WE DID IT!!!!! (Warning. many explanation points used in this post!!!)

You guys rock!!!
Thank you each and every one for your contribution and your belief in this project! And to all ($$ or no), it's exciting to know that we are lifting this project off the ground with the backing of the coolest people around. Going forward, we will be posting on the behind-the-scenes adventures complete with photos and stories. Stay tuned for the photo of us raising a toast to you!

lift off?

We're 35 hours away (Tuesday, November 16, 12:46 pm) from finding out if we're going to make our money goal ($315 shy) on kickstarter. And as it gets closer and closer, the possibilities of how this project is going to fly become more and more real. You know when you have a dream that seems very far away and suddenly, inch by inch, it seems to get closer. You know those moments that you may have said something to yourself like, Are you kidding? ME? do that? Sure I want to, but....I wouldn't know how to start. Well this project has been like that. The idea to tell the story of what women often don't tell... through a movement that is beyond just movement. An idea rose up a few years ago. Now, Kathy has a script rolling, we have dancers, actors and singers interested and involved. We have a fundraising project mere hours away from meeting its goal.

It makes me think of how we go step-by-step into the world, taking on challenges, not knowing what lies on the other side. When I first stepped into the dance studio, who knew that over three years later I would be celebrating this powerful feeling so much that it would become clear that everyone should know about it (hence the idea for Taking Flight). Who knew that as I approach the age of 50 that i'd love my body enough to feel a confidence in sharing it that is sensual/powerful rather than sexual/scared. Who knew that the community of women i've met (and continue to meet) would all connect in the way we do because of this movement. I do know that if all ladies could dive into this powerful sense of self (clearly allowing for freak-outs, but those are grounded differently now), female confidence would be the new black and we'd all be wearing it proudly.

I do know that we are closer than we've ever been to sharing this vision through dance, song and spoken word. The clock ticks down, but time, of course, goes on.
--LS

We promised a behind the scenes look at the making of Pole Play: Taking Flight, so here it is. I am very bummed. I have hurt my arm, pulled a major muscle so I can't lift it at all, and had to miss my pole dancing classes this week! I seriously had to use my other hand to lift my hurt arm up to the computer so I could type this, it's that bad. You might think I injured my arm from all the pole dancing, but I didn't. It was from slinging my overly heavy purse and backpack (symbolic baggage?) over the same shoulder when I was in a hurry to get somewhere! (I live in New York, we're always in a hurry. Don't really know why.) So now I can't even lift my right arm at all, and I'm a righty! This made me stop and think, why am I carrying so much heavy stuff around? I don't need it all. Actually, I don't need 90% of it! What I need is to drop all the extra shi--I mean stuff-- that is weighing me down physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually! I need to drop the worry and the baggage so I can feel lighter and...and fly around the pole faster and higher! See there, in my world it always comes back to the pole! And...And...And I just got another idea for our play! Can't tell you all the details right now, but it involves letting go of the baggage that is weighing us down when we try to fly! Gotta go and write on the script right now, if I can keep my painful arm on the keyboard!

51 Supporters!

the asking

It's a challenge to ask! To believe in what's being asked for! This project via Kickstarter has been a real study in that. As we move into the (plus-one-day) last week of our fundraising (ends on wednesday the 17th), the act of requesting help to get to our goal reminds me of all the times I've kept quiet when I needed something. Or believed in something. Or just plain wanted something. Well all those three things are true in this case: need ($2,100 to reach our goal), believe (that this project is not only exciting and sexy, but incredibly enlightening and entertaining as well. How often can you say all that about one piece of performance?), want (I want this to lift off and reach its goal).

So in keeping with those moments, I'm challenging my normal way and laying it all out right here, so that this blog can feature even more pictures and great stories as we ramp up to showtime!! Showtime, that's what I'm talking about. We need your help to get there...
and thanks!

-LS

Stilettos

Yesterday a pole dancer said she preferred to pole dance in a simple man's shirt because "all this girly stuff is SO complicated!" By girly stuff, she was referring to all the sexy things we typically think of pole dancers wearing, fishnets, garter, boa, stiletto shoes, push-up bra, etc. And it made me laugh, because I had already ripped off the red stilettos that I was trying to dance in and in a fit of anger at the pain they caused and the restrictions they put on my movement, I had thrown them across the room where they almost hit another dancer but luckily slammed against the wall and fell useless into the shadows on the floor, where they belonged. And my bare feet literally danced around the pole once again in joy, comfort and freedom!

All this to say, you will not see me dancing in stilettos during our Pole Play! But don't despair if you love stilettos, some of our other dancers enjoy them and may dance in them, but there will be no complicated girly shoes for me!

I will, however, have girly red painted toes!

-KS

Thanks to the Suffragettes!

I just voted in our national elections, and I am reminded of the suffragettes, of their determination, voices and sacrifices that gave me the civil right I just enjoyed. Many of them went to prison, endured solitary confinement and forced feeding through the nose so they could do what I did so easily today. But they didn't just do it for themselves, they also did it for their daughters and their female descendents so their...our... voices can be heard as long as there is an America.

The story of the suffragettes is one of several women's stories we will visit in our play, Pole Play: Taking Flight. We know we stand on their shoulders even when we pole dance, because they fought for our right to have our voices, concerns and stories heard in whatever form our expression takes. Because of suffragettes, and other women who came before and after them, I have the freedom to dance and express myself however I please, and today that means I will dance on a pole!

-KS

Fundraising Website

Check out our online fundraising website and video by clicking on the blue address above or going to

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1509265282/pole-play-taking-flight-a-stage-play-featuring-pol

We're Up On It!

Our Kickstarter project is getting closer and closer to reality as more people are pledging their support. Stay tuned for more goodies and behind the scenes moments so you can see exactly where your money's going and all the excitement of each step, climb and twirl!
Yay. We're truly taking flight!
LS-

turn turn turn

Summer into fall, twirl and turn. Personally I enjoy the new beginnings that this season brings, and right now our Pole Play: Taking Flight is sosososo close to kickstarting itself to life! We have beautiful pictures and a clip that director Kathy Sorenson has crafted. And if you're reading this, that means you've most likely seen the video on the KickStarter site and donated to our show! Thank you, and stay tuned for more scenes (and maybe outtakes) from our video shoot!
Yay,
Lauren
Producer

tease

more awesome footage for the Kickstarter video. Here's what we discovered: It's kind of tough to talk when performing tricks...(that could be a pole tip for the day: breathe when speaking and climbing and talking at the same time).

Also, my neighbor, who is a horn player and often practices and/or teaches from early evening to late most weeknights, was happily sporadic in his blowing, meaning that for the most part we had some time to film without the sound of "Taps" (or whatever it is he plays) being heard in the background. Bravo!

Stay tuned for updated pictures. This one is of me meditating on the climb I'm about to do. This expression really does illuminate what is going on inside as I sink into the moment. Ahhhh.
--Lauren, Producer

Accepted!!!

YEA! We got accepted by the fundraiser website www.kickstarter.com so now we can raise money for our POLE PLAY online!!!! Which I guess you already know if you are reading this, since you got access to this blog by contributing to our play via Kickstarter! But this is the day we got the news that we will be able to reach out to you, and we, the FLIGHT CREW, are soooo excited that yours and our combined efforts are going to make this unique pole dancing play a reality! THANK YOU!!!

Now we need to make a video for Kickstarter that will tell you about our project and entice you to help! Any ideas??? ;)

-Kathy, writer/director

Pole Tip of the Day - Some days, like today, the body just needs to take a break from pole dancing and rest in a hot bath of epson salts! Sorry, I will NOT post any photos to illustrate this point!

What Happened to You?

Even while we are preparing for our Pole Play, we are all still studying pole dancing on our own. Whether it's through pole classes at various studios, private lessons, tutoring, or just asking another dancer "Hey, can show me how you did that," we are all still learning or improving new moves. Which means...pole bruises! Big, colorful, usually round like a pole, very obvious bruises on the arms and legs guaranteed to bring the question "What happened to you?" My favorite answer is the honest one "Oh, this? Pole dancing," which is a sure conversation starter! But sometimes a girl can't be honest, like when my high school students ask the question. In that case I usually say I was "playing sports," or "helping a friend move" or "slipped while contemplating a physics problem." All are true, by the way! Pole dancing, or pole gymnastics, is a sport being considered by the Olympics. I WAS helping a friend move...on the pole. And whenever I'm in the middle of a trick or spin and get into my head about HOW this works, in other words, the physics of it, then I do slip or fall which creates...you guessed it, another big bruise!

-Kathy, writer/director

Pole Tip of the Day #1 - Remember that pole bruises are sexy and be proud of how you got them!

Pole Tip of the Day #2 - Don't think! Thinking while in action is the fastest way to ruin a pole trick, spin or any creative endeavor!

The Way We Dance

Untitled from amy kim on Vimeo.

Amy and Ilov showing the type of dance movement that will be featured in POLE PLAY: TAKING FLIGHT.

Duet

Amy & Ilov (duet) from amy kim on Vimeo.

Ilov and Amy showing the type of dance movement that will be featured in our stage play POLE PLAY: TAKING FLIGHT.

Chills

There was a moment last night where i looked around the dance studio and got chills realizing how lucky I am to sit and see and feel the strength that this movement brings to women! This is what I want the world to see and feel, too!
--Lauren, Producer

Pole Tip of the Day - Stay in the moment because the moment is beautiful!

We Are Hot!!!!

We are HOT! We are so HOT that Lauren, Amy, Ilov and I (Kathy) just had to pick the hottest week of the year (over 100 degrees in NYC) to have our first POLE PLAY: TAKING FLIGHT publicity photo session! It was so sexy, with sweat flying across the homemade dance studio in Lauren's apartment, as the ladies spun around the pole, hair plastered to faces, and soaked skin sliding right off the pole! Yes, the air-conditioning was on, but sometimes the women in a room are just so steaming hot that a stream of air is just not enough to cool things down! Luckily water, beer, fruit munchies and mid-shoot cold showers for the dancers helped us survive!

-Kathy, Writer/Director

Pole Tip of the Day --The short shorts and small tops of our dancers were not worn because of the heat! It's because fabric slides right off a pole while bare skin sticks better. That is why pole dancers' outfits tend to be a bit....uh...."skimpy!"

Welcome!!!!

We are so excited to bring you updates both visual and written on the progress surrounding our production Pole Play: Taking Flight.

Please click on the About Us section above to check out our bios, pictures and videos. Get to know us and follow our flow as we document the journey toward opening night.

Stay tuned for some pictures and words from our first Pole Play meeting. Let's just say it was steamy!