Upcoming Competitions: PoleCandy, Pole Princess, & APDC

Competition season is nearly here and it's kicked off with Mona Vale Hotel's Miss Pole Princess 2011. Heats start on February 17 with your chance to enter in either of the three divisions; Amateur, Professional and Doubles (I'm not sure whether Doubles can be mixed but I'm assuming not based on the title...). The final will be held on March 10. For entry details contact Rebecca on 9999 4214 or promotions@monavalehotel.com.au; entries close February 14.

Suzie Q Pole Studio, in conjunction with RedHotPie will debut a whole new level in pole competiti with the launch of PoleCandy Semi-Pro Championship!

PoleCandy Semi-Pro Championship is a great opportunity if your thinking about entering Miss Pole Dance Australia or the Asia-Pacific Pole Dance Championships but don't feel ready yet. The criteria to entering is simple, you must not have competed in or qualified for a national or international competition. The competition is open to both males and females, and there will be a Doubles Division provided there are enough entrants. True to form, PoleCandy is judged on the ability to perform a "Pole Show", not just putting on a costume and doing tricks.

PoleCandy Semi-Pro Championship will be held on April 10, 2011 at the Albion Hotel in Parramatta. Tickets are $35 pre-sale and $40 on the door, contact (02) 9687 6663 or info@suzieqpolestudio.com.au for sales. For entry details head to www.polecandy.com.au. Be sure not to miss this great event; there will be performances by Miss Pole Dance QLD, Chelle and the notorious YouTube superstar Bad Azz!

Finally, the Asia-Pacific Pole Dance Championships (APDC) 2011 are just around the corner! Entries have opened for the video heats and close April 18, 2011; entry payment ($30) and forms must be submitted by March 25, 2011. This year the Championships will be held in Sydney at Luna Park on June 24 and 25, 2011, with promises that scouts from NICA and Cirque De Soleil will be attending! For details on entering APDC 2011 head to australianpoledance.com.

Happy training!

Felix Cane, Sexpo Pole Competition, and the APDC DVD Launch!

You'd have to be living under one big rock if your even somewhat remotely interested in pole dancing to not know that Felix Cane successfully defender her title and is the World Champion 2010, winning the World Pole Sport and Fitness Championship over the weekend. If you haven't already seen her performance, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rO_9wLHdj0

If one day you hope to be the next Felix Cane then why don't you start your competition career at the Sexpo Pole Competition! Here are all the details for the Sydney heats over October 14 to 17:

Thursday HEATS @ 4.15
Saturday HEATS @ 3.15
Sunday FINALS @ 6.15

- Maximum 4 people per heat
- Routines to be between 2-2.5 minutes
- Bring your own music on CD (with name clearly written on it) or DJ can play from play-list

Judging Criteria

* Performers will be judged on four categories giving a total of 30 points.

The categories are: Presentation (5), Execution (10), Dance (10) and Stage Presence (5).

o Presentation refers to the performer's costume, theme and interpretation of theme/music,
o Execution refers to ability of the performer to execute her pole tricks flawlessly,
o Dance refers to the performer's ability to connect pole moves and also perform away from the pole,
o Stage Presence refers to the performer’s "X-Factor" - did the performance grab the attention of the audience?

* The winner is not necessarily the one who can perform the best pole moves, but rather who can perform the best Pole Show. This allows for Beginners to compete against more Advanced pole dancers

* Entrants may not communicate with members of the judging panel before or during the competition.

Winner receives return flights and accommodation to compete in Melbourne Sexpo to compete in the Sexpo National Pole Competition finals on November 28th PLUS hundreds of dollars worth of prizes and goodies from our lovely sponsors.

Contact Nat at Girlfriend Fun and Fitness/Pure Pole Academy to enter
Email- info@purepoleacademy.com
Mobile- 0410809149

If however you'd rather be a spectator than a competitor, the Asia-Pacific Pole Dance Championships 2010 DVD is due for release on Monday October 11! This one and a half hour DVD includes features such as the 2009 APD Fuel TV Fox Sports special if you missed it when it was on earlier this year, and also special guest performances from the night!

To order your copy go to www.australianpoledance.com

Miss Pole Dance Australia 2011 Teaser

To get you just that little bit more excited about Miss Pole Dance Australia 2011, which is only a few weeks away, here are some of the competitors! More to come!

Chelle: Miss Pole Dance Queensland 2011



Miss Filly (VIC)



Lou (VIC)



Fontaine (VIC)

One Down, One To Go!

Last Saturday, pole dancers around the Asia Pacific, including Japan and Thailand, competed for the first time at the Asia Pacific Pole Dance Championships 2010 in Brisbane.

The Championships was a huge success and showcased some amazing upcoming pole dancers, especially the "Felix like" Nadia from New Zealand who took out the title for the Womens Freestyle. There was even a successful proposal by the Sponsors Choice Open Pairs, Masayo and Kazuya!

The APDC is the rival to Miss Pole Dance Australia even though neither organisation would see themselves as such because of how vastly different the two competitions are and rightly so.

APD has focused on making pole dancing mainstream by emphasising pole dancing as a sport. The APDC included four different divisions, Freestyles Mens, Open Pairs, Freestlye Womens, and Classic. The Classic division (won by moi!) is the most "family friendly", akin to a gymnastics competition with required moves, a timed aerial combination and restrictions on music and costume. The Mens Freestyle division was the most popular, with women screaming their heads off and offering to have the children of title winner Dunk-One. The Open Pairs division was a close follower in the popularity stakes with the debut of Allure (Miss Suzie Q and Toby J) in their first competition and likely to be their last - at least until 2012 - as they took home one of the four titles won by Suzie Q Pole Studio.

In contrast, MPDA, which is open only to women and only has one costume restriction that being mandatory high heels and no boots, attracts a more "traditional" style of pole dancing. MPDA has helped to launch the international pole careers of some the world's best pole dancers and undoubtedly continues to set a new standard of pole in the international community.

So with one competition down there's one to go and I'm glad to say that I'm not in it!

This year is going to be BIG with the best pole dancers in Australia competing against one another to go to the Worlds. The dancers to beat this year are undoubtedly Felix Caine, Miss Suzie Q and Chelle - see why I'm glad I'm not in it!

Felix is obviously going to bring her famous Spatchcock, perfect Ballerina and hopefully her new combo that she hinted to on facebook, to the stage.

Miss Suzie Q, who won Miss Pole Dance NSW again, will be hard to beat with her polished style and endlessly entertaining performances.

However, Chelle is the one to look out for! You've probably already seen Chelle and her guns on Australia's Got Talent as one of the Pure Pole Angels, and if you have you know that she's going to show off some of the most death defying tricks, combining both strength and flexibility.

If you haven't already got your tickets for MPDA you've probably already missed out! These tickets sell out in days so be quick and go to Ticketek because this year is probably going to see the best performances so far in the MPDA history!

Asia Pacific Pole Dance Championships 2010

I woke up this morning with a surprise waiting for me in my inbox, an entry form for the APD Championships 2010!

You'll probably know this competition better by its former name, the Australian Pole Dance Championships. This year the APD founders have opened up the competition to the entire Asia Pacific (a list of the eligible countries can be found on the APD website) after numerous requests from overseas pole dancers to enter. Personally, I think it would have been better if the former title was kept, and the new competition was held for the winners of the country championships, but maybe that's just me trying to make the odds better for Australia. ;)

The change in name also raises the question as to whether the title holders of the APDC 2009 are able to compete this year for the new Asia Pacific title. I've yet to put this issue to APD representatives but as soon as I found out, as your trusty Agent Pole!, I'll be sure to keep you up to date!

The APD Championships is Australia's second and latest national pole competition. It was created with the objective to provide a transparent and unbiased competition, and to cater for the transformation of pole dancing, which has seen new styles evolve such as circus pole (don't confuse this style of pole with Chinese Pole despite it being the main source of inspiration). This is also the first pole competition which provides a forum for the increasingly growing number of male pole dancers to compete! Fear not ladies, you won't have to compete against the inherent strength of men, they have their own Freestyle Pole Men's division, that is unless your competing in the Open Pairs division. Last year, this division saw both men and women pole dancers compete against each other for the first time, and ladies I'm happy to say that we came out on top with SQPS instructors, Stacey and Zahra Stardust, taking out the title!

A change in name isn't the only change that's been made as the APD founders continue to teak this competition, which sees 2010 only the second time it's held. Again, the location of the competition has changed, which will remain as a changing feautre of the competition with the motivation to provide a fair and accessible competition. A few changes have also been made to the former Pure Pole division, the gymnastics styled competition for pole trixters. This division basically judges competitiors on their pole skills, tricks and technique, hence in 2009 the genre for music was set, competitiors were only allowed to wear a conversative black outfit and were prohibited from wearing stripper shoes. This year all remains the same except there is no longer an imposed set genre for music, it only needs to be instrumental, and name of the title. This division will be now known as Classic Pole, which again raises the issue of whether last year's title holder, Bailey from Pol-arise, will be able to compete. One change I hope that is made next year, is the addition to the now one static pole that competitors compete on, is a second spinning pole with a required spin combination to be judged.

The final major changes to the championships are the heats and finals process. Last year heats were held in Melbourne a day or two before the finals. This year, in response to a survey carried out by the APD, entrants will be able to submit a video entry for the heats with the finals to be held in Brisbane on the 28th of August.

The APD Championships is focused on providing a fair competition and I think the founders achieved this last year. With the changes made to this years' competition, not only will it be fair but it will also be more accessible. However, the most advantageous features of the APD Championships are the occasion to network and meet fellow pole dancers across the Asia Pacific, and the opportunity to take part in seminars and developmental workshops.

For more details on the APD Championships 2010 visit http://www.australianpoledance.com/