Spin City Newbury Blog

Name: Self captioned "Extreme Happy Face" Catharine Fewtrell – Aerial Catharine – Miss K Age: 44 What do you teach? Hoop and sling How long have you been in your respective discipline(s)? Since 2013? I think… Did you have any prior experience in dance or sport before you started? Before aerials I did a bit of adult jazz dancing and flamenco. And before that Kung Fu and Kick Boxing. Before getting in the hoop I started pole with Mandy in Basingstoke and then discovered that hoop was easier, more pleasant, more sit-y down-y and you could keep your clothes on, so warmer too!  What inspired you to become an instructor? Tom said we might have to move to Norway and I knew I couldn’t live without hoop so I wanted the qualifications to make it easier to continue. What’s the most important thing about instructing for you?   Seeing the joy hoop and sling bring to people – seeing someone manage a move they have been trying for ages – helping peopl...

Happy Hump day everyone! This week I thought we'd look at some videos because... who doesn't love a YouTube binge and we've had a few weeks of quite deep topics! There's absolutely no rhyme or reason to the choices I've made, I simply set off on down the rabbit hole.  Sarah Scott's Off the Pole Podcast - Episode #017 - The Circus Doc I thoroughly enjoyed this podcast with Dr. Emily Scherb. Not only is she a physical therapist and instructor, but she's also been a practising aerialist for over 25 years. How did your doctor first respond to telling them what you did at the studio... mine didn't quite grasp what the demands were from my discipline. She's just written a book,  Applied Anatomy of Aerial Arts , which I can't wait to read!  The Off the Pole Podcast is a great one to listen to, another of my favourites was with Roz the Diva 💖 Bendy Kate at Pole France 2017  I think this speaks for itself... Sam Rock...

Today I went to have my boobs checked at Swindon hospital. All is fine. Lefty is just a fucking trickster. I just thought that actually this is quite important so wanted to share. Before the appointment About 4 weeks ago my left boob started really hurting. I didn’t think much of it - having a toddler who regularly uses his pointy little elbow to dig into me as an aid to getting off the sofa I figured it was just battered and bruised so thought to myself ‘give it a few days’. After a week it was still hurting so I had a good poke about check - something I do pretty regularly anyway. And there was an unusual ‘something’. Not an obvious lump as such, but definitely something that felt weird and out of the norm.  I made myself a doctors appointment. She gave me a fairly brief once over and then gave me a referral to the breast clinic.  A ‘2 week urgent referral’ - apparently urgent is the norm for anything boob-related, but that doesn’t make those words any less terrifying....

Name: Sophie Barthel Age:             37 What do you teach?             Instructor and TA for Pole and Aerial Hoop  How long have you been in your respective discipline(s)? Gosh! – probably around 6-7 years – I’ve stopped counting haha What inspired you to become an instructor? I just love the pole/circus community and I wanted to pass on what I’ve learnt. I always found my instructors so inspiring and I love it when students get a new move – it’s the best feeling! What’s the most important thing about instructing for you? Making it safe, and getting a solid grounding in the basics...and having fun of course!! I always think that what’s really helped me along the way is that one of my first instructors really worked me hard on getting to grips with those and standard moves and doing them cleanly and with strength – it’s made learning the hard stuff so much safer and left ...

Did you know that today is a national awareness day to break the silence surrounding Mental Health Problems? "Too often, people who experience a mental health problem are also expected to take the lead on talking about mental health in the wider sense. Time To Talk Day encourages everyone to talk about mental health. Mental health problems affect one in four of us yet people are still afraid to talk about it. For people with mental health problems not being able to talk about it can be one of the worst parts of the illness. So by getting people talking about mental health we can break down stereotypes, improve relationships, aid recovery and take the stigma out of something that affects us all. Since Time To Talk Day first launched in 2014, it has sparked millions of conversations in schools, homes, workplaces, in the media and online." - Taken from the   Awareness Days Website - Time to Talk Day   DISCLAIMER: This blog post discusses sensitive topics surrounding menta...

I’m going to bring it up because I’m sure this isn’t the first time you’ve been told… but it’s Valentines Day next week. However, we’re going to be talking about self-love because it’s equally as important as our love for others. What do we do for the people we love in our lives? We compliment them by telling them how witty they are, how incredible they make us feel when we’re in their company and that we’d miss them if they weren’t in our lives. We give gifts. We do activities or go places based on their first choice to be in their presence. Now ask yourself… how often do I remember my good qualities? How often do I treat myself to something nice when out shopping? Or how much time do I spend doing things that I enjoy? Be as kind to yourself as you are to other people. A friend once asked me, while I was verbally bashing all my achievements, traits and characteristics… to imagine speaking to a child when I had these thoughts. I felt awful. I’d never say that to anyone ...

We have a photoshoot coming up in 3 weeks time with the lovely Ben Ripley. I thought it would be an ideal time to share some tips to help those booked onto this session (Sunday 24th February). If you've missed out this time with Ben, we're sure to have other shoots throughout the year so keep your eyes peeled! 🍪  Food / Energy 🍌 Make sure you've had some good food to keep you going. You're working hard and it's no good running on empty! Don't go overboard with your meal and leave an hour or two between eating and your time slot. Take plenty of water and some quick snacks that you can chomp on for a boost either during or directly after your shoot. ⏰  Punctuality & Warm Up 🔥 Providing there is a space for you to remain out of the photographers / current students shoot area, turn up 10/15 minutes before your slot to get warmed up. Photoshoots are a lot more exhausting than you might think, so if you're not warm enough, you risk injuring yoursel...