The Art of Dance

Emma Thorpe started pole dancing with the art of dance late in 2007 with the University of Plymouth Pole Dancing Club (UPPDC) and was a teaching assistant with us for 6 months before becoming as Art of Dance Pole Dancing Instructor in October 2011.

IN 2007 Emma took the UPPDC to the student union stage for the first time with the intention to showcase the sport and raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign. Emma was an active member of the UPPDC arranging events, classes and socials and constantly pushing to get pole dancing accepted as a mainstream activity.

Since leaving the University of Plymouth after gaining a degree in performing arts Emma has still kept close ties with the UPPDC group including performing for their regular charity showcases at the student union.

Emma is pictured right with Lou Watts (former UPPDC chair) at the 2010 Art of Dance open day and re-launch.

Emma's determination to push past the pain factor caused her to develop more skills and in the final year of studying theatre and performance she based her final project on shifting pole dance into the world of performing arts. In this piece Emma was painted head to toe in gold to represent statues/icons and used media and live performance to show different contexts of pole.

Check out Emma's stunning pole dancing performance at the Roland Levinsky Theatre at the University of Plymouth.

Emma was also involved in helping out at the National Synchronised Pole Dance Squad's (NSPDS) Routine for the Nation event held at Plymouth's Oceana in May 2010, Emma was involved back stage as well ensuring the pole was clean and safe for all the competitors and performers including Jess Leanne Norris and Karen Chaundy.

Picture right of Emma Thorpe and Sam Remmer at the NSPDS Routine for the Nation competition.

Since graduating from University Emma has become more focused on developing her pole dance skills, she has since become the first student in the UK to gain her grade 4 in the Pole Dance Community's Advancement and Accreditation Programme. Check out Emma's successful Level 4 pole dance grading. Emma then featured in the original Pole Dance Community syllabus where she volunteered to be videod demonstrating pole moves from the syllabus.

In December of 2010 Emma entered the Bristol Pole Championships and achieved second place in the intermediate category. Emma battled with her performance nerves and pulled off a brilliant performance narrowly missing out on 1st place by just a few points.

In an effort to further her performance career Emma has now entered the United Kingdom Amateur Pole Performer Championships 2011 (UKAPP) and she hopes to do further performance work with the art of dance.

In February 2011 Emma was signed up as a pole dance teaching assistant for the art of dance and was also enrolled on the art of dance teacher training programme to get Emma ready to be a pole dancing instructor. Emma had shown great determination and passion as a student and was already popular with the staff so it felt like a natural progression for Emma to be integrated into the team.

In June 2011 Emma won the intermediate category of the South West heats of United Kingdom Amateur Pole Performer (UKAPP) earning a place in the finals in September 2011.

In October 2011 Emma became a Pole Dancing Instructor at the Art of Dance.