Mikko Tries Pole Dancing

With everything that’s been going on, I hesitated posting this. It didn’t (still doesn’t) feel important. I managed to give myself permission to celebrate something, so I hope you bear with me for just three barely-edited minutes. (The end is my proudest moment.)

All the flexibility, strength, dance, pole and hoop classes I’ve taken in the last year have been an ultimate source of sanity and happiness. On days I feel iffy, I sign up for a class. When I feel worse than iffy, I sign up for a class I’ve never tried before.

When I said I wanted to gift myself a series of private classes, it was for this. To feel like I actually completed some project, this time in the form of dance and fitness.

I wanted to do this whole piece in one perfect take, but being masked made it difficult for my lungs to keep up. Regardless, I’m grateful for a body that allows me to at least try. It’s gone through blood, sweat, tears, muscle strains, misaligned bones, metal allergies and ripped calluses all during the rotating versions of lockdown. In spite of all that, I’m so hooked, I keep going back for more.

I’m so grateful I managed to squeeze some in-studio flying for this. I love you, Polecats Manila & Vicky. Thank you for being my calm, and for making me feel capable of doing at 38 what I couldn’t at 28.

Stay safe everyone!

Choreo by @victoriavelasco
🎶 Positions, Ariana Grande
Please don’t take this down. All I want is to dance and fly to my favorite tunes for my birthday!