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"We all like to think to ourselves, I could do that , right?" The opening post-performance remark by dance teacher Sarah Stackhouse was telling. Alluding to the ever-escalating razzle-dazzle of modern dance performance (Circ du Soleil? Momix?), she spoke of the virtue of winding back to something accessible, something perhaps even we could do ... I was offered tickets to see Signatures 10 , a performance by the New York Theater Ballet. This outfit is sometimes confused with the New York City Ballet by barackberrying blow-ins with short attention spans (like me). I had no idea what I was about to see, no time to Google, and more importantly, no idea what this little dance company was really all about. From its "About": New York Theatre Ballet was founded in 1978 by its artistic director, Diana Byer. It is the most widely seen chamber ballet company in the United States ... has earned acclaim for its restoration and revival of small masterworks by great cho...

You never know who you might run into when you least expect it ... As you can see, mother is still on a tear in NYC. Her visit to 'the center of the universe' is drawing to a close and she will soon return to her 15 year post at Sydney's premier stufforama to the stars, Peter's of Kensington. Not only is she the oldest staff member there, she knows how to sell Alessi accoutrements like a deeeeemaaaan ...   MOMIX: Herbal tonic for eyes! Last night we scored $19 frontish-row tickets to the most amazing, trippy, surreal, illusionist dance performance I've seen since Philippe Genty - MOMIX's 'Botanica' at the Joyce Theater . OK, I saw PG a looooong time ago. Perhaps this stuff is now mainstream ... "It's like Circ du Soleil before the latter went all commercial," said mother. Google MOMIX and you'll see it's commandeered by a truly Dali-esque character-choreographer, Moses Pendleton. This show opened with a stunning multime...

There's always a pole to practice on, like this one on New York's L-Train Amber, Miss Poledance NSW WITH THIS, my third – or is it fourth? –  post about pole, I'm starting to get funny looks at the confessional. How long can I keep up the line "I only do it for my biceps/triceps, honest" when, with all my gallivanting around Oz for Bike Friday , I've barely had time to shin up the $550 chrome wonder propping up our living room ceiling? After my first multimedia post about the school, the principals Vanessa and Bobbi gifted my mother and I with two ringside, or should I say, bathtub side tickets, to one of their July Showtime evenings. Yes, the third 2-hour, champagne-drenched recital by the teachers featured a smoking act involving a couple of plastic shell-shaped bathtubs, ankle deep water, two sea sponges and the reigning Miss Poledance Australia, Candice, and Miss Poledance NSW, Amber. (As a duo, I reckon they should call themselves "CandAmber...

PHOTO GALLERY: Bobbi's Pole Studio End of Term recital MOVIE CLIP: Poledancing - the perfect workout for the modern urban cyclista In just a couple of years since my mother and daughter excursion into this femme fatale fitness fad, it seems poledancing has become the new 5BX - or rather X(XX?)BX of exercise for women of all ages, stages and sizes. I landed back downunder to discover that the local PoleStars franchise, where I did my introductory course, was up for sale. However, an outfit called Bobbi's Pole Studio was going great guns, with reportedly 1000 students. When I asked Bobbi, an utterly magnificent speciman of the XX chromosome, why she was leading the pack, she replied, "I've been doing poledancing all my life." Her studio, discreetly housed on the 4th floor of an old diva of a building, has zero street presence, perhaps to deter any riff raff. When you mount the stairs, you arrive on a floor bathed in pink lights and shiny fabrics and p...

Right: Terrence Carey allows you to hallucinate that you're Catherine Zeta-Jones in "Chicago" for an hour in his 'Adrenalize' class One frustrating aspect of my life as a road warrior is the lack of continuity for things that require it – like classes. Sure, there's the odd drop-in yoga class, and a single guitar lesson might teach you enough of 'Stairway to Heaven' to get you banned from every guitar shop in town; you can loiter around a Trader Joe's cooking demo and fantasize you're at the Iron Chef's bootcamp. But for what I love to dabble in – dance - you generally need continuity. Most exercise classes are humdrum, and most modern dance classes are too complicated, especially if you're not a regular. I want a quick fix that makes this knock-kneed novice feel I'm training for both a big bike race, an MTV clip or Catherine Zeta Jones' tole in "Chicago", all at the same time. And all in 1 hour. I stumbled (trying to ...

The Foetal: As performed by the expert Tamara. One mis-timed knee placement leads to a nice black bruise ... PHOTO GALLERY: All 6 lessons - yes, the whole pole! MOVIE CLIPS: Lesson 4: our progress thus far Lesson 6: the Final Exam! YEOOOWWW. I've got a large black bruise on my left knee from a poorly timed leg-over during the 'Extended Foetal' move (see photo, minus me and bruise). Not to mentioned a giant nimbostratus on my right inner thigh from attempting 'Upside Down' no-hands ... Our 6 week Beginner Poledancing course is all over bar the fat lady swinging - with legs in flying V formation of course (the 'Reach for the Stars' move). I honestly thought I'd be blogging our progress each week, but when not gripping the drop bars on my Bike Friday, my keyboard fingers have been busy clutching our 50 cm diameter, demountable chrome dance pole, now lovingly installed smack in the middle of our teensy living room. We learned well over 20 moves plus a pile o...

The pole has arrived - and my mother swings into action Pre-reading:  Poledancing 101: A Mother and Daughter experience The Pole has arrived!  Or rather, my mother drove to the warehouse and collected it. I had noble plans to set up the bike trailer, cajole the Bike Friday Club of Sydney to chaperone me through the semi-industrial badlands of Botany and land it the carbon-friendly way. Turns out the box was as tall, wide and almost as heavy as I am - the warehouse manager actually used a little forklift to lower it into mum's car. We wrestled it up the stairs and sat down to watch the DVD. I still can't believe we've gone and done this. I have to remind myself it's no different from someone laying down cash for one of those treadmills, stationary bicycles, exercise balls and mini trampolines they end up ignoring after the initial buzz and good intentions wear off. The X-pole exposed   The X-pole is basically a set of chromed sections that screw together, with a...

Pole Dancing [def:] A type of vertical gymnastics using a stationary or spinning steel shaft and usually, footwear with a sharp heel. Said to have been invented by a bored cleaning lady in a fire station one evening, although this has never been verified. The Carousel: rather like twirling honey on a spoon - when you're not falling flat on your ass "Pole dancing? Want to try it? BYO pole!" I'll try anything once, maybe thrice, and I know who I get it from: my 69-year young mother of all mothers.   She greeted me at Sydney airport with her latest "why the hell not?" idea: pole dancing. Specifically, a website scribbled on a piece of paper: www.polestars.com.au Her intention was that I do it, not "what?-me-with-my-bad-back?" she, but I secretly signed both of us up for the $A39, 2-hour "taster lesson."  On the big night, we took ourselves into town on the bus, armed with our "Virgin Polestar" e-reser...