In this episode, I interview Crystal Belcher who is a Pole Dance Instructor at Revolve Pole Studio in Houston, Texas. We talk about how she made her way to pole dancing, competitions, and how COVID 19 has affected their business and dealing with race in our industry.

Crystal has an extensive history of dancing, cheering, co-ed competitive sports and dance fitness. She went to Howard University where she received her Bachelor of Communications Degree. She has been a student of pole, an instructor and choreographer since 2010.

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Pole Dancing Journey

• Crystal is an avid seeker of movement or motion.
• Growing up, she aligned herself with opportunities in school or extracurricular activities that encompassed dance in all forms. And then in college, she took dance electives and was a cheer coach at Howard University.
• She returned to Houston after spending 8 years studying and working in DC. At that time she was working at CBS radio and was invited to a class by a coworker who did PR for a local studio.
• Crystal fell in love with pole dancing because it’s given her the ability to merge artistry and athleticism.

Professional Pole Dancing & Competitions

• Crystal is known for her ability to create moments and evoke emotions through her performance.
• Crystal performed for the first time in February of 2010 for a studio open house and September 2010 with Miss Texas Pole Star.
• After that, she decided to reevaluate if she wanted to continue competing. That’s when she began choreographing for others.
• She learned she had a gift for seeing the magic in other’s mistakes. Instead of feeling like a certain movement pattern is a mistake, Crystal looks at it as a starting point.
• She then works with students to find authentic and powerful movement patterns that work their bodies.
• She asks her clients, “What do you want to say at the end of the day?” and encourages them to dive deep and find their reason why.

Working in the Industry

• Crystal works with PSO as THE Judge Wrangler. This task includes getting all the judges together, having them vote in a timely manner, working behind the scenes with performers and on tech.
• Crystal also works with Black Girls Pole. BGP is a website that offers resources to find other Black Owned Studio around the world, and an Instagram page that increases visibility for Women of Color in the pole industry, a safe place for Black women to discuss mental health and spirituality, and they also offer retreats. BGP was founded by Dalijah Franklin. >>Shout out to Dalijah and her podcast >> Black Girl Fit Files!

Melee On The Bayou

• She also started her own competition, Melee on the Bayou. Originally, it started as a feeder into Miss Texas Pole Star but once Texas Pole Star dissolved, it became a feeder into PSO.
• Melee found it’s home in a large restaurant/bar. Crystal was strategic in the place she chose, choosing somewhere that was a Black owned business, offered food and drink, and could host a show.
• She mentions restaurants being a great option because they tend to have lower base rates and if they have the space, are usually able to allow you to come in early (while someone is already working at the restaurant during the day).
• This ended up being a huge success for both the restaurant and Crystal.
• Melee also organized workshops the next day with judges (thus maximizing everyone’s opportunity for movement and to earn money).
• The competition has several different categories including Freestyle, Liquid Motion, and Electric Chair.
• The audience gets to vote <<< Which is brilliant. Crystal utilize social media app and google forms to have them vote. This makes for easy tallying.

Black Lives Matter

“All of this darkness that we’re seeing there. So much light is coming from the boiler base of people. That’s just out voicing their concerns, all these different ethnicities and nationalities are coming together under one umbrella to only say that if we can’t find humanity in this particular group, then it’s going to happen right back to us.

It’s just going to be a domino effect. So if we can highlight this one organization, honey, we are changing it for everybody. And we’re going to be able to stand beside, stand on the shoulders of and continue to walk forward so that we’re bettering the conversation for all of those living individuals and their children to come.”

Quotes:

“You have to feel like a fool. That is, that was a rule of thumb. Even when I was cheering as a youngin’. They say, if you don’t feel like a clown, or if you don’t feel like a fool, then you’re not doing it big enough”

“The nerves have been a great benefit to me because like I said they show that I have something that’s valuable and it’s worth telling that story.”

“I found that it is okay to not do the norm. I shouldn’t have to create a composition that is going to look the exact same as everyone else. Every person that I’ve worked with has a different gift and I wanted to be able to showcase that so that they feel as if they’re a standalone character and that’s something I wanted to always have within myself.”

“The best performer is the most authentic performer. And authentic meaning, whatever I’m feeling, it is my obligation to project that in movement, in emotions, in intention on the stage. And that’s how you make a memorable performance. Memorable performances will always be winning pieces. And it’s less about the reward, the clinking of a metal. And I’ll say this over and over again. It’s really about the experience that you can create for others. It is not the job of a spectator or an audience member to come in here with expectations of what this is supposed to look like. They literally come in with an empty canvas. It is your job to paint it for them.”

“The goal is to like listen to the little voices, listen to the goosebumps that come to the heart palpitations that you have. Think about the sounds, the tastes, the touch. Grab like grab all of those sensory mechanisms and be able to create movement that gives you that same energy. Then find the song that gives you that same energy and be able to find the movements that can create the message for that.”

“It’s unfortunate that I have to do that so I’m very mindful of when I do and how I have conversations with people. I’m also very mindful of telling them or challenging them to think differently about what people like me have to offer. So exposing them to different, you know, organizations and movement artists around the world like that, it’s, it’s rewarding. Like I said, as well as nerving, but I’m here to educate.”

Crystal’s Favorite Performance from someone else:
Chrome Diva out of Atlanta and Lauren (Tinks) from Black Girl Pole

Crystal’s Favorite Performance of Herself:
2013 U.S. National Pole Championships Crystal Belcher
Miss Pole Dance America 2015

To connect with Crystal Belcher:
Instagram | Facebook | Website

Want to hear more? Check out Episode #21 with Colleen Jolly and Episode #22 with Squeak Machine.