| © 2006 - 2013 Poletential, LLC Web Site and Photos by www.kishmarketing.com |
| About |
| Instructors |
| Amy Richard started dancing when she was 6 years old. At first, Amy disliked ballet class but she grew to love it and has training in the Royal Academy of dance method, jazz, lyrical, and tap. She also competed in dance competition with the Menlo Park Academy of Dance ballet team throughout her high teaching credential. Amy was introduced to pole dancing by her sister Amber. She was immediately hooked and enjoyed being able to dance again after having stopped in college. She is excited to share her knowledge of dance and her passion for integrating more traditional forms of dance into the pole practice. Amy was lucky to train with Michula Nunez, Jenyne Butterfly, Sarah Cretul, Alethea Austin, Karol Helms, and Pantera. She is currently training for the USPDF Amateur Division Competition taking place in March. |
Bring a community together in a safe, fun, supportive environment that is physically challenging, open to showing self- expression, and dedicated to being empowered and having a great time. Poletential’s vision is to create a place where people feel comfortable to trying a new form of exercise and self- expression. Poletential brings a community together to experience a challenging workout along with new body awareness through dance and movement. The environment is safe and non- competitive, giving each person the freedom to find their own style and reach their personal goals. The result is incredibly satisfied people who feel physically fit, empowered, challenged and part of a community who values expression and strength. |
| Ellen Lovelace has been dancing in one form or another her whole life--from cheerleading to musical theater, she has always loved to boogie. Despite having no formal dance training, no gymnastics experience, and a terrific fear of heights, she began pole dancing in 2008, and found herself immediately smitten! She has spent her years on the pole training with all of the top names in the sport, and is constantly continuing her education by traveling to work with the best. Ellen's nickname is "Dr. Sultry," as she's known for her smooth and sexy style. With an eye for details and a love for musicality, she has also developed a niche as a coach to some of Poletential's top competitor-students. Ellen holds a Masters in Public Health, with extensive training in health behavior and health education. She has also taught self-defense through Women Defending Ourselves. In addition, Ellen is a resistance stretching trainer, having studied the Ki-Hara method under Anne Tierney and Steve Sierra, who train and stretch US Olympic champion Dara Torres. In 2011, Ellen received her Aerial Yoga teacher certification. |
| Christina Kish (Owner/Instructor) started twirling and never wants to stop. She is passionate about coaching others to meet their fitness and life goals. She wants Poletential to be a community full of great people who gain confidence, support and empowerment from each other to live their best lives. Christina is a certified Pilates instructor and has experience coaching sports teams. Christina spent 15 years in high-tech marketing and was a co-founder of NetFlix. She and her husband now run Kish Marketing Services helping small businesses with their marketing needs. She has a B.S. in Business Administration and an M.B.A. |
| Amber Richard has been dancing since the age of 5 and has never stopped! Her first love is classical ballet in which she was trained following the Royal Academy of Dance method and competed throughout high school. She pursued her love of dance through college, graduating from theUniversity of California, Irvine with a BA in Dance and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree at the University of Southern California. After discovering pole dancing in 2008, Amber was immediately hooked! She loves teaching and enjoys the mix of artistic expression, confidence boost, and fitness workout that pole dancing provides. Amber was the 2009 West Coast Champion of the U.S. Pole Dance Federation, Pole Artist of the Year in the 2010 American Pole Fitness Association Championship, Veteran of the Year 2012 for Girl Next Door - A Pole Dance Soiree, winner of Best Lyrical Performance in 2012, and Best Group Performance 2012. She is known for her elegant, balletic style which emphasizes extensions, grace, and fluidity. Amber is sponsored by Mika Yoga Wear and is a principal cast member of Girl Next Door - A Pole Dance Soiree, and Hide & Seek - A Pole Dance Speakeasy, pole and aerial dance theater productions in Los Angeles, CA. |
| Poletential is dedicated to bringing the best in Pole Fitness instruction Dancing to the Poletential Studio. We are proud to welcome many wonderful, talented guest instructors. |
| Jessica Campbell was a child actress in LA, held several pageant titles and danced competitively in Las Vegas, LA and Phoenix. In high school she began teaching and choreographing the Miss Valley Center pageant and completely fell in love with the art of creating dances. With a BA in Dance from San Diego State University, Jessica focused on Anatomy and Spanish. After graduation, Jessica moved to NY where she began three after-school dance programs in Manhattan and furthered her training at NYU, the Dance Education Lab and Anatomy of Movement with Irene Dowd, while simultaneously performing with the Eva Dean Dance Company. In 2004 Jessica studied Argentine Tango and received her Yoga Teaching pageant titles and danced competitively in Las Vegas, LA and Phoenix. In high school she began teaching and choreographing the Miss Valley Center pageant and completely fell in love with the art of creating dances. With a BA in Dance from San Diego State University, Jessica focused on Anatomy and Spanish. After graduation, Jessica moved to NY where she began three after-school dance programs in Manhattan and furthered her training at NYU, the Dance Education Lab and Anatomy of Movement with Irene Dowd, while simultaneously performing with the Eva Dean Dance Company. While expecting her first child, she studied pre and post natal Yoga. Returning to California in 2007, Jessica has taught Ballroom, Hip Hop, Ballet, Jazz, Tap, and Contemporary throughout the Peninsula. In 2008, certified as a group fitness instructor, Jessica began creating a Tango workout, and Latin based cardio dance classes with Reach Fitness. She took her first pole classes at Poletential after her second child in June 2010, and of course fell in love with the studio. It should be obvious her dance classes have a wide range of style. Jessica has been said to create whimsical and passionate performances by fusing classical technique with the innate inspiration to simply dance. |
| Arielle Rabier is passionate about the freedom of self expression through performance art. She began dancing at age six and has studied ballet, jazz, hip hop, San Francisco Circus Center and became a performer in 2010. She has eighteen years of performance experience, including performances at the Ton of Sand festival, The Cellspace and as a guest aerialist at Ayako's School of Ballet. Arielle has taught ballet, gymnastics and the fluid interpretation of hula hoop dancing; she enjoys giving others the tools to express themselves through performance art as well. |
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| Jen Alvarado also known as Jem is a passionate yogi, hoop dancer, aerialist, and celebrated performer. A Yoga Alliance certified teacher under the tutelage of Rusty Wells, she has been teaching physical education, yoga, hoop dance and aerial silks throughout the BayArea and beyond for over twelve years. Jen encourages her students to find freedom, creative self expression, meditation, and creative openings through movement exploration. Her teachings offer a joyful, breath. When Jen is not practicing yoga in San Francisco, teaching somewhere in the Bay Area, or dancing with the community, you can find her spinning fire or flying from her aerial fabric. Jem has performed at many prestigious venues including Sand by the Ton, CellSpace, Monte Rio Music Festival, The Crucible, Deep Green Festival, Hoop Camp 2011, Temple of Poi Fire Expo, Sonoma Valley Equestrian Park, and many others. She has also graced the stages of Dark Star Orchestra and Groundation. See her videos at www.youtube.com/user/jemsdestiny |
| Elizabeth Finn has been an acrobat since age five, with experience in sports acrobatics and springboard diving. She took to the skies in 2005, training with Aloft Aerial Dance in Chicago before coming to the bay area. She trains at Acrosports and teaches Aerial Fabric/Silk at Stanford. She loves teaching and helping her students learn how to dance on the fabrics. |
| About Allison Hudson... I have been an athlete all my life and for as long as I can remember I have been passionate about health, wellness and fitness. I grew up competing in all kinds of sports including swimming, golfing, soccer, gymnastics and cheerleading. As an adult, I enjoy yoga, snowskiing, spinning, pilates, Zumba, running, weight training, and pole fitness. I began pole fitness in 2010 when my personal trainer shared with me that she takes pole dancing to stay in shape. She convinced me to give it a try. I signed up for my first pole class with doubts and misconceptions, but after my first class... I was hooked. Pole fitness provides a workout environment unlike alternative exercise regimens. What I love about pole fitness is that it combines my love for music with feminine sensuality, strength, dance and flexibility all while achieving a higher level of athleticism. In addition, pole fitness provides me a safe environment to freely express my individual sensuality, to be more confident with my body, to push myself to learn new tricks and achieve things I never thought possible all while having fun and getting into better shape. Now two years after discovering pole, I am honored to share my love and passion for pole fitness with the students at Poletential. |
| Aubrie’s interest in Pilates blossomed. She began taking classes and doing private sessions as often as she possibly could. Combining her interest in teaching and her passion for Pilates, Aubrie decided to enroll in a teacher Comprehensive Teacher Training Program in Aptos, CA. Following her Pilates training, Aubrie also completed an Xtend Barre Workout training. In 2012 Aubrie completed the 200 hour Joy of Yoga certification under Jennifer Prugh of Breathe Los Gatos. Her love for teaching has also led her to pursue her elementary |
| Michelle Cheng grew up climbing every doorframe in her house and hanging upside down at the school playground during recess every day. She first got addicted to “flying through the air” at Club Med. She spent two hours a day learning flying trapeze during vacation, and then flew home and enrolled in aerial art classes the very next day. She has had instruction on almost every aerial apparatus, and has received concentrated training on flying trapeze, static trapeze, swinging trapeze, corde lisse (aerial rope), Chinese pole and dance pole; earning her the nickname “Monkey”. For the past three years, she has focused primarily on static trapeze, receiving hundreds of hours of instruction from the award winning aerialist, Elena Panova. Her love of trapeze stems from the combination of its beauty as an art form and the vigorous physical challenges to the body. Michelle is a children’s rights attorney and mediator. She received her undergraduate degree from U. C. Berkeley, and her J.D. from NYU School of Law. She has trained attorneys and child advocates nationwide, been lead council on child welfare class actions in several states, and teaches mediation skills and conflict resolution in San Mateo County. She has been teaching adults and children for over 20 years, and she considers teaching the most rewarding aspect of every job she has held. Michelle believes trapeze and other aerial arts are an incredibly fun way to boost strength of body, mind and self-esteem. She is thrilled to share her love of trapeze with people already addicted to aerial arts and those that will surely become addicted! |
| Jennifer Ruef began her aerial dance career in 1997, and has never looked down since. As a twelve-year member of Cycropia Aerial Dance Collective in Madison, WI, she has performed the roles of dancer, choreographer, costumer, and director. Jenny has also danced with Cherie Carson's Upswing Aerial Dance company in Oakland, CA, and had the distinct honor and pleasure of learning from the Mother of single-point trapeze aerial dance, Terry Sendgraff. Jenny specializes in single-point trapeze dance, but has also worked with harness, lyra, and silks in the air, and in the media of ballet, modern, and improv on the ground. She is excited to be joining the community of Poletential. |
| Sarah Stolar, aka Sarah Starlight, is an interdisciplinary artist, hoop and fire dancer, aerialist, and dedicated yoga practitioner. She has been exhibiting and performing for almost two decades and currently teaches art, dance, and yoga throughout the San Fransico Bay Area. Daughter of an accomplished artist mother, Sarah grew up in art studios and ultimately received a MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute, where she also currently teaches drawing and painting. Her visual art is represented by the Bohemian Gallery in Kansas City, Los Angeles, and Montevideo. Sarah is also a passionate and experimental aerialist working in silk, rope and harness, and bunjee, and she currently dances with UpSwing Aerial Dance & Performance Company in Berkeley. Sarah also performs regularly with many other accomplished Bay Area artists, including the HoopGirl AllStars, Cherry Hoops, and Love Art Lab (Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens). “Thriller,” her hoop video collaboration with Nicole Wong, won Best Video of the Year Hoopie 2012. For more information about Sarah, visit www. sarahstarlight.com |
| About Megan Lanfri... Always having been an extremely energetic child, I started up gymnastics as soon as I could jump. When I decided that wasn't enough, at age 8, I transferred my gymnastics skills over to Equestrian Vaulting, which is gymnastics and dance on the back of a moving horse. I cross-trained daily with gymnastics, kick-boxing, yoga, personal trainers, and even trained on the diving team for a year in high school. I competed nationally year round for 11 years and at age 14, I started competing internationally for the U.S.A. and spent most summers training abroad. I retired from vaulting in 2009 to earn my Bachelor's in Communication Studies from Chapman University, then went on to work in the L.A. Advertising industry for a year, but I felt a huge part of me was missing without being an athlete. I moved back to the Bay, started coaching vaulting, and started the hunt for a new passion, lo and behold, I found Poletential! I started with a few silks classes, and when I finally rallied up the courage to try pole, I became so obsessed that I haven't been able to pull myself away to try much else since. I love helping people gain confidence in themselves and tackle challenges, whether it be new moves on the pole, or daily in life. I want to be able to share this unique passion with everyone I know and meet, while I continue to expand my own personal skills along the way. |