Of all the competitions you’ve entered, which has been the most gruelling physically and mentally?

It was probably the first one I did because I’d only been pole dancing for 8 months when I entered. There were a lot of well known pole dancers

that had a following. People knew who they were, and what to expect from them. I was the underdog. It was the most challenging mentally because I was comparing myself to people who were are at the top at that time. It’s very scary to go out in front of the audience and say “Hey, look at me, this is what I do.”

It’s probably worse in your head than it actually is in reality.

Physically, I trained very very hard because I wanted to be the best in that one. I don’t like competitions in general. I usually prefer to perform. But won it, luckily, so I felt good after that!

In Pole Dance, what would be the equivalent of winning 4 Olympic Gold medals?

I don’t really look at Pole Dancing as a sport. I think of it more as an art form. For me, the most rewarding things are to inspire other people to look at Pole Dancing and see what it is. Gold for me is to open everybody’s eyes and make pole dancing more acceptable in everyday life so that it doesn’t have that taboo attached to it. It doesn’t have to be a sport for people to recognize it as a valid art form or dance. My ‘4 gold medals’ would be when that happens.

Stress and nerves, how do you keep them under control?

I’m very lucky in that I like performing in front of people. I have a passion for being on stage. That just comes from inside me and I don’t know what it is about me that make me comfortable in front of people.

However, before I go on stage, I do get nervous every single time. With Zumanity, I perform twice a night, 5 nights a week and every night I get nervous still. I have a routine I do every time I perform: I do my makeup, my warm-up and then I sit and think through what I’m going to be doing . I don’t exhaust myself with the warm-up. I do a little stretch, have a laugh with the rest of the crew and just try and relax through it. By having a regular routine before going on stage, you already start preparing yourself even an hour before your actual performance. In that way, you’re not so scared when you’re on. You’ve gradually psyched yourself into it.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

I’ve had a lot of dance training growing up. I have a big amount of knowledge on dance moves and what my body and the human body are capable of doing. When I apply that to the pole, I know what I should be able to achieve. It’s then just a matter of trying to do it and applying this knowledge to make it physically possible. As far as moves go, I find a lot of inspiration in the extreme categories, like extreme contortionists and a lot of circus acts like Chinese Pole. You look at those people and you go “Wow”. OK, I don’t want to do that but I can use that technique to do something else. So it’s looking at extreme human beings and taking it back a couple of steps.

Dance-wise, I am inspired a lot by music. I like watching the way other people interpret music and I find a lot of artistic inspiration from that.

How do you keep yourself motivated?

It’s interesting you bring this point up. At Cirque du Soleil, I am the only pole dancer there so I found it really hard to keep myself motivated to train hard and come up with new moves because. Previously, I was training with loads of other pole dancers. We kept it interesting by bouncing off each other. My biggest influences have been Kim my teacher and my partner that I dance with back in Australia and who runs Bobbi’s Pole Studio in Perth. She has been my biggest influence because I dance with her the most. We have the same body type and we are the same height. So when we dance together, the pole spins at the same rate. We can stack each other. Because I had so much fun with her, and she’s really talented as well, she was I think the one person I bounced the most with.

What qualities did the directors at Zumanity like in you?

I don’t really know as I didn’t audition for them. They approached me based on Youtube videos they’d seen and we were in correspondence after that. I was already going to Las Vegas for another show. A bit of a battle went on in between the two companies.

They wanted a pole dancer from the beginning for Zumanity when they created it but they didn’t have anybody at the skill level and style they required. I think the combination of sensuality and sexuality, artistic moves and extreme flexibility is what makes me fit within the “Cirque du Soleil” category. I’m very flexible and have a sensual quality that Zumanity needed.

What are your top tips for preparation leading up to a competition and execution on the day?

At least two months before the competition, you need to secure your music and know it very well. Choose your music first and learn it. Listen to it 24/7, over and over again. That’s important because if you do make a mistake with a move on the day, you can pick up with the music. If you miss something or drop out of something early, then you can improvise a little bit and pick up at the next beat. But if you don’t know where your next move comes in then you’re even more lost.

I always choose a song with a really simple verse/chorus structure so you can choreograph easy to it. If you choose something with a really dynamic structure then it’s difficult to choreograph to.

Select your moves wisely. You don’t have to go overboard and do every single move that you know. Choose 4 or 5 moves that you can do really well. There is no point of doing something that someone else can do really well.

Try making a combination that your move is in the middle of and you come back down the pole. Fill the in-between spaces with rest time. So you have one pole combination then some rest time on the floor, walking round the pole then another combination. If you’re up the pole the whole time then the beginning of your routine will be really strong but you’re going to be very tired at the end of the routine.

Practice your choreography and moves over and over and over again. Play some different music and practice improvising. If you get nervous and do forget something, then you have the skill of improvising. So you have that under your belt. And it is a skill. It’s not something you can just do, you have to practice it.

The day before the competition, try to be really gentle with yourself. It takes a little while for your body to recover so don’t go flat out the day before. Don’t go flat out on the day either. Maybe have one run through and that’s it. And if that goes badly, don’t let that get you down.

Eat! Make sure you have some food in you.

Go into the routine I was talking about: Makeup, quieten yourself, go into your own little world, maybe find somewhere private away from everybody else. Think through your routine, listen to the music. Find a quiet place in yourself so that you can focus in and just make sure you do the best that you possibly can.

Random Trivia:

1. Most loved fashion items: Shoes and jackets! Anything made out of black leather. Even if it’s the most atrocious thing, I love it! I don’t know why, maybe it’s the smell and feel of it.

2. What was the last tune you listened to: I think it was a Crosby Stills and Nash song.

3. Describe your taste in music: I have a very eclectic music taste. I usually like really happy sounding things. I really like “Heart it Races” at the moment by a band called Architecture in Helsinki”

4. What would you be doing if you weren’t a pole performer? I’d probably finished my degree Biochemistry and become a scientist. I wanted to go into genetics so I would have probably kept with that.

5. Favourite drink: Depends in what mood I’m in. I love Guinness. I love Champaign and Cosmopolitans.

6. Neighbours or Home & Away: No, no no! I don’t watch either. I think watching TV is a waste of time sometimes, especially with shows like that!

7. Kylie or Danni: I don’t like either!

8. Mel Gibson or Russell Crowe: I’d probably go with Mel Gibson.

Interview during the Official Felix UK Tour 2009 presented by Pole Passion and sponsored by R-Pole Fitness.