Quick Update

Hello

Well I hope your New Year resolutions are going well if you made any and that you're all getting back into your training nicely after the break.

I'm trying to find time to keep up my own practise and managed to make it in to the latest pole jam. Tamar, Sam and I all achieved some new moves - and paid for it by aching for about 3 days afterwards! Here's a picture of me doing a Teddy Variation!

I'm in overseeing the next jam this Sunday 24th from 3-5pm so hopefully will see some of you then. Remember if you take out our 30 day membership at just £32 a month you get one of these sessions absolutely free and is only £5 for non members - bargain and a great opportunity to have a play around on the poles. (For full details of terms and conditions for the jam and memberships check out our website and you can also pay on line).

I'm looking forward to Exeter tonight as I have my lovely ladies in who I know are looking forward to more planks, shoulder mounts, yogini, teddy..to name but a few evil moves!. I've also tweaked my new fun and energetic warm up seeing as last week's was such a success and my girlies on Thursday loved it so ...so watch out for those grapevines!

I have some new ladies joining me tonight as well so I am looking forward to welcoming them all to the class and introducing them to the wonderful world of pole dancing. Don't worry if you're reading this and are new...I'll be gentle with you and guide you through an introduction to different aspects of fitness pole ...you'll love it!

I won't be in on Thursday as I'm away training in Gatwick all week so I'm leaving my students in the capable hands of the lovely Tamar.

Have fun ladies and I'll catch up with you at the jam or my classes next week.

xxxx

P. S Big hug to Sam's Mum. xxx

Happy New Year!

Happy New year and Hello lovely people..can you guess what my new year resolution is!!!!! Start of a new year so thought I"d make a fresh start on my blogging!

It's been so long since my last update I'm not going to try and recount the last few months other than that I'd like to thank everyone again for all the flowers, get well cards and wishes from everyone when I was really poorly for a few months. It really knocked me for six at the time and took me several months to get back into the swing of things but thankfully I'm all fully recovered. A big thanks to all my lovely fellow instructors who covered my classes and in particular to Sam for looking after all the Exeter girlies.

I hope you all had a chance to get some well earned rest and enjoy the festive season and indulge in the extra odd chocolate or two! Mine was a bit different this year as my brother has recently just moved to Amsterdam with his job and is permanently living out there so for a treat to each other Steve and I decided to spend a couple of days with him over Xmas and Mum was also able to make it out there. It all worked out really well as we flew out on Xmas eve and woke on Xmas day to find it snowing quite heavily. We all made our way in the snow to the oldest cinema in Amsterdam to watch a Christmas Carol in 3D and then trudged back in what had by then had sadly turned to rain and washed most of the snow away! We then spent the rest of the day working out how to cook the turkey in the convection oven - it looked a bit like a "boil in the bag turkey" going round but it came out spot on and my brother did us a fabulous dinner. We then proceeded to have rather a few too many beverages in front of the tele for the rest of the eve. Here is a picture of us in front of my brother's tree that had been an item on my Mum's "to do" list when she'd arrived earlier in the week.

Well if like most of us tomorrow 4th January is your first day back at work - may I wish you well and hope it's not too stressful. I'm looking forward to it as January will be a busy month with my main job and I'm very much looking forward to getting back into Pole and working off that Xmas excess!! I'm also back in Exeter tomorrow at Sweat and Stretch from 7.15pm for the first Monday of 2010 so am looking forward to seeing many of my lovely loyal and fabulously hard working Exeter ladies as well as welcoming lots of new faces to the class.

I'm also back in for my usual Thursday night in the Plymouth studio so will catch you then and I'm hoping to get a few more choreographed routines together to teach you all during the year.

Take Care and Happy New Year!

xxxx

Ciara & JT Routine

Hi Guys

Just a very quick blog from me as I thought you'd like to see the routine from Friday night. The girls did a really good job as you will see with only a few prompts from me.  I'm sure I'll get a chance to teach this another time for those of you who weren't able to make it in this time.

As you'll see Sam has been busy busy trying to get the second studio ready. Unfortunately I didn't make it in on Sat to help out so I'm sure Sam will have lined up some suitable punishment for me!!! Not for a lack of wanting to but like Sam I am snowed with my work commitments and am also away most of this week in Wolverhampton so time is just escaping me. It also means I'm not in this Thursday for my normal teaching night so Sam will be beasting you all. 

In fact I'm not in for the Thursday after as again this year I'm representing the Art of Dance at the Run to the Sun festival in Newquay over the May Bank holiday weekend. The pole dancing was so well received last year that Nixi and I had already been pre booked but as you all know poor Nixi is still nursing her dislocated knee so isn't able to join me. The lovely Hayley though will be making her debut there so we're frantically trying to get costumes and bits organised for the festival and will be heading to rehearsals a week on Thursday. It should be a good weekend although sadly the actual event seems to be less about VWs now but the evening entertainment and show is always a good spectacle.

Hopefully I'll catch up with you all in Plymouth soon or at some of the rehearsals for the 7th June event. Sam is quite right that we're all feeling the pressure. I'm busy at work, my weekends are full with gigs, kids and family commitments, away for a 10th wedding anniversary party so I'm rapidly running out of any spare time to put a routine together and still haven't yet finalised what I'm dancing to. Hopefully in between my manic lifestyle I"ll find some time to pull it all together. I'm really looking forward to it as should be a great show from both the instructors and students and a great night out so if you want to come get a ticket soon as they're selling fast.

Ta ta from me now and will keep you posted how things are working out.

xxxx

Sadness and More Farm Antics

I'm starting my blog on a sad note as I attended a funeral of my DJ friend LLoyd Williams last Friday 24th April in Bodmin. I'd worked with LLoydie for 4 years in my dancing days at Destiny and was shocked by such tragic news of his death from a car accident. LLoydie was only 34 - a couple of months older than me it's hard to understand and take it in that suddenly he is no longer with us. He was a fabulous DJ, well respected and liked by all and this was so apparent at his funeral. Being a massive Liverpool fan we were all asked to wear either the football shirt or red and white and so many of LLoydie's friends and family turned up to give the "big man" a great send off. We went in to Rock DJ and went out on Littlest Hobo being the song he so often used to play out at the end of many a DJ night. The service was a fitting send off and his Mum and his family did him proud. My love and wishes are with all his family for losing such a great person with an infectious smile and laugh. Here is a great photo of just that smile... Rest in Peace LLoyd.

Well if you have read Sam's blog you will have seen we all had a trip to the farm last Saturday. I won't blog too much on this as Sam's blog filled you in with most of the antics and I know Sam is dying to add more photos and some clips of the falconry display that I managed to take. It was a fabulous excuse to be a big kid for the day and relax and enjoy some well earned time out with the rest of the Art of Dance team. We all had such a laugh and I'm sure the animals breathed a big sigh of relief when we left them in peace for the day. I'd had such a good time there though that I couldn't resist going back for a second time with Steve and his kids this bank holiday weekend making use of the vouchers Mark at Pennywell had kindly given us.

We'd obviously made an impression!!!! as he remembered us and had read Sam's blog so a big Hi to Mark and the team if you're reading this. 

Since the Art of Dance had visited the week before there had been some new additions to the farm - namely some gorgeous guinea pigs and some kids. Here are some photos of these. 

Sam I think we should have one of these babies as our new Art of Dance pet?!!!

The kids were so cute and there was also a tiny grey and white one fast asleep in one to the corners.

I'm pleased to report the piglet was still going strong and had grown slightly since we last saw him which was good news since he lost his brothers and sisters to a virus. Steve's children Morgan and Zoe really enjoyed their trip to the farm especially feeding the orphaned kids and lambs. Much to their amusement when we had fed our kid in it's pen and then cuddled a lamb, when we popped him back into his pen we discovered I'd managed to pick up the biggest and fattest one there!

Once again we were treated to a fantastic falconry display which was really spectacular as being a lovely sunny day we got to watch this outside with the amazing views for a back drop. I managed to get the barn owl in flight and the little kestrel was just as vocal as he had been the week before. Even the peacocks decided to treat us to a bit of a display.

Well we had to say goodbye to the farm but I'm sure we'll all be back at some point to see how all the animals are getting on. The rest of my bank holiday weekend was pretty chilled. Steve's best mate's birthday was on Saturday so we all met up for his annual beach get together on Sunday. We were hoping for a lovely sunny day and although it was, it was also a bit nippy when the sun disappeared behind the clouds and there was a fair wind. Despite the mile trek down to the beach with all our bits and pieces and forgetting the BBQ to cook our burgers on! we still had a very enjoyable afternoon. (We didn't starve as fortunately someone else was more organised than us and we got to use theirs and there was plenty of other food all round). It's hard work relaxing you know as by the time we came to leave Steve & I felt pretty tired so a night in on the sofa, DVD with a curry beckoned to us. We both had a pretty lazy start to Monday morning and I caught up on a few boring domestics like ironing! We both ventured into town early afternoon and caught up with Steve's Mum and bought a few bits in town. Steve had wanted to get a new book to read but somehow managed to find nothing that interested him while I came out with three. We then continued the bank holiday treat with late lunch/early dinner out before going home to start yet more work. 

Steve was off to Exeter to DJ and as I'm teaching a sequencing class this Friday 8th May at 6.15pm I thought it was time I started to put this together for you lucky people. I've got a minute so far and it's coming together pretty well so if you fancy coming along please book in as spaces are limited to 6 only so you have one pole each. It's to JT and Ciara's Sexy Love Magic so you never know you could be out impressing the crowds if you find yourself near a pole at the weekend. I keep the routines quite basic and dancey so all levels can have a go - beginner to advanced. It is good cardio work for you all and gives you ideas of dance moves to different songs as I know how you all love learning those body isolation moves in a normal class!! Hopefully I'll see some of you there on Friday and my normal Thursday night in Plymouth. I'll be back in Exeter on Monday night so will look forward to seeing my Exeter students then.

Catch up soon

xxxxx

Routine & Update

Happy Easter All...I hope you've all been enjoying the lovely weather this weekend. My Mum in Bedford has not been so lucky and has had to put up with a grey sky and drizzle for the last three days. We've been especially enjoying the weekend sun as a couple of weeks back I decided it was time for a change and treated myself to a convertible car. Such a thrilling and fun experience putting the hood down and off you go. My Mum loved it when I visited her for Mother's day and took her out for a spin. Not only did I surprise her by turning up unexpected but with my new toy!

We had a really good couple of girly days together. I managed to make it up for the Friday night as I new she was visiting her Mum on the Saturday so I planned it for us all to go together. My Nan will be 90 this year and I don't get to see her very often so it worked out really well. Mum and I spent the day traveling from Bedford to Guildford to see her, then back through to Milton Keynes for coffee and Retail therapy and then on to the Snow Dome where we had dinner. We rounded the night off at home with a Man in Tucks...well Daniel Craig in Casino Royale! We then enjoyed a fabulous lunch together on Mother's Day before I headed off in the late afternoon back to Plymouth. I don't get to see Mum nearly enough so this really was some special time together.

Talking of time together, Steve and I hadn't seen much of each other over the last few weeks due to a hectic work diary so the only way we could see to remedy this was to take a couple of days out and get away from it all. We opted to go to Bath and Steve found us a wonderful hotel right in the town centre which did a great breakfast, dinner and room deal. I must say the 3 course meals were excellent. I'm not a great fish lover but I opted for the swordfish on the first night and was very impressed. I just about found room for dessert too!! Steve and I enjoyed a lazy couple of days there, wandering round the many wonderful streets and shops and stopping in one of the numerous coffee houses every so often. The weir in the town centre is pretty impressive and I managed to get Steve to pose long enough to get a photo. 

We went to the Thermae Spa on the Monday afternoon for a spot of pampering. I particularly liked the mint and eucalyptus steam room as it made me feel very cleansed and invigorated. The roof top pool was great although it reminded me of the scenes in Mary Poppins and I had a very strange urge to want to get out and go running across the rooftops! Just as well I didn't. The only down side was that there weren't many showers and considering we were there on a Monday which is the quietest day I'd hate to be there when it was any busier as the attendants said you would have to queue to use them and the other facilities..which surely defeats the object of going to de-stress! 

I think I must have come back from Bath on a mission as since then I've been working my students extra hard as several of you have come in displaying some spectacular bruises. Don't worry I've been giving myself some too. Sam, Tamar and I were in on Thursday before my classes and I still have lost skin on my feet and legs and bruises under my arms trying to work out various spectacular new moves. I think I'll be leaving the Dove to Tamar though...I couldn't even reach the pole behind me when I tried it lying on the floor and my poor back is still complaining now! I've also taught several of you a new routine to Anastacia recently which everyone has been doing really well at. I told you I was getting an evil streak as not only did I put a verse and chorus together for it...the lucky students got to dance it twice through! 

Here are some of my Exeter students (and me!) being put through their paces. Thank you to Karenza, Amy and Claire for being willing victims and letting me film them and to Jayne who was an expert behind the camera.

There are no classes in Exeter this week as the gym is shut for Bank Holiday Monday so I'll be back there next. I'm in the Plymouth studio Tuesday night this week as I'm away with work for a meeting on Thursday so see you all then!

Before I go though I must quickly say welcome back to Jo who is back in this week to assume her position as Lordette and also a big get well to Nixi who dislocated her knee whilst on her Uni field trip. Big hugs and kisses.

xxxx

My performances from Saturday

As mentioned in my last blog, here are my videos from Saturday's Vestival:

Vestival & Update

Wow! what a hectic couple of weeks I've had..I feel my feet have hardly touched the ground. Well mainly because they have been up the pole a lot practising this last week in readiness for my performance on Saturday in Plymouth city centre with Sam and Hayley as part of Vestival.

We were all really nervous about performing as well as having to deal with the cold, and a freezing cold pole! but I think you'll agree watching our performances that we all put on a fabulous show which was really well received. I managed to pretty much keep to what I'd hoped to put in and pull off as well! Jo was there cheering us on and giving out flyers, as was Nixi who managed to dash out in her lunch break to support us and of course my gorgeous fiance Steve. Sam and I roped him into doing the footage for us so check out Sam and Hayley's blogs already for theirs. I'll be passing Sam my footage from my camera in the next couple of days for her to publish on our You Tube channel and put on my blog as I can't get it to upload the files at the moment!

Not only have I had to find time to fit in a bit more practise (never easy when you already work full time and teach at at least 2 nights a week)but Sam also gave me some more "homework" to do. I won't give too much away but will say that it has involved studying a current music video to death (well 4 hours has been plenty and I now cringe when I hear the song come on!)to choreogragh a minutes worth of a routine to teach 3 members of staff from Plymouth Sound. We had our first rehearsal after my normal Thursday night classes last week and I have to say it went brilliantly. Considering none of them are natural dancers and the routine is very, very fast they pretty much were there. We've done the first 20 seconds so at this rate we'll have it in the bag in no time. I'll keep you updated with progress and I think the end result they are aiming for will look fantastic.

I've managed to have some time off though and Steve and I went away for a couple of days over Valentine's weekend to my Mum's. We had a day together shopping in Milton Keynes on the way through (although not very successfully as the music shop Steve wanted to visit had shut down and I didn't find anything I really liked) so we just enjoyed some time together window shopping before having a very enjoyable meal in a restaurant in the Snow Dome. I even indulged in a cocktail!

We turned up at Mum's late that evening and then had the day with her on Sunday. We were treated to a top notch meal at one of her favourite restaurants and then popped over to see my Dad's niece and her husband in the afternoon.





It was a fleeting visit as we had to come away from Bedford on the Monday as we were both working back up in Exeter that night for pole class and DJing respectively.(what a dedicated member of staff you have Sam! hee hee). I'm looking forward to this weekend as well as Mum is coming down here to stay with us for a couple of days so I'll get to have some me and Mum time!.

I've a busy week as usual as I'm teaching Monday night in Exeter and Thursday in the Plymouth studio plus I have a meeting in Bristol on Wednesday so will have an early start that morning. I'm hoping I'll stop aching after Saturday's performance as I really did feel exhausted from dancing in the cold. Steve and I had a relaxing evening over Chinese dinner at a friends house in Exeter on Saturday and we took his kids up to Badger Holt on the moors today to take advantage of the gorgeous sunshine and indulge in a cream tea - so I think i'm almost there now and ready to give the Exeter girlies a beasting tomorrow.

Toodle pip for now and look out for the videos.

How long?

Hello people..yes I am alive and thought after over 4 months I had better get my act together and write on my blog! I can't believe I've left it so long.. there have been so many things that have happened over the last few months I'm not quite sure where to begin although probably the best place to start is where I left off and that was really in September and our holiday to Egypt.

Having just got engaged and Steve successfully managing to plot and plan a complete surprise we then jetted off to Sharm El Sheik in Egypt. We were still on a high and looking forward to 2 weeks of total relaxation in the sun. I'd spent ages trying to find a hotel that suited both of us so that I could work on my suntan but have enough activity so that Steve didn't get too bored and we hit the spot with the Blue Bay Reef Oasis. We'd pushed the boat out a bit but it was well worth it. The hotel was fantastic and being on it's own reef we used to spend the afternoon at the beach snorkeling for a couple of hours. The variety of fish were amazing and all the dive boats pitched up near our hotel to dive at the reef. Steve often amazed the shore divers free diving down to their depth with just his snorkel on! We managed to tear ourselves away from the luxury a couple of times having dinner and looking at the stars in the desert and not to be missed - the Pyramids. We'd booked in the UK and this turned out to be in our favour as we ended up with our own personal guide and tour bus - which often proved a welcome escape from the scorching heat of the sun. Cairo was scary as no-one obeys any traffic laws and there are about 6 lanes of traffic trying to drive in 3 lanes! The artifacts in the museum just take your breathe away as do the pyramids themselves - you really don't appreciate just how big they are until you are there.



Sadly the holiday had to come to an end (and so too did my tan a few weeks later!) but we'd lined up a few things to look forward to on our return. One of these was the addition to our family with our 2 kittens - Enzo & Tabitha.

We had seen them at Gables Dog & Cat rescue home when they were just 4 weeks old and decided to give them a home so they were ready to collect on our return. They come fully vaccinated, micro chipped and have just been neutered as part of the terms of taking a kitten from the rescue home. They took about a week to settle in and are now fully at home flying round the room and getting their claws into our leather sofa!!! As they've just been neutered we can now introduce the world of outdoors to them..although this last week when I have tried they have been somewhat reluctant to go out from the warm! - they're not stupid!

October fast approached and soon it was the 25th - my 34th (Arrrghh!) Birthday and our engagement party. My Mum came down from Bedford for the weekend and my brother joined us from London and we had a lovely meal with them and Steve's family at Zucca's before heading on over to Annabel's for our party.




For those of you that came thank you so much for sharing in our night, for Annabel for letting us use her venue and for Sam for organising putting up the pole so that my fellow instructors and my friend and student from Exeter, Nicole could perform for us. Thank you all for such amazing performances which really opened the eyes up of some of the work colleagues and family who were there - so much so that they are now students with us! I had a chance just to relax and enjoy watching everyone - well it was my party so think i deserved a night off!!! I escaped a hangover the next day although Steve and my brother were not so fortunate!

Christmas suddenly crept up on me - as it always does. I think I have loads of time and then suddenly it is upon me. I must admit I didn't really feel in the mood until we actually got to Xmas although I enjoyed some Xmas pressie shopping trips into town (funnily enough Steve doesn't share this view!). After some change of plans Mum and my brother arrived on Xmas day having driven from Bedford which meant I was solely in charge of cooking the dinner. I was a little nervous as I really didn't want to burn the Organic free Range turkey that had cost a fortune but thankfully it worked out well if I do say so myself.


Xmas day turned out to be pretty good. Steve's kids were with us in the morning and had fun unwrapping all their presents and then my folks arrived and we had dinner. I think it was about half eight before we got round to unwrapping our own..oh the control!

I'd planned a nice week off from work to relax and recharge with the family over Xmas but apart from Xmas day it didn't quite work out as I like the rest of the world got struck down by this flu bug. Fortunately we'd planned a romantic night in for new year's eve as this was the first year neither of us were dancing/DJing respectively so we had a nice dinner, settled down in our PJ's watching Jools Holland with a glass of champers (which my lovely boss and team from BT had given us as an engagement pressie) and saw the fireworks going off over the city. The bug and cough eventually shifted after nearly 3 weeks but came back this last week which I was not amused about! Fortunately it's not stopped me doing anything but I've been pretty tired and run down from it. I was partly disappointed that Sam had had to call off the AOD social this Saturday night as I'd managed to find a couple of hours to put most of a routine together - but then the other half of me was glad to be able to relax and put my feet up and have a beer - plus I have a routine I can carry on working on for the next event.

Sorry for the long blog but I think I'm pretty up to date now with the main events I've been up to. I think I've caught up with most of you in the Plymouth studio and the Exeter studio on Monday nights. We all experienced a bit of a slow start to the new year with the flu and finances being tight but I'm pleased to see many of my familiar faces back - particularly in Exeter and welcome to lots of my new ladies there - and my gent in Plymouth - Jeremy.
Finally as you are all fully aware the Art of Dance has gone National..and now Global with the recent events over Sam's latest performance - we couldn't have asked for better publicity. I'd just like to add that I too am proud to be an instructor for the Art of Dance and am proud of Sam for being such a great boss and role model in working on removing the negativity surrounding our art form. Go Sam!

Ta ta for now...and I promise not to leave it so long

xxxx

Performance at Annabel's

Here is a video of me performing at Annabel's discotheque in August 2008, Sam is having problems uploading the video of my student's dance so you will have to wait for that one!

Bye Bye

Just a very quick blog to say I'm just about packed and almost ready for our holiday tomorrow. I had a great weekend at my friends wedding in London and spending some time with my Mum. I had a bit of an disaster with the dress I was wearing as despite my long legs the dress was still much longer than me and I managed to step through the chiffon about 5 times! It was an emergency cellotape shop once we arrived in St Pancras as I had my first mishap on the way to get the train. Mia - get your sewing needle ready! Apart from that the wine and champagne was free flowing all afternoon and into the night and we had a fabulous time. Beth looked lovely and the Barbican centre was a great venue as we had a tropical paradise in amongst the plants and the rain was kept outside! It was great to spend some time with Mum as well. After the horrendous journey on Friday we arrived to good home made lasagne and champagne and on the Sunday Mum spoilt us to a fabulous lunch. She is really pleased for us both and is already getting ideas about what we can do for our wedding. I'm sure Sam and Jo will look after you all in my absence and look forward to seeing you all in about 3 weeks.

Ta ta for now xxx

My Engagement!

Well I'm still on cloud 9 and taking it all in..Yes Steve & I have got engaged. He has been secretly plotting with some of my friends for several weeks now and I honestly had no idea what was happening. I'd been expecting to go to the cinema on Tuesday night with Steve and a couple of his mates who were coming up from St Asutell when Jason (Steve's best mate) rang me to say they weren't all able to come up due to car trouble. I tried to talk Jason into coming up on his own as I knew Steve would like to see him but he managed to wriggle out of that as unbeknown to me that was part of the plot. Steve then emailed me to say Jason had just rung him with the same news and that as it was a nice evening he'd booked us into our favourite restaurant The Ship Inn at Noss Mayo. I was quite happy with that as I love it there and Steve had said it was going to be high tide which we both love and the last few times we've been the tide has always been right out. So off we go for our evening meal. We had a lovely time, munched our way through starters and main and I'd spotted the massive Strawberry pavlova which I persuaded Steve we just had to have. Coffee came and I was sat watching our lovely waiter carrying some champagne across the room which I suddenly became aware had been planted firmly on our table. I still had no idea and was asking Steve what the occasion was when out came the ring and he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I had no hesitation in saying yes and was still trying to take it in as I was starring at the most fabulous engagement ring. I was trying to compose myself when I had another surprise and some of our closest friends appeared to share in our night - including Jason. It was truly special and romantic night and I totally didn't expect it. Now I know why our waiter kept smiling at us all night and Steve had disappeared to the loo twice to obviously check on everyone. Apparently he was a nervous wreck all day hoping all the plans would come in place and they did. It was slighly unfortunate that my best friend who had helped Steve arrange a lot of it broke down outside of Exeter as her drive belt went and she had to get towed back to Bristol and never made it. I had a truly fabulous night though and thanks to all my friends who made it. And obviously thanks to my future husband to be Steve for surprising me and proposing in such a romantic way and making a special night for us both..I love you very much. XXX

All the Art of dance instructors were also in on the plot but were not able to join us as was a busy night opening the new Torquay venue and covering back in the Plymouth studio. Not to worry though as we will be having an engagement party and are looking to combine this with my birthday on Sat 25th October. We're looking to hold at Annabel's so that everyone can come along and then stay and party after so watch this space.

Steve and I are off to my Mum's in Bedford today as I have my best friend from school's wedding in London on Saturday. I know my Mum will be feeling a little sad today as it is her and Dad's wedding anniversary so this is the first anniversay since losing Dad last November. I'm hoping though she can think of the fond memories they had and I know she is looking forward to seeing Steve & I tonight. She is really excited for both of us and looking forward to seeing my ring. As some of you know from class last night I wasn't able to show anyone yesterday as unfortunately despite choosing our design together a few months ago and having the ring specially made for us they still managed to make it 2 sizes to big! I was able to wear it on the night but we had to take it back to Exeter on Wednesday to resize it. We are hoping it will be ready today so we can collect on the way through to Bedford this afternoon so I can show my Mum tonight and some of my frieds who will be at the wedding on Saturday as well. I'm looking forward to that as I haven't seen my friend Beth (the bride) for a few months now and I love a good excuse to get dressed up. The weddding is being held in the Barbican centre in London and looks like it will be a lovley venue - good job it is indoors as I think the weather is going to be pretty horrendous.

Once back from the wedding I only have a couple of days of work before Steve & I head off to Egypt for our 2 week break. We are both so looking forward to relaxing and spending a well earned break together. I am teaching in Exeter this Monday night and then that is me done for a few weeks. I'm not sure who will be covering in Plymouth but I'm sure it will be either Sam or Jo - so ladies watch out as they will work you extra hard! I'll be back in Exeter on 29th Sept and then it will be October when I am back in the Plymouth studio.

I think that is most of my news for now. As you know I danced at the recent social at Annabel's and one of my Exeter students also performed a stunning routine that she had in the main choreographed herself. She used the music beautifully and we were all really impressed and she has agreed that she will show case at our birthday event that Sam is trying to organise. There is some video footage of our performances so I will get a copy and put up on my blog for you all to see.

Must go now as off to town to get my hair trimmed.

see you all soon

xxxxxxxx

Full Monty & More Pictures from Devon Car Show

Firstly a big congratulations to Phil, Mark, Mick, Mike, Tony and Brian (aka) the Full Monty for their show stopping performance last Sunday night. You'll have seen from our blogs that I had been choreographing their routine for them with expert help from Sue in the art of seductive clothing removal and I'm pleased to say that all the hard work and rehearsals paid off - they never even needed my prompt cards I'd written up for them! Sue, Sam and I were all in the front row to cheer them on and they did us all proud. Steve had also come down with me to support the night but I think he was secretly a little relieved when they started early and he was able to lurk at the back whilst I rushed to my front row viewing. We each received a lovely bouquet of flowers for our support which are stilling looking great in my living room. Thank you guys. I've also now heard that the guys are in hot demand so you never know there may be a Full Monty on tour....

As promised here are some more photos from the Devon Car show last Sunday. I'd like to say a big thank you to one of my Exeter students, Nicole Windley who came down to support us all and for the lovely photos she has taken. Nicole has quickly progressed since coming to my Exeter classes and shares the love and passion for pole dance like I and my fellow instructors do. It is great to see such enthusiasm in Nicole and indeed many of you that come to our classes and to know that you enjoy it so much and give us such support. Nicole even braved the wobbly pole on Sunday as she just couldn't resist showing off her moves. Well done Nicole!

The day turned out to be great fun for me in the end. I was a little worried about where we were pitched originally as we were at the far end of the event so I wasn't sure if people would come down and get to see us, but as the day progressed we were drawing the crowds and getting some great comments. So much so that we got moved to the main stage in the afternoon where Sam & I got up and strutted our stuff. My performance got slightly interupted by one of the Fuel girls dominating the front of the stage with not a lot on! - but otherwise it went well and I loved being up there in front of the crowd. Jo has taken some video footage of Sam & I so hopefully this will come out ok and we'll be able to post for you..naked lady and all!

All in all it was a good day as the weather was the hottest and sunniest it has been for ages and it was great to spend some time together with Jo, Hayley, Sam, Sue and her lovely daughter Rose. My sunburnt shoulders were still giving off heat on Tuesday morning and I've discovered are now peeling this morning. I think we all got a little bit burnt from being out in the sun and not able to wear sun tan lotion and were all a bit achy from the day's performance. My back in particular has been quite sore and playing up a bit more since Sunday so have been back to the osteopath this week to help work it out. I know Sam & Jo were especially feeling it as they had performed the previous Saturday and then again on the Thursday night in Raffles as part of the fund raising week. I managed to catch their last performance when I came over after teaching and what a performance they gave on the spinning pole - both very different but stunning, fluid and inspirational - I felt a bit green watching especially Jo's "out of control!" sitting spin combination - Wow! Sue as ever was sensual and stunning performing her routine - loved the feather tassles!

Jo the lucky devil has escaped to Egypt to go diving with hubby - so jealous but then it is only 6 weeks before Steve & I head out there. We're waiting for the MRI scan results for Steve's back so not sure we'll get so much diving in as his back isn't right but hopefully we'll be able to manage some dives. We're looking forward to our trip to Cairo as well as we've booked to fly there to see the pyramids - neither of us have yet seen this spectacular sight so we're looking forward to that and relaxing in the sun.

Sam is covering Jo's classes this week and I'll be in on my usual nights of Exeter on the Monday and Thursday in Plymouth. I'm also taking the Friday night class this week so hopefully get to see you then.

Good luck to Sid today for his open day for Plymouth's first Cage Den.

see you all soon

xxx Rosanna

Devon Car Show 27th July 2008 - Exeter Racecourse

Thanks Street-Stylers-southwest..a couple of great pics.

Now ladies what do I always say in class?...Point your toes! At least I listen to my own advice.

Full blog and more great pics to follow soon.xx

Rosanna

Still Aching!

Well if you've already read Sam's blog, you will know she had us on a staff training event on Friday with Rob Green trying our hand at Parkour I wasn't really sure what to expect especially being our first attempt at it but Rob soon had us all warmed up and rolling onto the floor in safe landing positions, jumping over hurdles and running up walls. It was a great team building session as we had plenty of laughs watching each other run like mad at the obstacle either to run into it, half land on it and roll off or sort of get over it and disappear down the other side in some sort of heap. After a few attempts though we were all pretty much there and flying over the box and up the wall. I felt quite invigorated from it ...then I sat down when I got in and realised that maybe I wasn't as fit as I thought. My back was aching and my right knee had a very slight twinge. Turning up at the studio on Saturday morning and comparing notes with Sam, Jo and Mia we all were feeling the after effects and Sam also had a strap on her right knee! It's Sunday morning now and my back still hurts and my left shin is now aching! Still really enjoyed the session - thanks Sam.

As mentioned I was in the studio Saturday morning to take the second part of a hen party. We had a great time as we learnt some of the Ashanti routine I have done with some of you. Sue and I were then putting the gentlemen from Raffles through their paces. I've been choreographing the Full Monty routine for them along with Sue's expert help and advice of how to take articles of clothing off. We are getting there but need a few more rehearsals to get the routine a bit more slick and in time!! Still the guys are doing a great job and Sue & i are having fun working with them. They will be performing at Raffles to raise money for St Lukes on Sunday 27th July from 8pm - hope to see some of you there.
The art of dance have a busy week that week as some of the staff will be performing at Raffles on the Thursday evening, (I'm teaching that night but might pop in and say hi after classes if you've not all worn me out!!) we are off watching Flash Dance on the Friday evening, there is a pole Jam on the Saturday 26th from 12noon-4pm, we are performing at the Devon Car show on the Sunday and then the Full Monty on Sunday evening. Check out the events pages for full details of what we have lined up - going to be a good, fun but tiring week. I'll have also been to Gatwick for work on the Tuesday so that usually means I get about 3 hours sleep on the Monday night and spend about 10hours or so on the train for the day - not looking forward to that as it takes me all week to recover!
I've had the decorators in this week and they'll be back to finish off next week. I'm having a radiator moved to free up one of our walls and getting some of the dodgy electrics sorted out. There are some real bodgit DIY jobs that we are discovering. When my plumber went to fix the new radiator to the wall all the plaster just fell off to reveal lovely art deco type wall effect. Seems that the plaster had just been slapped on the top and not sealed so as soon as you touched it, it all came down. As it's behind a door we'd not had a need to use the wall so hadn't discovered the problem til now. There is also a blank plate where the light switch should be in the living room and we've discovered that the whole cable has been ripped out rather then just isolating the switch so we will need to run a whole new cable in which means taking floor boards up. Think we'll live with it a while longer til we look at doing upstairs. Hopefully when these are done we'll get the room looking nicer and I'll look to get new carpets for the living and dining room.

I've been having a fairly quiet weekend so far (mainly because of my aching muscles) which will continue this afternoon. Steve & I are thinking of going to see Hancock tonight - which I will enjoy as I'm a bit partial to Will Smith - although of course he isn't a patch on Steve. It will be a good excuse to pig out on popcorn and sweets which will be just as well as I'll need all the energy for my busy week ahead. As well as the day job, I'm teaching in Exeter on Monday, back in the Plymouth studio for my normal Thursday and I'm taking the class on Friday night this week and a hen party Saturday morning.
Hope to see some of you during the week. Have fun til then.

xxx

Sequence Class - this Friday 6.15pm

Hi all

Just to let you know if any of you missed the Ashanti Only U sequence I did for our recent masterclass day I will be teaching this routine this Friday evening (27th June) at 6.15pm. We have limited it to only 6 places to ensure you have a pole each. The routine is dance focused with a couple of tricks so suitable for all levels so don't worry if you can't perform the tricks yet - it can be adapted. My last blog includes a video form the girls at my masterclass for a sneak preview.

I'm teaching as usual tonight so see you later or maybe at the sequencing class and hopefully I will get that footage of Nixi and I sorted this weekend from RTTS - just never enough hours in my day!

xxx

Update at last!

Been a bit slack of late on the blog front so I know Sam will be happy I've done an update for you all.
So what have I been up to this last month..well if you've read Nixi's blog and seen either of us you will know we danced at the Run to the Sun festival in Newquay at the end of May. I've been dancing there for years now - it's a bit like an annual reunion for me - all the crew together - cramped in a small caravan, costumes and bodies everywhere - no sleep because the tent/caravan has the same song playing over and over at full volume at 5am when you've finished work and want to get to sleep - but I love it and love the people I work with. This year was great as Nixi and i got a chance to show case our talents on the pole and we went down a treat with the crowd and crew and management alike..we've already been booked in for next year!!! Nixi's desperate I know to see the photos and some footage I took on my camera so I'll have an excuse to do another blog shortly and put those up for you all.
Much of the rest of my time has been dominated by my main job. It's really busy at the moment and I'm in the office the rest of this week and then I'm off to my Mum's in Bedford on Friday to join her for the weekend for her birthday. It is actually tomorrow but she flys back from her 2 week holiday then so I'll spend time with her at the weekend. I have had various updates in texts from her during her stay and considering this is the first holiday abroad on her own since losing Dad she has made friends and been enjoying herself. I'm looking forward to some mother and daughter time!
My slave driver..Sam.. has had me in teaching additional private classes in the Plymouth studio as well as my usual Thursday night and Exeter on a Monday and on top of all that booked me in for a sequencing master class a week ago Sat. I must admit I didn't have a lot of spare time to put it together and even on the Thursday night before the Sat I still hadn't decided on my song - but in a couple hours of creative thinking on the Friday I ended up with a great routine to Ashanti - Only U. For those of you brave enough to try my last Master class to Madonna's Hanky Panky - you'll have certainly noticed I try and keep things very different each time - this time preferring to do a slower more dance and body movement focussed routine - with the odd killer move.. beginners hand stand anyone! Check out the video for the girls from Saturday's masterclass - think you'll agree they did rather well! Well done to Sarah Bunting as well for like me surving Nixi's killer Yoga, my sequencing and then Sam's advanced torture hour!
I've since taught the routine in Exeter and I have just tonight finished the last minute of the song with my girls so they successfully danced a routine to a whole song - well done Julie, Olivia, Jo, Holly and Nicola i'm very proud. Sam has asked me to look at holding further sequencing classes so look out for some more dates for these. We'll restrict it to only 6 to a class so you have a pole each and I might even start to go over a few of the old routines so if you missed one and wanted to do it you might be able to pop along next time.
Well I must get to bed now. Catch up with you all soon and I'll try and not leave it so long

xxxx

Podium Dancing

hi all

Well it's been a hectic couple of weeks for me with my main work. I've been up to Birmingham for a team meeting which meant a very early start for me - trust me I'm not usually a morning person!
I've had a really great weekend in the Plymouth studio. I was teaching my normal Thursday night and then had 2 classes on Friday eve and a further hen party on Saturday morning before Nixi then stretched me out in her flexibility class. I'm putting together my routine to teach you for my sequencing Masterclass next Saturday at 1.30pm. I'm quite excited about it as I'm doing something fun, and a little faster than my last routine to be in complete contrast and trying a few different tricks in it. Don't worry if you're not that advanced I'm structuring it so that everyone will be able to do the dance elements and the tricks can be adapted to whatever level you are working at whether beginner or more advanced - hope to see some of you there.
Thought I'd just share with you a video of my audition/warm up set of my club dancing in Berties from a week ago on Saturday night. Many of you know I used to be a part time club dancer - some of you may even have seen me in Destiny's - but since that shut I haven't really done my club dancing having found my new passion of Pole dancing with the Art of Dance. I've really missed it so was great when Berties asked me to dance for them after they have done a bit of a refit of the club. I'll be there on Sat nights for a while until the summer so if you ever venture down to Newquay come and say hello. The podium is a bit small and has a wall directly behind me but otherwise all went well considering it's been over 2 years and I'll be 34 this year!. I even managed to get a pole move in....

xxx

New pictures

Thank to Chris trent from Global Eye photography for the new picture of me!

Face of Exeter performance

Hello all

Firstly a huge welcome back to Julie who attends my Exeter classes - (gold star to me as I remembered to call her Mrs Julie Morgan!) but also a farewell to a couple of my students there -Jane & Kylie. Kylie is starting her own business so they both won't be attending for a few weeks whilst Kylie gets this up and running. Wishing you all the best with your new venture Kylie and hurry back - we'll all miss you and your Mum.

I'll be seeing you all again next week and Kelly will be in again shadowing me. I think you'll agree she did a fantastic cool down last week and will be a great asset to the Art of Dance. I had a great session with Sam and Kelly yesterday going through our syllabus and going over some moves - I even achieved a new one myself so watch out!

Thought you might like to see the video of myself performing at the Face of Exeter model competition last September. It took me forever to work out how to turn it the right way up on my computer as my friend had recorded it sideways on my camera! Sam and I were both asked to perform as part of the fashion and hair show and I was the opener to the show. Hope you enjoy.

See you all soon

xxx

Bits & Pieces & Inverts masterclass

Well it takes me a while and then you get a couple of posts in the one week - you can tell I'm off work this week and have a bit more time to do my blog.
Nixi and I caught up and had some time going through our moves in the studio on Tuesday and earning a few more bruises from the session we did at the weekend. Check out the videos Sam has put up of all the instructors practising together - i think you'll agree a pretty good bunch we are!!
Whilst in the studio a couple of our students coming in for their lesson mentioned the photos I had taken from our Spearmint Rhino night the week before Xmas - so just for you here are a couple of the photos from the night ...better late than never and a reminder of the old studio!

Don't forget our master class day this Saturday. I'm taking the 11am class covering inverts. If you have just started inverting or are now working on the likes of the gemini, scorpio, mantis,chopper - then this class is for you as I'll be looking at your technique and helping you improve your hold of these moves and give some variations on the basics. It will also give you an opportunity to test your strength and stamina doing a whole hour dedicated to inverts - believe me it's more tiring than you may think!

see you soon xxx