Travis Hornsby

I am excited to introduce to the corner, Travis Hornsby, our first male Pole Athlete.

Travis is passionate about performance art and poetry, at the tender age of 18 he plays the (unfortunate) role of the sex-crazed Boggo in the Spud series.

What made him consider a pole class? " A love of art, a hatred of gym and a stubborn belly" was the reply.
Travis attends Vertical Vixen, Linksfield in Johannesburg, South Africa and has been a pole student for 18 months now, with no previous gymnastic or dance history.
The year-end showcase that Vertical Vixen hosts was one of his first events, apparently a night of nerves and plenty of empty bottles of Dry-Hands.

Motivation and inspiration is provided by his teacher, Alicja Gralewska, his awesome classmates and Derick Pierson.
 

One of his favourite moves is the Rainbow Marchenko and the move he loves to perform is the Janeiro.
When asked what his pole goal is for 2014 the reply I received was very colourful.
"The Cocoon, I'm one step away from becoming a kick-ass butterfly"

Travis, thank you for taking the time to introduce yourself.
I have had an opportunity to see you perform live, you have an unbelievable personality on stage and at such a young age you have so many opportunities at your feet.

Keep us updated with your performances and achievements.

You can follow Travis on the following social media:
Twitter : @travhornsby
Instagram: @travhornsby

 

Nicole McDonald

 

I would like to introduce Nicole McDonald from Houston, Texas, USA

She is a creative 21 year old who is inspired by Julia Wahl, Marion Crampe, Sergia Loise Anderson and Natasha Wang.

Nicole bought a "Secret Dancer" pole at a boutique just for fun. "It felt so natural to be on it, I had to have more!"
She participates casually at a local fitness studio called Verticality Pole Fitness.
Of her 2 years on pole most of her pole experience has been self taught and can claim around 8 months as a student.

She has not yet taken part in any events. "I do plan to enter in Houston's Annual Melee on the Bayou at the end of 2014 and hope for the best!"

She participated in dance class for 2 years in her Freshman and Sophmore years in high school.

The move she loves is the Titanic, "It just looks so beautiful and graceful."
Nicole loves to perform the Ballerina, it's a challenging move and is also a beautiful and graceful looking move.

Her Pole Goal for 2014 is the deadlift.

Thanks to her creative nature she loves glitter, glue, stamps and paint...
To follow this creative lady you can add her on Facebook or Instagram.


https://m.facebook.com/clover.mcdonald.9?__user=100006881981489
Instagram.com/woodstocknation

 

Crystal Lai

This week’s athlete Biography is extremely interesting, I’m very excited to introduce Crystal Lai.

This Dynamic 29 year old, has a degree in Chemistry and has just started as a campus director for an after school math program for high performing children.

Crystal has been pole dancing for over 8 years and she has also been an active teacher/instructor at Tantra Fitness in Vancouver, BC, Canada for 7 years. When she is not on tour this is the studio she calls home.

Having discovered pole dancing 8 years ago gives Crystal an interesting story for how she came to consider a pole class. Looking for a new way to stay active in University she tried others sports and dance, never really being too interested in any.


On her 19^th birthday celebration she was taken to a strip bar and was instantly hooked on the art of pole dancing. She started searching for pole dancing classes and luckily came across Tantra Fitness. Tammy Morris left an unforgettable performance at Brandi’s and she signed up the next day and has been pole dancing ever since.

Crystal does not have any prior gymnastic, dance or yoga background and really is a true inspiration to girls that are new to the sport. Tammy Morris was un-doubtable her very first pole inspiration. Jenyne Butterfly is another one of her pole idols.

 

Crystal makes sure she introduces variation in her performances and loves to look for new moves to perform, however she really loves to perform her jade split. Other favourite moves are the Iron-X and Tik Tok.  Her 2014 goals are to focus on crazy flips and drops.

The list of Titles, Experience and Credentials can be found under her resume tab on her website listed below. I will mention the most recent being:

Finalist @ I World Pole Cup 2011 - Rio de Janeiro

World Pole Championship 2010, Zurich - 5th place

People's Choice Award 2010 - World Pole Championship, Zurich

Master Pole Trainer - recognized by the Canadian Pole Fitness Association

You can follow Crystal:

http://www.facebook.com/laicrystal85

and she has her very own webpage:

www.crystal-lai.com

 

 

Tarryn Holman

This week I would like to welcome Tarryn Holman

This fun loving 26 year old student is from Johannesburg South Africa, she attends a fitness studio in Benoni called Pole Physiques. She originally joined pole fitness to lose weight and found it more enjoyable than a gym environment. She has to date been involved in pole for 4 years but only recently joined her current studio. She also finds time in her day to train at home when she is not in the studio.

Tarryn has competed in the Pole sports league held in October 2013. This is a PFASA event. She has also participated in the Polesque 2013 and enjoyed it so much that she is counting down the days to the 2014 event.

“Before pole I had never done any form of exercise in my life.”


When asking Tarryn who motivates and inspires her in the pole industry she replied:  “My instructor Benita Bouwer, wow she is incredible, she is my mentor, my motivation and inspiration’

The move she likes to perform is the shoulder mount. “If I can get into a move from a shoulder mount I am happy.”

Her Favourite trick is The spatchcock and when asked about her 2014 goals she replied:
"The Iron  - x and aerial shoulder mount"

A little more about Tarryn:
“Apart from being addicted to pole fitness I love tattoos, funky hair and Lady Gaga”


To follow updates on this funky pole addict you can add her on the below social media:
Instagram: @Tazhols
Facebook: Tarryn Holman
Twitter: Punky_Spunky2

Join us next week and get to know Crystal Lai

Have a fabulous safe week ahead.

Yazmin Quintanilla

This week we visit Mexico.

I find it so humbling that ladies from near and far are willing to take the time to introduce themselves.

At a studio called Lili Salas Pole Dance, in Monterrey, we get to meet Yazmin.

Yazmin is 31 years of age and has only been involved in pole for 6 months, she is a former jazz/ballet dancer giving her a good base for pole.

"I have been a Dancer since I can remember, mostly Ballet and Jazz, but also Hip-hop, Salsa, Belly dance, commercial jazz, etc."

Her pole instructor is an old friend from a Dance Team she use to train with. The invitation was extended over summer to give pole a try.

"I honestly fell in love with it."
"I like mostly power and strength moves, those that leave you with your mouth wide open LOL! I think my favorite right now, is the Iron X, the phoenix and the Oona Spin combo (which I am working on right now) and my goal move, the top of the top, the one that I hope one day I could do is Fonji."

Following the strength and power trend Yazmin's pole role model is Oona Kivëla. Anastasia Skukhtorova and Jenyne Butterfly provide the softer forms of inspiration when needed.

The move she enjoys to perform the most is the Handspring with its variations, by the end of 2014 she would like to perform the Phoenix effortlessly, this is going to take some hard training but she is up for the challenge.

About Yazmin:

I am a very intense person. I like to give my best in everything that I’m passionate about. I like reading, cooking, dancing, crafts and DIY stuff, photography among others.

 

To follow this talented lady, join Instagram for some awesome picture and video updates: @yazminqc
Wishing you all the best in your journey in pole, keep us up to date on the blog with anything accomplished that you would like to shared.

We also have a twitter account that will inform you when we have new posts: @poleplaycorner

Have a great, safe and fun poling week.