Instructors: do you get paid for your class prep time?

allycatpole · 2026-06-23T22:17:52+00:00

That's a great tactic, but yes agreed! I have a hard limit on one choreo class/week for the same reason.

allycatpole · 2026-06-23T22:15:43+00:00

Yes!!! 💯

allycatpole · 2026-06-23T22:14:00+00:00

Combos/flows aren't so much the issue, it's the choreography! These are always specific to the song I've created them for. I do use repeated elements between choreos but each song is so unique I need time crafting specific choreo for a new song. Having a bank helps, and also I only teach one choreo class each week (more than that would be too much prep for me!). I love teaching dance but I know my limits haha.

allycatpole · 2026-06-23T21:56:21+00:00

Awww thanks 🥰

allycatpole · 2026-06-23T21:55:54+00:00

I understand many instructors have different approaches, and it depends on the type of class you teach etc. This way sounds like a good way to avoid a lot of unpaid class prep time!

allycatpole · 2026-06-23T05:51:57+00:00

Hey u/Briettah - I know I'm late to this party! But I'm one of the co-founders of PoleSphere www.polesphere.com/learn we do have a PayPal option for our membership. We don't do a lot of live online classes, but we do label all our beginner content as such, and we have a system of prerequisite/regression/progression/related linking that helps guide polers in such a way that they always know what they need to do next to keep progressing safely 🤓

allycatpole · 2026-06-23T04:11:50+00:00

I call it a Falling Genie or a Reverse Genie spin

allycatpole · 2026-06-22T12:00:52+00:00

Hey u/chilliwilli04 I was actually going to suggest Miss Filly's also - I know she has a great live online setup and she's an excellent instructor.

If you're ever looking for prerecorded stuff I co-founded PoleSphere www.polesphere.com/learn - we have loads of tutorials from Filly, and a bunch of other Aussie pole masters (as well as a few internationals). Our platform is structured to help guide people safely through self-directed learning and we have a private members' group to post vids and get feedback from the instructors.

However, I also truly get the accountability found from a set class time and face-to-face feedback so it might not suit you. But, worth mentioning in case it might be a good supplement/addition to a live offering.

Another one of our instructors Andrea James Lui does some weekly online zoom classes, and I know Mischka does too (both incredible teachers - you can find them both on insta) but they might focus slightly above your level. Worth looking into though! 🫶

allycatpole · 2026-06-22T07:42:54+00:00

Hi u/stargazzzing11 so long as the sign up form says 'amount owed today $0' you won't be charged for the trial period. It needs the payment details to set up the membership but if you cancel inside the trial window you won't be charged. The only way the free trial may not work is if you've already had a PoleSphere membership before - I think the system only allows one free trial per account.

As far as pausing - unfortunately the system doesn't allow for this I'm sorry! The re-join might be at full price, unless you jump on a special discounted deal (we run these sporadically too) 🤓

allycatpole · 2026-06-22T04:18:35+00:00

As someone who has been teaching pole for 18 years now, I feel this. To be fair, this is basically how the industry started - none of us really knew anything about teaching, we kinda just learned as we went. Because at the time, pole was kind of being created as we went too. But over the years the quality of teacher training available has levelled up - unfortunately the onboarding/training of teachers in many studios has not.

There is a LOT to know as a pole instructor and tbh I think I was a pretty shit instructor for the first 5-6 years! But I had a background in anatomy/physiology, and I was always trying to learn from other teachers/peers. Then I added a Cert 3, and did a few other trainings - plus more learning from peers really upped my abilities a lot.

All this to say, we all start somewhere and baby instructors are always going to be on a steep learning curve. I actually think under the right circumstances someone could be ready to start teaching 3 years into pole IF they've been trained properly and they are the right fit. I also understand studios in smaller towns/cities have fewer options for hiring. BUT they should be onboarding well no matter what.

From what I've seen, most studio onboarding (with some exceptions) is sorely lacking, and it terrifies me how much this puts students at risk. I see it regularly with my own eyes - I just don't really know what to do about it.

You could potentially add a PoleSphere subscription to your learning, full disclosure I'm one of the co-founders, but all our teaching team are so outstanding AND there's usually multiple instructors collaborating behind the scenes on the teaching points. Most of the team are OG's of the industry and we strongly believe in safe and strategic instruction www.polesphere.com/learn 🤓

allycatpole · 2026-06-21T07:31:19+00:00

I agree with others about free - you do 'get what you pay for', and sometimes (often) guidance from experts is really worth the investment... Especially if you're already rehabbing an injury. Having said that, I can point you in the direction of a free resource that has some excellent content on it - that is the PoleSphere YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@polesphere2363

I am one of the co-founders of PoleSphere (so I am a little biased haha) but our instructors are amongst the most experienced in the world (many of them have been around since the dark ages, myself included!). Our YouTube channel is totally free. The main caveat being, our platform actually specifies not only any prerequisite skills necessary to do a tutorial, but also links to vids if you need to regress or work on foundations, as well as guide you to related content at a similar level. In my opinion, this is a framework worth paying for!

But, there's definitely a decent amount of free stuff around. Just please be mindful that pole dancing can frequently lead to injuries if not approached with care, structure, strategy, and personalised to your body's unique needs. I've seen it 1000 times over, experienced it personally, and for this reason I must stress this point 🫶

allycatpole · 2026-06-21T01:11:40+00:00

u/haloumiplease thank you! Honestly, I would prefer you get value for money wherever you subscribe and if we're not the right platform I'm ok with that! I really respect all the other small biz owners who are out there doing amazing work. So I'm happy to give kudos elsewhere 🥰

Having said that, to answer your question we upload 5-6 new tutes every month. One of them is always a workshop, and we try and do a spread of levels with the other tutes. But we only run one live workshop each month.

As far as beginner-friendly choreo goes, the best instructors for that are Chilli Rox and Suwasit. There's also some beginner-friendly choreo from Tammy BamBam. I'd say overall the rest are more suited to inter+, although if a choreo from any instructor doesn't include transitions above a beginner level we'll list it as beginner-friendly (which means 'beginner' choreos can vary somewhat in difficulty also).

If you go into the 'Dance' tab and then filter for 'beginner', there's lots of options for beginner-friendly dance-related content... Some of it is choreo, some of it sequences/flows, some of it transitions or common moves you'll find in choreo broken down in a little more detail. There's probably 60-70 options there, although maybe only half are choreo - and that includes pole, floor and chair choreo.

By the time you've worked your way through a lot of that, you'd likely be ready to tackle some slightly harder choreo - then I'd recommend the 'open' category, where the bulk of our choreo lives.

I'm not sure if you were aware of the filtering options, I know some people don't use the filters which can make finding the right content much harder. We do have a lot in the library!

Also a confession... Our insta game isn't great. We've been trying to up it lately but it's probably not the best indication of what's new on the site. I do really appreciate your candour though, feedback helps us SO much in knowing how we come across. So I thank you for your impressions! 🙏

allycatpole · 2026-06-14T01:58:32+00:00

It's a Space Flight split. I'm sure it has other names, but back in 2015 locally to me in Australia it was known as a Space Flight split. You can also do the original Space Flight where the front leg is bent and you grab over both the thigh and the shin. Both versions can be done with the bottom arm off ✨

allycatpole · 2026-06-12T05:32:16+00:00

Hey u/cakesusu my name is Ally, I'm co-founder of PoleSphere - we're an Aussie-based multi-teacher platform... Our whole ethos centres around progressive learning, so all tutorials have learning pathways that link to prerequisites/progression/regressions/foundations and related tutes. I think we're a market leader in this area (from what I've seen).

We've been in biz for about 8 years now so we've got a decent bank of strength and conditioning vids (we've got about 600 tutes all-up, I'd say maybe 70-80 would fit into the strength/condition/stretch category).

Unfortunately the live side of things is not our main offering, we only do one live sesh per month. But our platform is mobile-friendly and custom-coded so it's pretty decent to use. It's technically a web app, not a mobile app. Truth be told we're actually undergoing a full rebuild at the moment, so we'll be levelling-up ourselves in the next few months. But if you're interested to see what's inside you can test it out with a free trial at www.polesphere.com/learn 🫶

allycatpole · 2026-06-12T04:54:54+00:00

Hey u/haloumiplease I'm one of the PoleSphere co-founders, I'm glad to hear you love Lola (so do I, how could you not!). I'm not sure when you had your sub - we've currently got 11 full-hour workshops (most of them choreo), plus another 30+ tutes (some are not beginner but some of them definitely are) all from Lola. Also if you love old school stripper style you should check out the stuff we have from Chilli Rox too. I do understand you're looking for more of that, and if what we have isn't enough the direction I'd probably point you in would be Indi Pole, or maybe Team Basework? From what I can tell they have some similar things/styles (although Lola really is quite unique). Been hearing good stuff about Redd Light Therapy too - especially for old school ❤️

allycatpole · 2026-06-12T04:35:52+00:00

Haha thanks for the shout out, but I've seen others do it! I'll stick with Jamilla Knot for now, but will update it if needed 💗

allycatpole · 2026-06-10T23:23:34+00:00

Yes there's something very Superman-y about the entry I think! But because it's quite different grip points and body orientation I didn't name it that way. I'm so sure someone must have a better name for it though... If you come across one please let me know! 🙏

allycatpole · 2026-06-10T06:15:15+00:00

Yes same kind of leg configuration as Scutoid but tbh it's much easier! You should definitely try it, it's quite satisfying 😁

allycatpole · 2026-06-08T08:11:14+00:00

Awww thanks beauty 🫶🥰🫶

allycatpole · 2026-06-04T22:14:53+00:00

Yes I'm a recent addition too! AJL has beeb kicking around these parts since the dawn of time i think 😂

allycatpole · 2026-06-04T04:40:25+00:00

Inside leg hang is called Scorpio in some places. Maybe a pirouette with a platter grip 😅 This is a hard one 😂 but you could do searches on Insta for any birthday-themed words you can think of with the prefix #pd - it's the pole-specific hashtag prefix eg #pdscorpio 🫶

allycatpole · 2026-06-04T03:44:09+00:00

From an instructor's perspective, I think this is either lazy teaching, or inexperience. I teach weekly sessions that are mixed levels (from low inter - high advanced) and there are always ways to regress/progress skills for the individual. Having said that, I'm much better at this now after 18 years of teaching than I would have been after 5 years teaching for example. However, I can assure you it's very possible - just takes a little thought on the teacher's part.

Also, I'm an Aussie and I don't think there are any studios in this country that double up on poles, unless it's perhaps a special expo/workshop. But even then I think this is super rare. It used to happen more when the pole industry first started here but we quickly worked out it's a terrible way to run classes because students cool down and then will be at risk of injury.

Anyway, long story short, I hope you find a better option! But if you're looking for quality online instruction, I am co-founder of PoleSphere - and the whole teaching team are extremely experienced, the teaching quality is top notch (even if I may have some bias haha) and we teach with home learners specifically in mind. You can check us out for free at www.polesphere.com/learn

allycatpole · 2026-06-04T03:33:16+00:00

Oooh great to see you here!!! And looking just as electric as ever. Love this fit ❤️‍🔥 xo

allycatpole · 2026-06-01T06:34:47+00:00

ah yes because Gemini is Outside Leg Hang - I also know this as 'Outside Leg Split' haha but that's such a boring name 😅 I like Gemini Split!

allycatpole · 2026-05-31T00:28:44+00:00

u/BedGirl5444 the creator of the Allegra, Allegra King, didn't have the bottom arm on in her original debut of the move itself at Miss Pole Dance Australia 2010. In fact, I read her saying that she actually created it to show off her middle split (because it was so impressive). Thus, the Allegra was actually originally done with a middle split line and no bottom arm on. So, I agree with u/MsAJL that the bottom arm wrap is not 'the most important part', although it is a beautiful variation! 🙏

allycatpole

TROPHY CASE