Weekend Crush: Michelle Stanek

I think after having Michelle Stanek's All the Time routine stuck in my head all this week it's time to make her my Weekend Crush! If you haven't seen it yet you are way overdue. And if you have seen it, I think you could use another look at her effortless standing splits at about 1:28. Just saying.

 

I know I just said sexy dance is not my style but this is really making me want to put in the work to dance like this. Michelle nails some crazy impressive and sultry moves. Of the sexy pole dancers out there she's the first to make me want to become her. Maybe that has a bit to do with said standing split.

Then, too--doesn't she look exactly like JJ from Criminal Minds here? My brain just jumped to JJ and Prentiss doing pole doubles. This needs to happen!

I am going to have my work cut out to nail any one of her moves. The standing split is going on my wishlist yesterday along with whatever that black magic is at :34. This may just be the motivation I need to get to my ab work after I have my baby. At least I can keep working on my splits in the meantime! I'm sure it helps that she has been dancing since she was a child. She definitely has great timing in all her performances and beautiful artistry from dance. Then on top of that all the sexy? An absolute dream.

Weekend Crush: Kenneth Kao, DC

He teaches Kung Fu, practices chiropractic medicine, and oh yeah, there's that bit where he jumped from one pole to another at this year's Pole Expo. If you are a pole dancer you have definitely heard the litany: Do NOT jump into moves! This is true for those of us that are risking injury by compensating a lack of strength with momentum--in his case his strength gives him the control to pull off such an insane move. Don't blink, it happens around 0:45. And yes, this is one of those video I recommend clicking the gear and choosing HD!




I found this awesome video on NinaReed.com. Coolest part? He's actually one of her pole instructors! Dr. Kenneth Kao is an instructor at Vertical Fusion Boulder. I can't imagine taking instruction from him, wow! Or even better, following the recommendation on his practice's site, "Anyone is welcome to fly him out to location for specialized care or instruction, or just for fun!" I'm adding that to my list of ways to spend my money when I win the lottery. I can dream!

As if that wasn't enough Kenneth Kao is also a published writer and loves to learn about the human condition. The English nerd in me is all sorts of happy knowing this. It seems to me that pole dance tends to go with intellectual awesomenes; there must be something to that. In fact, I am certain of it and will be posting some of my findings to that effect soon! Check out links to his Dr. Kao's published works on his personal blog, The Chaos of Balance.

Weekend Crush: Missy Franklin

I normally do not get into the Olympics, other than my love of figure skating, so this week's Weekend Crush is a little different for me. What's so special about Missy Franklin? For one her awesome performance in the 100 m dash even though she started out behind. Also, how cute is she in the US Olympic swimming team's Call Me Maybe parody? (below)

So Dancers are NOT Athletes?

I was watching an episode of Rizzoli and Isles when Frost makes a comment about contemporary dancers not being athletes! Rizzoli, who studied ballet as a child, says they are just as athletic as figure skaters--prompting an eyebrow raise from Frost. He affirms, however, that golfers and even bowlers are athletes.  I love Rizzoli's response: she says something like, "but a ten year old with a six pack is not an athlete??"

So dancers are not athletes??

Ballerinas, for example, devote their lives from a young age to ballet, building incredible strength, flexibility, and agility. It is a physically demanding undertaking, altering (disfiguring) their feet and subjecting them to serious injury. Those airy leaps? They take immense muscular strength and control. Not just anyone has the persistence and dedication ballet takes--which make it sound suspiciously like a sport, doesn't it?

"Kelli" (c) mkd.
Used under Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution License

Figure skaters, especially with the change in the scoring system, are required to perform athletic leaps and present program elements such as complex footwork sequences. Anyone who says figure skating is not athletic need only check out the muscle tone on then nearest figure skater. Have you ever seen a figure skater without incredible abs?

I get as tired as a piece of lettuce in the sun from hearing that pole dance is not athletic. Some spiritual yoga article or a person hearing about pole dance for the first time (for the first time out of the context of some sleazy show) is always making some comment about "draping on a pole."

But what does "athlete" imply?

To some degree, maybe we don't want to be called athletes. Take a look at how figure skating has changed since the scoring system went from a more qualitative system to a rigid quantitative system requiring certain jumps--some would argue (like me) that it has taken some of the art out of skating. I have heard some talk among pole dancers that the scoring systems are changing in pole as well, and in the same direction. When a dancer or figure skater has to fill a time slot performing almost entirely acrobatic stunts, when can she or he fit in the art? When does it go from an artistic sport to a twitchy, trickster display?

To me the answer is that we can be athletic and also be dancers. It's about recognition. We know our dance is special, emotional--and yes, athletic. It would just be nice to hear it too, rather than be looked down on. In the end all we can do is believe in ourselves and in each other and let the world decide to catch up.