And the pole dancing addiction begins ...

Today I took my first turn at the pole at S Factor with my partner-in-crime, Kate. We only learned the firefly, but I must say, it was an incredibly liberating and exhilarating feeling to take a spin around that pole! 

The S Factor Intro class is definitely a great way to start one's exploration of pole dancing, especially if you've got some inhibition to shed. I danced ballet and jazz, and was a cheerleader for a chunk of my life so I'm not exactly shy. But this is still an entirely different way to move and takes some getting used to. The setting is perfect: the lights are dimmed way low and there are no mirrors so you can't catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and get a sudden attack of self-consciousness.

We started with stretching and strengthening exercises on the mat. I thought it was clever how they pretty much trick you into doing some core exercises based on Pilates but make you feel sensual doing it. I almost burst out laughing at one point though when Barbara had us doing this move when you're down on all fours, slowly raising your bum up the air without lifting your chest from the floor. She looked smoking hot while doing it but I almost ate it at the mat and hit my nose in the process. Yes, I'm in need of a lot more practice.

They also taught us how to do "the walk", which was fun and sexy for the first minute. But after awhile I guess I lost my rhythm and started to get wobbly, and I had to stop from bursting into hysterics. It was fun to rehash that with Kate all afternoon over beers, but I don't think I can or should "unleash" my stripper walk on the world just yet.

The most fun part is, of course, the actual pole dancing part. We learned the firefly, which  consists of swinging your leg to hook the pole in front, and with that momentum you somehow go airborne and twirl around the pole, hopefully slowly and gracefully to the ground. It was a really fun move, and I wish we could've done more but that was the extent of pole-dancing for the intro. 

The last part of the class was a routine that involved some shimmying against a wall and actual crawling on the floor, which I must admit gave me a Little Miss Sunshine flashback for a second. But in all, it was very fun and definitely liberating to let go of inhibitions and, let's be honest, slut it up.

The instructors, Maggie and Barbara, ended the class by doing some amazing routines. Maggie impressed me because she was quite heavily pregnant but still spinning around that pole like she was weightless (On a side note, what is it about pregnant women showing me up these days? Last week it was Paula Radcliffe running like the wind, this week it's Maggie floating like a feather while I clomped around like an elephant). Barbara was just breathtaking. She is so amazingly sexy, graceful and athletic, and I have to say seeing her dance today is a major motivator for me to keep on learning pole dancing. Plus I wanna have this amazing assuredness and confidence that she has, which only comes when you're pretty much sex on legs like she is.

As much as I loved my S Factor class though, I can't find it in me (or in my bank account) to cough up $440 for 8 classes. I just really can't justify that price in my head. I know the classes are for 2 hours per session, which is longer than most classes offered in the city. But I'm really more interested in the pole dance part of it, so I could do without the first hour of booty shaking. It was great to do the intro (especially because I only paid $20 rather than the normal $40 price, thanks to Groupon) but I'll shop around before I even entertain the thought of taking more S Factor classes.

Next Friday I'll have my first of two intro pole dance classes with New York Pole Dancing. We'll see how that goes! But I'm pretty sure, today's class is just the first of many, many, many more to come.