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My name is Mai Yee. I'm an instructor at Sheila Kelley's S Factor Studio in Manhattan, New
York. I've been doing this movement for five years now. It's a movement that combines ballet,
pilates, striptease, and pole dancing. We have a website where you can get more information,
and that's www.sfactor.com. I'm here today to talk to you about pole dancing.
As a balance you want to find between having enough of a grip on the pole, not sliding,
and also allowing for spinning to happen. Obviously, you don't want to wear any lotion
on your hands or any part of your body that's gonna touch the pole, including oils in your
hair. If you touch your hair you might bring that onto the pole. If you want to use some
kind of conditioner on your legs that's not gonna make it slick for you on the pole. Aloe
Vera gel is kind of something I've discovered that works really well. You can use alcohol;
put it on a rag to wipe down your pole to keep the pole dry and free of buildup. Some
poles use Windex or water, so look at the instructions on your pole to see what's appropriate.
Humidity and the temperature of the room also affect how the pole feels. The warmer and
more humid it is, the stickier your grip's gonna be. You also want to warm up the pole.
Do some easy walks around the pole, some easy spins, and as the pole heats up with your
body heat and your body heats up, that, your grip will get better. If you still have problems
with very sweaty hands and slipping there are some products you can get. Dry Hands is
one that I know that's on the market and when you put it on it repels moisture, so it actually
kind of keeps the moisture from your hands from getting on the pole. If you have the
other issue of too dry hands, there's a product Mighty Grip. This makes your grip a little
more tacky so that you're not sliding from being too dry. There are also gloves that
they make for pole dancing and if you're using a stationary pole you want to be sure that
the palm is not tacky. I have a student actually who uses driving gloves with leather, a leather
palm, and that works really well for her. If you buy a new pole and you feel that it's
too slippery, I had a student who bought a sanding pad and just roughed up the surface
to make the grip a little more sticky for her. So get creative. See what works for you.
Find that perfect balance for yourself, a comfy grip and you'll be able to spin and
do your inversions and anything you want on the pole.