It’s hard to imagine now, but when pole dance classes first started popping up on the fitness scene over a decade ago, pole students had to make do with only a hand towel to combat their sweaty hand problems! Nowadays, a lot has changed, and there are plenty of pole grip aids available on the market. But when you’re first starting out pole, it can be a bit overwhelming… Where do you start!?! How do you know when your grip problems are the result of dry skin? Or sweaty skin? Or skin that’s neither dry nor sweaty, but just not tacky enough? It’s so confusing! But don’t break out into a cold swea ..read more

OH MY LORD!! Did you guys see JLo pole dancing at the Superbowl??? In case you missed it, it was glamourous, it was exciting, it was EPIC, and (no surprises here) - it was controversial. There was so much chatter online in the days that followed that we decided we had better do a round up of all things JLo and pole dance-related. Read on! This past week the pole community has been abuzz with the excitement of seeing Jennifer Lopez pole dancing in the halftime show at the Superbowl. Many of us followed JLo's journey to learn how to pole dance, as she prepared for her role as Ramona in the movi ..read more

How to Overcome Your Grip Problems - No Sweat! Are you a sweaty pole dancer? Do you have grip problems? Do you despair at the thought of a one handed spin? Do you love pole but feel like the palms of your own hands are trying to hijack your attempts? Don't panic! I was once a sweaty-palmed pole dancer myself... Don't believe me? Let's go back in time... When I first started pole, almost ten years ago, there was no such thing as grip aids (or at least, I hadn't heard of it). The only grip aids we had were alcohol to clean the poles, and hair spray to give us some stick. I remember in summer in ..read more

You'll Always Remember Your First Pair! It's an important moment in every young pole dancer's life when you decide to take the plunge and buy your first pair of Pleasers! It can be quite an overwhelming decision to make, because there are hundreds if not THOUSANDS of different types of shoes on the Pleaser website, which makes for a very daunting decision. So here is a How-To guide on how to pick your first pair of pole shoes! How High is Too High? Pleaser shoes come in all different heights. A lot of the Pole Dance Academy instructors and the more Advanced girls wear 8 inch shoes, which is p ..read more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_f3Z8gqZ4Q My name is Michelle Shimmy and I am a professional pole dancer and instructor, and owner of the Pole Dance Academy in Sydney, Australia. Towards the end of last year, I half-jokingly made a post on facebook about how my proudest achievement of the year was learning how to use my Lunette cup, which is (for the uninitiated) a menstrual cup; a reusable cup for people who get their periods. You can click on the screenshot below to view my Facebook post and read the 117 comments from other pole dancers sharing their experiences too! I say half-jokingly b ..read more

The birth of #sundaybumday A few years ago, I posted a pic of my butt on the internet and used the hashtag #sundaybumday. It was a joke, a bit of fun - very much tongue in cheek (NO PUN INTENDED HAHA). Little did I know, I had started a thing. Pole dancers love Sunday Bumday! It's spread all around the world. And sometimes people sometimes ask me, how did this whole #sundaybumday thing come to be? A historical perspective on "body fashion" I was a child of the 80s, a decade of extravagantly wild fashion and phenomenal (but often weird) music. Being born in the 80s meant that unfortunately I ..read more

I have been a pole dance instructor since 2009. As I write this, I realise I'm coming up to my 10 year pole instructor anniversary! I can hardly believe it. I still love teaching pole as much today as I did when I first started, in fact I love it even more, because I can remember just how nervous I was when I started teaching. Nowadays, with almost a decade of teaching experience under my belt, I have been fortunate enough to have watched hundreds of women start their pole journey with us at Pole Dance Academy and develop into strong, flexible, confident pole dancers. One of the sweetest thin ..read more

We are so excited to host Pole Theatre Sydney 2019 at the beautiful NIDA Parade Theatre on 28 September 2019. Be a part of the next chapter of Pole Theatre history. Get tickets at www.poletheatresydney.com! The Birth of Pole Theatre My name is Michelle Shimmy. With my sister Maddie Sparkle, I am the co-owner of Pole Theatre World. This is a short history of Pole Theatre, the world's largest and most exciting pole competition! Pole Theatre began in Sydney, Australia, in 2013, from a conversation between Maddie Sparkle and me, over coffee one day. We never thought it would be anything other tha ..read more

EEEK! I booked my first pole class! So you have decided to start pole dancing! You have signed up for your beginners course and you are now fretting over what to wear and feeling nervous and self-conscious. Your inner critic is shouting at you, “what are you thinking!!" Well done! The biggest hurdle is over. As you can see from the pictures below of Amanda, Leisha, Sarah and Adrian, even the Pole Dance Academy instructors had to start somewhere! The progress you will make over the coming months will astound you. When you turn up to your first class, don’t worry, it is entirely natural to feel ..read more

The Business of Pole Dancing My name is Michelle Shimmy and I am a professional pole dancer. I opened my first pole dance studio, the Pole Dance Academy, in 2009 with my sister Maddie. We now have three studios in Sydney. Prior to opening the studios, I was a corporate lawyer in a top tier law firm in Sydney. I had been pole dancing for about three years and I was absolutely crazy about it. At the same time, I wasn’t happy with life in the corporate world and I was increasingly feeling dissatisfied with my career choice. One day whilst complaining to a friend on the phone about how unhappy I ..read more