Pole Dancing the Night Away

Pole dancing is hard work. Your arms and legs ache for days. You find bruises in weird parts of your body. And trying to keep your hair out of your lip gloss while spinning around and around is darn near impossible. I can't even imagine doing this on a daily basis, much less in front of a crowd. I developed this new found admiration for exotic dancers a few weeks ago at a friend's bachelorette party.

To celebrate my friend Melissa's last night out as a single gal, her two sisters/co-MOH's booked a private class at Flirty Girl Fitness in Chicago. FGF offers a variety of stripper-in-training classes, as well as party space and a nail salon. We started out the evening with manis and pedis before heading into the pole dancing studio. I would like to give a little review of the place in case anyone else is interested in checking it out, but first, the photos.

The studio. The bride tried to wear her veil throughout the performance, but it inhibited her swing.

I don't normally say things like this, but I was having a good hair day! I really didn't want to get sweaty before heading out to Manor. Hence, I was not able to show off my true skills with a pole. However, I did spin around a few times.

Please excuse the weird look on my face. Apparently looking good while spinning around a pole is also hard work.

Back to the start, ready to try it again!

Gina proves that being a mommy doesn't affect your stripper skills.

Erin prefers to watch with her Chardonnay.

Flirty Girl was a blast. It was pretty hilarious seeing which of my friends could have gone an entirely different way with their careers. The music- and all the fruity drinks from the in-house bar- kept us moving. There were locker rooms so that we could freshen up before heading out for the night. The decor was also very cool and creative. Before I fully recommend them to the Chicago and Toronto bees, however, I thought I would mention a couple of things to consider.

1) It is pricey. Melissa was able to negotiate a bit of a discount, but $50 per person just for the class seemed a little excessive to me- particularly since our group was quite large and there weren't enough poles for everyone. We were asked to share poles, but to be honest that was really difficult. Erin just gave up and stuck to her wine- which made her happy, but she basically wasted the $50.

2) Our instructor was definitely... a professional, however she was not the best teacher. She moved very quickly, frequently using dance terminology. A few of my friends danced in high school and college, so they were able to follow along, but most of us just gave up and stuck to the easy moves. She pretty much ignored anyone who wasn't keeping up.

3) The bar was also expensive and, although we were able to bring in our own food, we could not do so with drinks.

4) You do get sweaty! If you are planning to go out afterward, this is something to consider. The locker room has showers so, if you give yourself enough time, you can clean up before heading out.

My girlfriends always have fun together and this was no exception. The cons weren't enough to spoil our fun. If you are looking for a unique bachelorette experience, I would definitely recommend it!