My 360 Pole Dancing sisters with stage side seats!
Pole Christmas came round quickly again this year, as it literally seemed like last month that my pole family and I were whizzing up the M5 in Cleo the pole-mobile, all buzzing with excitement and eagerly anticipating the loss of our UKPPC virginity. A year later and we were back and even more excited than before, as we knew just how fucking badass UKPPC is and couldn’t wait to get there and let the party begin!
For those of you who haven’t yet attended UKPPC, it is an epic professional pole competition in the UK which consists of three categories; Instructor, Professional, and Elite. Cue being sat gawping at the stage for five hours, watching the pro’s bust out all manner of awe-inspiring tricks and combos (I’ve seen Iron-X’s and motherfucking death lays DEATH LAYS up on the UKPPC stage before) and generally feeling like you’re sat in the presence of the pole gods.
Although I preferred the complexity of the tricks the competitors delivered last year (the tricks this year were still phenomenal and way better than anything my uncoordinated ass could achieve), UKPPC 2017 massively upped the ante when it came to creative and innovative routine concepts. We had Voodoo queens, Disney villains, Silent Hill Monsters and sexy genies take to the stage and captivate our attention throughout the competition. I’m a sucker for a good gimmick in a pole routine, and there were plenty of strong themes this year that had my full attention.
It wasn’t just the competitors who did a sterling job this year, the guest performers were bringing their A game to the day too. Crystal Gibson’s sexy dance crew gave us all floorwork goals, Dan Rosen and Mimi didn’t leave a dry eye in the house with their emotive and powerful doubles routine and the utter utter bad ass that is Sally Ann Giles, who had previously had major surgery just nine weeks (NINE TINY WEEKS!) before performing, inspired us all with her sexy as hell chair dance. I speak for everyone in the audience when I say that the guest performers this year when I say that someone should have dialled 999 at some point during the night, because the guest performers were on fire! (hur hur hur)
UKPPC is a heels free pole competition, which focuses more on the fitness based style of pole, however as an authentic pole dance enthusiast, it was also somewhat refreshing to see a few stereotypically sexy movements such as body waves and a tiny amount of twerking and drop splits making their way into the competition. It was fabulous to see more sports based and fitness polers incorporate some more quintessential dance moves into their routines, once again proving that all genres of pole can work together to create something a bit bloody impressive.
As well as a plethora of inspiring performances, there were more than enough stalls and stands for the shopaholics of the pole community to fill their boots with goodies! Personally, the idea of shopping in its physical format fills my entire being with dread and mild panic (it’s all about online shopping), but for those who love a good spending spree, UKPPC catered perfectly, with stalls stocking everything from pole clothes, heels and grip aids.
There were more than just shops to keep the punters entertained too. X pole had a cracking Aerial playground set up at the venue, including silks, hoops, a silicone pole, some swanky lollipop contraption and a fucking awesome swinging pole (personal favourite) for you to play on. Please see the delightful montage below on how not to hoop 101 with your girl Eilish below.
Of course last but by no means least, the compere for the night Glory Pearl was absolutely cracking throughout. Her razor sharp wit had a firm grip on the evening as her one liners had the audience in fits on several occasions.
UKPPC pulled it out of the bag once again to deliver a brilliantly well run competition in every way. The routines from both the competitors and guest performers were entertaining, there were plenty of delights to keep us spectators busy throughout the day and I think it’s safe to say that all of us left the Telford International Centre that Sunday evening feeling both amazed and inspired. Bravo UKPPC! Roll on November 2018!
Chrome Chronicles 