Like it's just, it just doesn'ttranslate the same.
Like you've got to be there.
You've got to feel it.
You've got to see it.
You've got to have that vibe.
So that's why we never do livestream.
I know it's hard because we havea lot of people obviously from
(30:08):
interstate.
So their friends and family, youknow, sometimes always can't fly
down to see them.
But we do some social mediasnippets and things like that.
But yeah, I just find withvideos, live stream, especially
you just don't get the same.
the same feel and the sameeffects.
That's why we never do it,unfortunately.
Especially with like a one-offevent, you know, it's not
(30:30):
like...
It's not like this thing isrunning for six weeks and you're
doing the same show over andover again.
Like this is the one time you'regoing to see it.
It's like a once in a lifetimeopportunity to go and see this
event.
Like go see it with youreyeballs.
I can't say enough about goingand seeing things live.
Everybody who is in thevicinity, go out and get your
tickets because there's so muchinspiration and energy that you
(30:52):
can't feel when you don't seethese performers live and they
do such an amazing, incredible,beautiful job.
So I hope everybody on thatstage has a fabulous time.
I I wish all the best for yourevent and I hope it's super
wonderful.
I just want to add into thecompetitors themselves, they
absolutely thrive off thecheering and the atmosphere as
(31:12):
well.
So it's like the more people wehave cheering for them, the
better they're going to feel andthe more they can just blow
everybody away.
So, yeah, I really want that forthe competitors too because,
yeah, they feed off that energy.
And they deserve it as well.
They put so much work into it,you know.
So if you're going, make twotimes the noise of a normal
(31:33):
person and if you're not going,go and make two times the noise
of a normal person.
Yeah, and I'd just like to saysomething to the Pulse studios
that have a student or aninstructor in there, it is such
a big thing for you to go andsupport them and to watch them
and cheer for them.
(31:53):
They will perform differentlywhen they have people in the
audience that's their specialpeople.
I know everyone's going to cheerfor them, but when a pole studio
goes and supports them, it'sreally great for the studio as
well because they get to go witha group of people outside of a
class, socialise, and then goand watch something that they
all love and support somebodyfrom their studio.
(32:13):
So if you do have a student oran instructor in there, it's
such a great thing to go as astudio together and go and watch
them and cheer them on.
It's just so much fun.
I have been to a hardcore whenI've had my girls in it one
year.
And the really good thing, Ithink, about a hardcore that I
noticed running 1,000 compsmyself that's very different is
(32:37):
that The venue that it's in, youget to go and you can go and,
you know, eat dinner and there'sall like little restaurants and
all little places that you cango before and afterwards and
have a drink and catch up withpeople.
So you've got that and then whenyou're in there, it's just a
really nice sort of differentatmosphere because there's big
round tables and you get to talkto people around your table
(32:58):
rather than sitting in atheatre.
So it is quite different in thatway and it's just such a nice,
fun night.
So go and watch them.
Thank you.
Go and watch.
Everybody go and watch.
Thank you, guys.
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