Well holy shit. It’s Wednesday as I’m typing this, and I can categorically confirm I have finally recovered after the brilliance that was the first Heelfire Club showcase, which took place on Saturday. Yes, my adrenaline was so high and I was buzzing so much that it’s taken me a solid three days to recover.
A quick summary for those who don’t know, Heelfire Club was created by Coco Bijou and Misty Helix from Momentum Pole and Aerial in Gloucestershire (UK) as a safe and inclusive space to discover the joy of performing. After many successful monthly Heelfire Clubs at their studio, Coco and Misty upped the game, took Heelfire club to Gloucester’s King’s Theatre and put a call out asking for performers. Having missed performing big time over the past few years, I managed to strap on my big girls pants and signed up to perform – and I am so fucking glad I did as I had the best time up on that stage.
Disclosure: The link above is an affiliate link, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn commission if you click through and make a purchase.
The Heelfire showcase was such an incredible day with so much to love about it. Misty and Coco played an absolute blinder, and to be quite honest I’m going to have a bloody difficult job trying to articulate just how much fun I had at the Heelfire showcase, however as per usual I’m going to give it a bloody good go.
First off, I really loved how the showcase was in a proper theatre as opposed to a pole studio. There is nothing wrong with performing in a studio at all, far from it in fact, but Heelfire taking place in a proper theatre to a sold out audience provided an amazing opportunity to performers. As daunting as getting up on stage initially appeared, it was a brilliant confidence boosting experience to say you’ve performed in a theatre to a sold out crowd, one to tick off the bucket list to say the least. Furthermore, knowing that I can perform to 140 people means that future performances on a smaller scaled will not feel quite so terrifying. I think it’s safe to say all performers grew our comfort zones substantially last weekend.
Speaking of my lovely fellow performers, everyone was a good egg and there was not one ego in the room on Saturday evening. There were performers of all styles and abilities ( more on how awesome thatwas shortly) and everyone was kind and respectful to each other. My pole buddies Frances, Holly and I shared our changing room with other performers who we hadn’t met before, and instantly got on right from the get go. Within 15 minutes we were comfortable enough to be sat there with our baps out applying pasties, and if that’s not a sign that you feel you can be yourself around people then fucking hell I don’t know what is.
As mentioned above, Coco and Misty stuck to their word and created a showcase which was supportive and encouraging to all performers. Not only were there people of varying abilities, but so many styles were showcased too. There was old school burlesque, comedy, freestyle, authentic stripper style and chair to name a few, which made for a rich and interesting night for the audience.
Whilst I’m on the topic of the audience, they must have been loving life on Saturday because they were fucking great. Each performer got plenty of cheers and encouragement, which when you’re up there performing makes a world of difference. Being on first, I had the pleasure of getting to watch the showcase whilst sat with the audience, and I can safely say everyone was very respectful and paid attention throughout the night too, which considering we managed to drink the bar dry before the end of the night makes it even more impressive that everyone was well behaved. Additionally, my husband, who has never been on a pole in his life, doesn’t know the difference between a reverse attitude and a Bird of Paradise yet has been dragged to umpteen pole shows by yours truly, said this was the most he had ever enjoyed a pole show and thought it was fantastic from start to finish. If you knew how much of an unimpressed curmudgeon he is, then shit the bed you know that’s a massive compliment.
Another aspect of Heelfire which makes it unique to other pole events I have both attended as a spectator and performed at was it’s different structure. Each guest performer (who were all incredible by the way and you should 100% make it your top priority to check out Vania Noble, Gemma Rose and Beanie the Jet if you haven’t done so already) closed each act, and Coco, Misty and their resident Heelfire vixens opened the show with a badass group performance to Master of Puppets. A very fitting (and fierce!) nod to Heelfire’s namesake and one that Eddie Munson himself would without doubt appreciate.
Furthermore, I can’t write an entire blog gushing about how much fun I had at Heelfire without mentioning how well cared for us performers were. Coco, Misty and the wonderful helpers backstage really went the extra mile to calm our nerves and make sure we all had the best experience possible. Everything from having three changing rooms to ensure we weren’t all crammed into one right through to providing goodie bags for us, which included eco-friendly medals, flasks and pole wear vouchers was thought of. They even reserved seats at the end of each row for performers to watch the showcase after they had performed, which was a lovely touch.
Overall I had the fucking best time at the first Heelfire showcase. Misty, Coco and the team really succeeded in their mission to create a friendly and welcoming atmosphere for performers and audience members alike. No matter if you’re a seasoned performer or spectator or if this was your first time at a pole show, you will love the Heelfire experience. I am certainly signing up to perform again next year and encourage others to do so too, trust me you won’t regret it.
Disclosure: The link above is an affiliate link, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn commission if you click through and make a purchase.
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