Celebrate Good Times, Come On!!

I couldn't resist posting this picture from Christmas night at my house last year. I bought some joke thongs for Nick and our friends boyfriends who were not shy about putting them straight on and giving us a good show on my pole!

There has been plenty to celebrate recently. I lost my job 2 weeks ago and have been very worried about getting another one due to the current state of this country and the fact I have been trying to get a job, specifically in a school for the last 8 months with no luck! But last week I got a call from one of the schools I have been pursuing and have been given a Teaching Assistant position at John Kitto Community College which I start tomorrow! I have been quietly stressing but I just knew if I kept going I would get somewhere! I'm one of those people who doesn't give up and when it's what I really want I have to make it happen! I am so pleased as it means I will be better off for time and money, can give more to The Art of Dance and my own training plus, and very important I can save up and visit my sister next year during the summer holidays who is moving to Australia in July this year. (That's if Sam will let me have the time off of course!)

I was poorly on the morning I had my interview and after they told me I got the job I left and burst into tears! It has been a long time trying and worrying about losing my piercing job and getting another but it all just happened at once! I collapsed on the sofa when I got home and Sam was kind enough to cover my Wednesday night lessons and let me stay on the sofa all night! I think the stress and relief got to me as I was quite poorly for a while! But I'm back to normal now and looking forward to seeing my students this week!

I enjoyed a good meeting and pole jam with Sam and the other Instructors last Friday, the main topic of conversation was the fab BBC Three documentary which I'm sure you have all seen. I think it clearly portrayed Sam in a positive fitness light, separated her from the glamour/seedy industry and showed the extent of what she's up against! I am beaming with pride for Sam as usual and thought she was a natural on the camera as was her husband Sid whose character came across really well!

So, new job, celebrity boss and my sister's 30th birthday coming up this weekend means that life is all good at the moment and there is plenty to celebrate!!

I did a bit of celebrating on the weekend by holding a 70's birthday party for my friend Gemma. The main attraction was my pole in the middle of my living room which I turned into a little disco with UV lighting and a disco ball! Watch out for full details on my next blog including lots of pictures of half naked men loving the pole!!

Until next time fellow pole dancers!

H x x

Vestival 2009

Here are my two performances from today's exhibition at the Vestival Event in the Piazza, Plymouth City Centre.

Mad Cow??

No not me! or the disease, well maybe me! but the name of a modeling agency I have recently signed up to.
In august last year I applied to a new agency via the Gumtree website and was contacted by them some time after who informed me that I was one of 200 picked out of 3000 applications! This meant that I would be listed on their website, can apply for assignments and was given the opportunity to a photo shoot in order to create a portfolio if I didn't have one. I was a bit skeptical at first but decided to bite the bullet and go for it.
I did a three hour shoot on the 24th of November and decided of course to take my pole! My pole at home is 10ft long and I had to borrow and extra piece from Sam to reach the ceiling in the studio making it over 13ft! I had to climb it with 2 men holding it up at the bottom while I attached it to the ceiling! For anyone who has put up an X Pole you can imagine how scary and difficult that was to do! I styled myself for the shoot and went with an idea I had to pose as three different types of dancer, Pole, Podium and Burlesque. I signed up to this website as I was interested in getting a professional portfolio done just as a keepsake and wanted to have some quality photographs on the pole of some of my favourite tricks (well the ones I can do at the moment!)
I don't know if any work will come out of this for me and didn't sign up to it with that realistically in mind but you never know?? After a long wait I have finally received my photographs and have to pick 10 for editing for my finished portfolio. Even though I am extremely self critical I was really pleased with the pictures and was given a Cd with almost 100 images. I have picked a few of my favourites to put on my blog and will update some of the older pole trick pictures soon. Here are a few for you to have a gander at in the meantime:




If you ever get the chance to have a professional photo shoot I highly recommend it! (Always check it out first though, my Mum and Nick were concerned about me doing this especially having never met the Mad Cow people before so Nick took me to the studio and left me to it when he felt comfortable.)

The experience of a professional shoot has always been on my to do list and I was surprised by my confidence on the set! Just goes to show the powerful influence of the Art of Dance, I would never have done this 3 years ago!!

Moofu, Me and the Dragons!

I don't know where to stat today as there is so much going on at the moment! I have posted my views about the recent controversy with Sam and the College on her blog page so you can enjoy reading my rant there! Despite the issue I certainly enjoyed seeing my fabulous boss on the News at Ten last night!

I guess I should start by explaining the title of my blog today as it is a bit random! Moofu is the name of my boyfriend Nick's business, me is me! and the Dragons are as you can see in the picture Peter Jones from the Dragons Den.
I have just got back from London after attending the BT Essence of the Entrepreneur awards with my boyfriend Nick who was one of twenty winners out of thousands of applicants nationwide. I mentioned in an earlier blog that he had a photo shoot last year with a famous photographer called Rankin and the pictures of the twenty winners were on display at the OXO building in Southbank wednesday night hence my not teaching in Liskeard this week!
Peter Jones is the famous face of the BT Entrepreneur Awards, he gave a speech and presented the winners with their certificates. I had joked about getting a picture with him before the event as he is soooo tall and I am tiny but didn't think we'd get the chance but after a few glasses of wine and the event being very intimate the opportunity presented itself and he was happy to have a picture taken with me. He took the mick out if my size by crouching down so you can't really see how tall he is next to me, I got a good grope of him though and have to say what a lovely man he is, very inspiring and he had a lot of time for everyone at the event.

Nick is well over 6ft tall and you can see him and Peter in the next picture when he was presenting Nick with his certificate how tall he really is!












Duncan Ballentine also attended and again was kind enough to sign Nicks certificate and allow us to take his picture.

Nick and I had such a great time at this event, we made a good networking team and enjoyed talking to the other nominees. Nick made some good contacts and we left quite drunk as the staff kept topping up our drinks every 5 mins so we don't really know how many glasses of free wine we had!
We were also celebrating our 2 year anniversary so Nick booked a very swish hotel for us to stay in and we enjoyed breakfast and a stroll around Canary Wharf the next day.

Again I am beaming with pride for Nick and his business and appreciate him involving me and taking me to such wonderful events. He always introduces me to everyone he talks to and tells them what I do with pride, we both enjoyed the reaction from the photographer Rankin when I told him I'm a Fitness Pole Dancing Instructor, he must have said wow 3 times and seemed very impressed! Moofu is doing well despite a rough end to last year and I have nothing but respect and admiration for Nick for all the hard work he puts in and what he is achieving (even though I do moan sometimes when he is soooo busy! Sorry baby!) He really is something special, a true Entrepreneur and the love of my life! Well done babe, in your own words, "Keep going and don't stop to look back!!"

Merry Christmas The Art of Dance!

Hello Everyone, I have done my last lesson of the year tonight and have come home and started the Christmas boozing already! I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and express how much I have enjoyed teaching all my lovely students this year and how proud I am of the achievements in my classes, my Liskeard students are coming along beautifully with their pole dancing! I have been teaching for a year now and it has flown by! I will be braving Drake Circus to do some shopping tomorrow, well my boyfriend Nick will be, he hasn't done any yet! and I'm just mooching, then I'm off to my Dads for the evening and waking up at my house Christmas day. I will be having Christmas lunch with Nick's parents and a party at my place with my friends in the evening. Finally I will be fitting a visit with my Mummy boxing day in Polperro and enjoying another Christmas lunch and a cliff walk! I am looking forward to the time off the next couple of weeks especially spending time with my lovely boyfriend who works sooo hard and also deserves a well earned rest!



Before I go and enjoy the Christmas festivities I would like to say a special congratulations to one of my students Tracey Moxham who is 35, has two children and lives in Liskeard. She joined us in September for pole dancing lessons at the Liskeard venue and has also had private lessons in Plymouth and at my home. Tracey's boyfriend Rob has been fighting pirates in Africa the last 4 months and on a mission to boost her fitness and confidence Tracey decided to give him a treat on his return for Christmas! We have been working together on a routine for Tracey to perform to her boyfriend when he gets back. She told Rob she started pole dancing lessons and he bought her a pole so she has been working very hard the last couple of months to perfect her routine, we decided on the song Black Velvet for the performance and I have been delighted with Tracey's progression. Rob knows she will perform for him when he gets back but I don't think he will be expecting the amazing tricks and fluidity that Tracey has achieved. I have been so impressed with how quick she has progressed she can easily invert and her routine includes the Gemini, Butterfly and a beautifully controlled Seated Fall Back! It is very impressive for a lady who has only been having lessons since September! So good luck for the big night Tracey! hope it goes well and I'm sure Rob will get the Christmas present of his life! I am very proud of you and have thoroughly enjoyed our lessons your so lovely and genuine and I look forward to hearing about your performance in the new year!















On that note, Merry Christmas to all at the Art of Dance, see you in the New Year!

News in pictures

Last month Sam and I were invited to the Echo Centre in Liskeard to do a pole dancing display, here are some of the pictures, you can view more on Sam's blog and on our art of dance facebook group.

My performance at Annabel's discotheque

Sorry about the lack of lighting on this video.