We are the champions (again)!

We’re recovering after an excitingly busy weekend spent in Belfast at the annual All Ireland Pole Dancing Championship!

We are delighted to announce that our instructor Leanne has been crowned the new All Ireland Pole Dancing Champion at a Professional level! Please join us in congratulating her!

LEANNE CUMMINS – TAIPDC 2015 from Norm Keilty on Vimeo.

Kathleen also competed at pro level and although she did not place, she made a beautiful and compelling performance that showcased her stunning flexibility and confidence as a performer.

KATHLEEN DOHERTY – TAIPDC 2015 from Norm Keilty on Vimeo.

I (Arlene) also got to take part in the action with a really fun special guest performance as a farewell piece for the end of my year as Champion 😉

Thanks to our IPDA students Rana, Laura, Mar and Lulu who came all the way up from Dublin to show their support!

To become a champion in pole dancing is no easy feat; months of preparation go into preparing a 4-minute performance including training for strength, flexibility and stamina! Choosing the right music and the right pole dance moves that best showcase your skill level and personality are all important in order put together a performance that will not only impress the judges but wow the audience.

But being a ‘champion’ and winning isn’t how you should measure your own success. As someone who constantly competes with myself to do and better and better, in all areas of my life, I feel it very difficult but necessary to stop judging myself by how much I have achieved or what external recognition I am getting. I feel that as modern women we are encouraged to ‘compete’ with ever-idealised standards and to strive for perfection that is set out by the expectations that society sets out…

Today, I challenge you to take a moment to step back from yourself and recognise what you achieved in the past 12 months. The ‘successes’, the ‘failures’, the big things and the small things. Recognise that everything you have achieved that makes you who you are today and congratulate yourself. Enjoy where you are at on your journey and don’t worry about the next shiny thing you want to achieve. Be happy where you are today.

Arlene x