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April 17th 2023: The end of an era but an exciting, if not bittersweet, day for my business Irish Pole Dance Academy, as we finished our journey at D-Light Studios and became a borderless online studio.
Here’s a bit of back-story for those who might not know the history of Irish Pole Dance Academy…
I set up Irish Pole Dance Academy at the end of 2010 (after some years of being an unemployed graphic design graduate) with the vision of creating a beautiful studio space where I could teach classes and build a strong community of folks who supported each other and lifted each other up; a non-judgemental space to truly let your hair down and forget about the outside world for an hour or so (whilst hanging from a steel pole).
Back then there were very few pole dance studios in Ireland, and especially in Dublin for some strange reason! Since 2006, I had been very heavily involved in the Irish pole dance community; I’ve had more TV, radio and media appearances than I can count, and have won so many national titles including Miss Pole Dance Ireland 2007, several Irish Pole Championship titles and a bunch of other pole dance competitions in Ireland!
I finally made my vision a reality on February 22nd 2014 when I first moved into D-Light Studios in Dublin 1. This beautiful unit on the ground floor has been home to my little business ever since, and it has grown, thrived and evolved through many years (including throughout the lockdowns!).
But now, my time as a brick-and-mortar pole dance studio owner is at a natural end as I’m focusing on my post-graduate studies in Fine Art, as well as focusing on delivering my Old School Pole Dance workshops and online pole dancing lessons.
On April 17th, I have passed on my studio space at D-Light Studios to my colleague Ella Lockhart who has rebranded it to House Of Pole.
It has been an amazing 9+ years of IPDA in its current format at D-Light Studios and already Ella is doing a fantastic job of maintaining and building upon the lovely community that exists there. I can’t wait to see all that she will create with this new venture; she is a natural leader and an asset to our pole dance community here in Ireland!
However, it’s not the end of Irish Pole Dance Academy. Though I have ceased offering classes at D-Light Studios, I am continuing with my online pole dancing lessons and tutorials, as well as teaching guest workshops and pole dance masterclasses.
I hope you’ll also agree with me that D-Light and its creative community is something special. I know that I am going to miss working with Agata and all of the team at D-Light terribly, and would like to give a massive thank you to everyone. Think of it as a ‘see you later’ rather than a ‘farewell’!
Slán go fóill,
Arlene