UStA Pole Dance Club partakes in their first ever competition
On 23rd February, UStA Pole Club participated in our first ever Pole Dance competition at Northern Pole Varsity – a first for the club’s history, with their Doubles routine placed 3rd in their category!
The competition was held in Pleasance Theatre by University of Edinburgh and was one of three qualifiers for the Nationals competition which is new this year. Northern Pole Varsity, Southwest Pole Varsity, and Southeast Pole Varsity, all feed into Nationals which are being held in London at the end of March. The competition saw a lot of teams partaking in a variety of categories including Newcastle, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Napier, Dundee, York, Glasgow, Lancaster, Stirling, and St Andrews!
The St Andrews team had two solo competitors in the Beginners and Intermediate categories, and one Doubles routine. All the participants from St Andrews were competing for the first time. The Doubles routine was performed by Katie Gallacher and Alex Godfrey. Katie is a fourth year and is the committee’s Showcase and Competition Officer. She started pole last year, with the club. Alex is also a fourth year and started pole while studying abroad in Norway last year. She joined the club in September as an intermediate. They choreographed their Doubles routine, on the song Boyfriend by Dove Cameron, with assistance from the club’s lovely Instructor, Jenny, who owns her own studio in Dundee.
Additionally, Rhea Aggarwal competed as a soloist Beginner, and Jaden Jones as an Intermediate soloist. Rhea, the committee’s Treasurer, is a second year and started pole last year. Her routine was a lovely contemporary piece to the song The Water is Fine by Chloe Ament. Jaden, the club’s President and Beginner’s Instructor, is a fourth-year student, who joined the club in second year after briefly starting pole back in Seattle. Her competition routine was a jazzy, musical theatre inspired piece, to the song Big Spender from the musical Sweet Charity.
While the team could not qualify for the Nationals, Saints Pole placed 3rd in the Doubles category, which is an amazing achievement for their first competition. All participants noted that their favourite thing about the competition, was getting to see all the different routines and watch everyone do so amazing, ‘it is a competition, but it the most supportive environment ever’, said Jaden about her experience at the Northern Pole Varsity.
Congratulations to UStA Pole for participating in their first competition and placing third! It’s an amazing achievement indeed!