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Getting ready for a pole-dancing contest isn't nothing. Creating a choreography, choosing the moves and matching transitions, the music, the character and the outfit. On top of that, training in itself and dealing with competitive stress. Floor Rodermans and Ariane van der Vegte already give you some wonderful insights in the first two blogs on this subject. They're lucky they're the ones who make all the decisions, they act as soloists. But is that actually true? lucky to do it all alone? According to the pole dance duo Dieuwke and Suzy, of DuoPolenottiit's just an advantage that there's two of them.
Dieuwke and Suzy reveal how they are preparing for the Dutch pole-and-Line Championships 2018. Who? Dieuwke and Suzy, you know, those two smiley faces who suddenly appeared on the 2017 NK pole dance last year, as a duo and took second place! And this was their first participation in an open national competition.
Pole competition history:
- Club Championships (2016, 2emailplace)
- Dutch Pole-Dancing Championships (2017, 2nd place))
- Firelilly (2017))
- World Pole-Dancing Championships (2017 ))
How come you on to pole dance competitions to go do?"We had seen a duo pole dancing and wanted to try if we could, just for fun. The next club championships of the dance studio where we dance we participated! We saw this more as a performance than a contest. And we liked that so much that we signed up for a number of big games and the NK pole dancing in the category doubles. It was intended that we would first participate in two other races, but because the date of the NK was brought forward, it turned out to be our first match! While making the choreography for the NK we pay particular attention to what we liked, less what would yield many points. Our primary goal was not to be a last. We never expected to be second. That makes it extra exciting this year. As if expectations were suddenly much higher. This year we will also pay more attention to the code of points*."
How long have they known each other? "Two and a half years, of which two years we form a duo. The click was right there. From the first time I met Dieuwke during the pole dance class, training was accompanied by a lot of fun. I also made sure that I took up my classes when Dieuwke was going to be there and kept standing 'coincidentally' near her, hoping that it would not be noticed that we were dancing at the same pole all the time."Dieuwke reveals that she did the same and was afraid that if you noticed, she'd be put away as half a stalker. And they laugh at it again. Very contagious is their laughter. The interview was therefore accompanied by the shaking of the ABS and the constant strain of the cheeks. You get a dose of cheerfulness free of charge when you meet one of these two. They sit side by side on the couch, look at each other before they respond to the questions and agree with each other's answers. They finish each other's sentences and fill each other's sentences to. The interview therefore flows from one subject to another and it is clear that these two girls are more than just a pole dance duo. "Pole dancing has brought me not only a good duopartner, but also a best friend" indicates Dieuwke. Suzy gives her a big hug right away. Endearing and cute, the way they hang out. But they're not pussies. They are very driven and serious when it comes to their role as double. For each other and for each other. "She is the last from whom I get a message in the evening and the first to whom I send a message in the morning."
How do you guys prepare for a game? Dieuwke and Suzy are having a party! "We go to an all-you-can-eat sushi place and between the rounds the table is full of loose pages of the code of points, because this year we are taking much more into account. We're looking at what we're comfortable with and what moves we think we're good at. We have a folder on google drive where we put documents like music. Then everyone can join and leave notes. Dineke (Minten) our coach also helps in this. This is actually very smooth. The training and the location where we can train goes a little less smoothly. We depend on Studios and practice hours. And not every studio has the height or material of the game poles. In addition, we have two busy agendas to take into account. Renting a studio and our coach is running out of expenses. And we haven't even added the makeup and outfits.”
“We think of the transitions after choosing the mandatory parts. During or between training. Suzy often invents the best transitions at night when she can't sleep. I hear that on a voice app in the morning."- Suzy adds: "And Dieuwke then adds a scoop and wants to make everything a drop!"- "It was true love when Suzy said last week 'we can drop into it!'”
The best thing about choreography is they think it's original transitions. "I find that we really complement each other in this, we make each other's ideas even more fatter! I also think it is very special that we have been tagged more and more recently.g in inspired by posts on instagram. That our creativity is an inspiration to others is really cool."
How goyou to with the nerves? Suzy says, "we're very well-adjusted and really pull each other through everything. The beauty of it is that this also alternate. When one is down, the other knows with a positive attitude to hold up the vibe. When I find Dieuwke has complete confidence in me, my doubts go away. And on the day itself, when the stress kicks in, I find it entirely an advantage that there's just the two of us. We pull each other through, prepare makeup and outfits together, warm up together. up, and say we're gonna rock.”
"We are also surprised at how well we get along. Maybe because pole dancing is so intimate (read: sometimes I sit with my nose in Suzy's buttocks and I hold my smile, because I'm afraid she'll have to laugh and then fall. When we see the photo or video afterwards, we are in a dent!). Maybe that's why we got so close so much faster. I do think it's important if you want to compete together as a duo," he said.
Tips from DuoPoleNotti:
- Keep your trust in each other.
- Feel each other, act on each other's strengths and points of interest.
- Am dedicated, not all in training but especially to each other!
- Rest days are also part of training. Better to train for 3 days instead of 4 because a rest day gives new energy.
Fun facts about Dieuwke and Suzy! These two top talents are not only good at sports. In addition to their pole dance escapades, they work 4 days a week at the University of Amsterdam (which more often equates to 5 to 6 days a week). Dieuwke is a PhD candidate in research into the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and language, so that language can be used to enable communication between humans and AI. Suzy works at the Faculty of Humanities in the Department of Marketing & Communication.
Also fan of these two? Let them know and write a personal message under this blog!
Photo credits HJ photography & Eli Mora.