Competition mega weekend 2018 – Welsh Aerial and Pole and Bristol Pole Championships

When you’re a broke ass hoe and cannot afford to join half of your pole squad at Pole Expo in Vegas (am I jealous? Yes. Have I been a right grumpy cunt all week because I’ve not been in Vegas, also yes) you summon two of your besties and cheer yourself up big style, by going on a mammoth pole weekend to not one but two awesome pole competitions, the Welsh Aerial and Pole and Bristol Pole Championships!

I fucking love going to watch pole competitions. I know that’s stating the bloody obvious but I seriously do. I think it’s awesome seeing how the different dancers interpret their song choice in their own unique way and I love the broad variety of different pole dance styles that are on show too. You want to watch some sassy, shoe bangs and sexy body rolls? Boom they’re right there for you. Or is crazy, 70 million tricks up the pole, Spatchcocking bloody madness more your thing? Then that will legit be on offer for you too. Baring this in mind, a cracking competition is a fantastic place for us polers to go and soak up the old creative atmosphere and get inspired when creating our own routines.

Anyway, I’ve digressed a tad, back to the adventure weekend. Our first stop was the Welsh Aerial and Pole Championships in Cardiff. This was the first time I had ever seen hoop performed competitively before and fuck me was impressed! Having never hooped before in my life (not properly at least) seeing anyone swing about on the hoop for three minutes was mightily impressive!

As for the pole side to the competition, the Welsh Aerial and Pole championships had a huge amount to offer in terms of variety and uniqueness from its competitors. There were beautiful, emotive dances to a competitors own personal poem (which legit had one of my pals in tears it was so powerful), sexy, exotic dancers and even an epic, Flash Gordon themed routine (shout out to my buddy Stu for pulling that one off). This competition really astounded me in terms of how it showcased all the different competitors interpreting both pole and aerial hoop in their own, distinctive style, which is awesome as it shows how versatile of a dance/sport pole really is.

Next up on Sunday was the Bristol Pole Championships (BPC), which is when us Bristol polers make the annual pilgrimage up to Clifton (that’s the fancy part of Bristol in case you were wondering) to check out the best pole dancers that have graced us in the South West with their presence. And boy did they do that!

Fuck me, the standard at BPC 2018 was insane! In all five categories (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Semi-professional and Professional) it was virtually impossible to decide who would place, as each and every competitor firmly bought their A game to the stage in spectacular fashion. Very similarly to the Welsh Aerial and Pole, there was a fabulous level of variety bought to the stage that kept us excited spectators on the edge of our seat throughout. You had badass snake women, fierce lions, seductive vixens, and warrior queens absolutely owning that stage and making literally every spectators jaw hit their knees in the process!

Despite a very full on and knackering weekend, I went to bed on Sunday night feeling pumped and buzzing. Thank you to every competitor I saw at the weekend, you have left me feeling massively inspired, motivated and have sent my pole mojo soaring up into the fucking stratosphere with your utter badassery and skills. Sometimes, all you need is a cracking weekend with your buddies watching some sick pole dancing to motivate you to get back on your horse and train harder than ever. Thank you Welsh Aerial and Pole and Bristol Pole Championships for an epic and inspirational weekend!