Through My Eyes - Time to Get Serious (pt3)

I moved schools in year 4 of primary school as my older Brother Josh was moving on up to secondary school and as I was in a small school I was literally the only child in my year so my mum and dad decided that moving me to a larger school with more kids to make friends was the best thing for me.

This was quite a big thing for me as everyone who knew me at Brimpton school knew that I was learning pole fitness and were all very supportive especially the Head Mistress. She would regularly take us to indoor climbing and with my upper body strength I had a natural talent.

I was still training with Ruth and using my pole at home when my mum heard about a competition where kids could enter. Mum and I spoke to Ruth to see if she knew what the rules were but she had no idea. The rules were complicated to understand but I was so determined to enter this comp as this was the first time I could actually compete.

Ruth suggested speaking to someone who had entered the competition who would know how it worked. My mum messaged Daniel Rosen to ask his advice and he said it was confusing but he could help, so we arranged a private lesson with him. Dan had never taught kids before so as we arrived at his studio, I think he and I both stood there a minute and thought okayyyyyy haha!

I was in awe of Dan, I had seen him compete twice at UKPPC and the second time I got a picture with him.

Dan knew how to get the best out of me and I loved his lessons, it was the first time I had experienced proper pole pain but I found that I was capable of so much more than I thought. The only problem was that he lived an hour and a half away and that was if the traffic was good, otherwise I would be sat on the motorway.

I also trained with Charlotte Robertson for a little while, she lived closer and she was so lovely. Charlotte had classes for kids so there were others there my age which was really nice to see.

I started training more seriously with Dan and my relationship with him was very unique. Dan was like an older brother, but one I had the most respect for, he would push me and encourage me. It's actually funny because we went to him to help me do a routine for a competition that to this day I have never entered haha!

I don't think Dan had much experience with kids when he started teaching me as he never really fell for my crocodile tears but he had a way of getting the best out of me and his patience was amazing. Between Dan and Ruth they really supported me more than I could have ever imagined and I really started to look at them as my pole parents.

I started getting more followers on instagram as Dan would post me on his story calling me his 'pole baby' and even now I am nearly 16 I hope I will always be Dan's pole baby, I have so much to thank him for.

That year I got to live the first of many dreams when I was allowed to perform at UKPPC. I remember my mum running into my room saying 'Omg, omg Mimi guess what, you are allowed to perform at UKPPC!!' I screamed and jumped on my bed, I was so happy and then it hit me, I AM GOING TO PERFORM ON THAT MASSIVE STAGE ALL ON MY OWN!!

In preparation for this performance my mum looked into hiring a hall where I could work on my routine that was fairly cheap to hire. I have a very varied taste in music but we got down to 2 songs. I have always loved music mainly because of all of the different dance styles I have learnt through the years. One of my favourite songs is Johnny Cash, A boy named Sue, but I have never worked out how I would do a routine to that song. We chose Opportunity by Quvenxhane Wallis from the Annie movie and also Masterpiece by Jessie J, but decided on Masterpiece because it was so me haha.

The lyrics go 'I still fall on my face sometimes and I can't colour inside the lines, I'm perfectly incomplete, I'm still working on my master piece and I wanna hang with the greats, got a way to go but it's worth the wait though, you haven't seen the best of me, I'm still working on my masterpiece' I felt every single word of that song and the one thing I do remember from every routine is the music I chose and the meaning behind it.

Unlike most people my mum would always hear a song and then look up the lyrics to see if there was anything in them that might be inappropriate for me to perform to. With UKPPC we felt that I was safe and would not be judged at all because everyone who goes to UKPPC understands pole and accepts everyone no matter what they choose to perform in or to.

The day came, the routine was finalised and I was so nervous! We arrived at the familiar place I had been for the past 3 years, I was given an access all areas pass and I felt like royalty, I was very excited. Then was the time to have a look at the stage and do a music check, I asked if I could go up on the stage and of course the answer was yes, I would be performing in a few hours!

The view from that stage was incredible, nothing like I had ever imagined and my eyes took in the sea of tables I remembered so well. Soon they would be filled full of people, I had never had stage fright but this would be another level.

I am not sure if I opened the show or was the first pole act to go on before the competition started but I could hear Miss Glory Pearl talking to everyone and then I heard my name. My mum and I walked through the doors and I heard everyone go awwww. My mum asked if I wanted anymore dry hands, I snapped at her 'NO!' haha. That's just what we do, it's now our routine and it's the only time I can snap at my mum without getting to trouble.

I was wearing all black with a white and black baseball hat, I took my position in front of the judges and as the music started I began my routine. Of course, my first routine had a wardrobe malfunction that bloody hat came off before it should and I had a split second moment where I lost what I was doing. Should I stop, carry on? There was no way this moment was going to be ruined so I carried on, the show must go on! The crowd cheered and looking back at the video everyone was smiling and cheering for me I could hear Dan and Stevie cheering.

To this day I think I am the youngest to ever perform at UKPPC back in 2015 (I was 10 years old). I have Varie Anderson to thank for that, she took a chance on me and made a dream come true. I later went on to perform at UKPPC with someone very special in 2017 (I will tell you about that in another blog soon).

At that point I had already had quite a few dreams come true, I was earning my place, working hard to show people that I was serious. Dan told me about a competition coming up as a lady called Nadine saw me perform at UKPPC and asked about me. She said I should enter her comp called BPSC around Easter time in 2016, so Dan agreed to help me with a routine. This time we were going for cutesy using the song 'Dear Future Husband' by Meghan Trainor.

I walked out holding a flower doing 'he loves me, he loves me not' as the music started wearing a red top and a red polka dot frilled skirt and a bow in my hair, then when the music really started I would give a sassy 'this is the way it's gonna be future husband' performance haha.

The crowd loved it, I performed well and I think it's almost the most sassy routine I have ever done. I placed 2nd (The amazing Aimee Hilton won, rightly so, she was incredibly talented) and I also won best entertainer, I was so happy, Dan was there to watch me so were my family and of course Stevie who I can always hear cheering me on when I perform. I am so very lucky to have had so many people guide my path and watch me grow up supporting me with pride.