This is the transcript of our Episode 11: Different Ways to Get Certified to Teach Pole from Pole On The Call that aired Thursday, March 17, 2022.
You can watch this episode on YouTube, or listen to it on Spotify, Apple Music, or your favorite podcast service.
Cris Rivers and Mændy Mac share some different ways you can advance your pole journey by becoming an instructor. They share their own personal teacher training journeys and offer a plethora of additional resources to help you become the pole coach of your dreams!
Let us know how you like our episode and share with a pole friend!
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Well hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Pole on the Call! My name is Mændy Mac.
And I am Cris Rivers, and we are here today we’ve got Episode 11!
We’re going to talk about a a bunch of different ways that you can get certified to teach pole.
So let’s say you’ve had the you know, the time of your life taking pole class, and you end up, it really speaks to your heart. And you want to express it to others. And you decide that you want to be a pole teacher! What are some of the things you can do?
Yes I’m sorry you always know when recording from home you have those little side things going on so! Did you mention — you just mentioned why it’s so important? It is so important to get certified because if you’re not certified, then legal action can be taken against you. That is like number one! And it just definitely helps you, how do you say, I know for me learn the basics and really master your craft in order to be able to teach people properly and safely.
I mean I went to college for for dance, and they had lots of pedagogy classes, so I kind of knew how to teach dance, but… The pole teacher training — I thought I knew everything. But really, the pole teacher training had some extra stuff that I didn’t even realize I was missing. So I was really like, thankful for that. And also, not to say that you can’t learn to be a good teacher on your own, or through you know, a mentorship or something like that — and I would always say like you definitely need to do a mentorship. But you know getting to things on your own, you’ll you’ll make it there, but it’ll just take way longer, and you’re gonna miss a bunch of things. So: teacher training!
And then I think a certification is so cool you just have it it’s proof. It’s proof that you actually put that work in, that you actually paid for it, and that you actually went out for it. And it’s also another reason so important, for insurance which covers your ass for safety. A lot some insurances won’t cover you if you’re not certified, so I think it’s important to say that.
Ah let me see. Any other reason that you can think of why it’s so important? I’m sure there are countless reasons that you are all thinking about right now as you listen.
Certification, it’s easy to achieve. Like, I mean I thought I was so badass after I got these certifications you know? You just trained really hard and you’re training with, you know, maybe a group of similar people too. And then you get that certificate! And like Mændy Mac said, you could always learn to be an amazing instructor without a certification if you do like a mentorship but I think the certification, unfortunately now in the world is more professional, more appealing, and more proof that you are qualified to teach. It’s sad to say that, but that’s just how it is. When you go to a studio, usually the first question is, well what certification do you have?
It’s just expected, especially if you’re a new, a new teacher. We want to see that you, you know have at least dedication to like,
At least when I’m hiring a teacher I’m not gonna just like take you if you have no experience and no certification that would mean I have to train you.
Yeah.
But yeah so there’s a number of different certifications, so it’s really easy to, to find one that’s going to work for you. And there’s a number of different ways you can get certified! There is online in person… There’s online, comma, in person…There’s live on your own time, so like on demand, you can just get all the course materials and then do it all like that. And there’s courses all over the world!
Cris and I did a lot of research and we found a really extensive list for you guys! So we’ll post the whole list and we’re gonna talk about a few today!
With that being said there are so many amazing courses out there, but not all of them are sadly the same. Let me not say that! They’re all probably amazing because it is not easy to make a course, but some of them, you will not be able to use in specific states, specific countries, different things like that, just based on accreditations and just their courses. So sometimes you might have to put in that extra work just to check their accreditation and make sure it will be accepted in a wide range of locations. But they are amazing courses! They will, no matter which one you take benefits you, but just keep that in mind that you might have to check to make sure you can use it everywhere at other places so you don’t get stuck unless you want to get stuck.
So true! Yeah and you can always just like research, obviously the website that they have for each each training and and see what kind of accreditation they offer, and if it even matters where you’re going.
Yeah so now that we have our big intro about different types of of training I guess we should go into our personal experiences?
Yes! We could definitely go into that real quick and then go into those awesome classes. Do you want to go into your live experience first, or my online? I guess mine was kind of maybe online/hybrid I don’t really know. I mean you could tell all about the differences because, that yours in particular had a lot of different options?
Yes I took the XPert Fitness and they have certifications for pole, heels, lyra, (aerial hoop), aerial hammock, aerial silk, and flexibility. And then each of those categories have subcategories within them. And it’s widely used and I think it’s from the UK, that’s where the course is from. But you can take it anywhere and it’s pretty widely accepted. They have live options, they have online, and I guess hybrid online. Mine was I guess like an online hybrid. So I got the, I signed up, I paid for the course, I got it all in one little tool. And I had, I was allowed to take as much time as I want.
But at that time I wanted to go, go, because I already knew the basics. I just needed to solidify it all. So I think I did it like this past summer. That quick. And then when I was ready done with the workbook, finished reading the textbook. I had to register for a in-person mentor meeting, so I think that’s where the hybrid came in. So we had an in-person mentor meeting it was a group meeting with people from all over the world and we got to talk and get to know each other. It was freaking fabulous! And we went over our workbook, got our questions answered, got ready for the test and the certification, and then we had to take two parts.
The first one was an in-person certification. No I lied! The first one was a written one. So you take the written one, and then you get your test, like your score, like that. And you know, if you pass, and then you schedule the in-person one for whenever you want. And you can either take that one like a zoom meeting, which is much harder, or you can pre-record it and send it, which was much easier. So I pre-recorded and sent it, but even then I messed up with my, I did the corkscrew spin, and a couple others, and because I did the corkscrew spin on a spin pole instead of a static, I failed that part. So I had to re-submit it, but it was very they were very accepting. They were like, you killed everything else! But because this is not a spin course. This corkscrew spin has to be on static, so can you please submit this part again? And I did. And it was like that. So it wasn’t that bad. And then once I completed it, I got a bunch of discounts to a bunch of different places, and a ten percent discount for my next pole certification with them, and I signed up for my level three and four. And now with this one, as I take it, I am taking my sweet ass time. I think I’ve been taking it for like the last four or five months, and I’m really trying to just master every trick. And hopefully it’ll help me with World Pole. I’ve been like kicking myself in the ass, and like you gotta finish it! But I just been enjoying it.
And yeah that was Xpert fitness online. It was an incredible program. They were awesome, they have so many certifications that you could take, and I’m excited to get certified again with this next level, and then maybe even take their spin pole certification where you do crazy spin tricks and combos! But yeah! What about you Mændy?
Yes, no that that sounds so amazing! Like I said that the Xpert, our teachers at Pole in the Wall have the Xpert Fitness Certification and I really liked, I mean what I saw from you guys, from the the training and what you might have to send in, so it seems like a really good one! And just the fact that you can like, do it in your own time. And I like that you mentioned that, because also being a pole teacher is a journey, and the the training should never stop! So just always looking to you know, up your game! And you don’t have to do everything right away. You can take your whole life to to finish your certifications. But as long as you keep learning, that’ll be really really good.
But yeah! That was a an online, hybrid sort of experience, live interactive somebody was like there for you, but not like totally in person.
Yeah it definitely was. It was it was cool, it was neat. I liked it yeah. Yeah, live! Which I can’t wait to hear about that!
Yeah so I knew I wanted to be a pole teacher, but you know, I'm kind of like, I’m a procrastinator. And I was like online and the elevatED training had an ad, and it was like, get all of these three trainings for this one low price! And I was like you know what? I’m gonna do it! I’m gonna sign up for these! And I signed up!
And it was for three separate courses. I signed up for pole level one, pole level two, and flexibility. And all three of the trainings were three separate months, and it was three days long for eight hours a day. And I was so excited because I got to go to Body & Pole which is amazing, I got to stay in New York City and meet all these wonderful amazing polers that I had always seen on instagram, and get experience, you know teaching from them. And yeah! It was just really incredible! And it was actually life-changing. And just the, you know, you get these big thick textbooks full of like, you know all the tricks you could ever imagine. And like tips on how to spot for them, and just, I appreciate it.
I’m really a hands-on person so I appreciated the hands-on experience of you know, learning how to teach other people pole dance. Because I had taught people dance before, but this was like a whole other ball game you know? Things I didn’t even think about, like I said, came out in the teacher training, that I was so appreciative of! Not only just for the classroom stuff, but for like overall studio stuff. And it helped me get the knowledge to eventually open a studio. So yeah! It was just really really good.
And also like, I, the flex training was not something that I was interested in or knew anything about. And then once I took that flex training, once again it changed my whole entire life! And yeah that’s one of my main things now is to teach active flexibility, I just love it so much.
Yeah! So go for all! Like the trainings, I would highly recommend an in-person training if you are a hands-on person. Yeah there were like 20 people in our class, so the the final exam was was very long. And we had to spot every single person in the class, and like you know go through everything everyone and critique everyone and it was just really good for me, and for everyone else in the class too!
I love it one day I’ll have to try in person experience. I’m just like, I like to do things on my time.
I need to be forced to! Like this is your deadline. You’re doing this now!
Yes I completely understand that! But I am glad you mentioned that they had hands on teaching. Because I, with Xpert Fitness, I didn’t say, they did give us videos to teach us the spotting techniques and stuff, which was cool! Which was also very important. So I am glad you mentioned that, because I completely forgot that. Sounds like you had like a beautiful, incredible experience! And three classes for like one! Oh envious!
Yeah there were really long, long, long days but it was… so it was just, it was like, I don’t know — it was the best experience. It was like summer camp. I loved it!
And the the good thing about the evevatED — I don’t know probably Xpert does this too — but I don’t know elevatED has like a a facebook group, so there’s always support for all of the teachers that have graduated from the programs. And you can like they also send emails, I think they have like an online thing too, where you can just continue your education with them, and stuff like that. So I appreciate that as well.
That is awesome! I think Xpert Fitness allows you access to all the material. I don’t know about a facebook group. I do know you can get support from them anytime if you email them with questions and stuff, but that sounds awesome for you.
Yeah sometimes they’ll post like fun games you can play with your students, stuff like that.
Yeah that is awesome! Oh my god but I guess that will get into our list!
So our list, it was longer than I had ever imagined, which is amazing!
Yes there’s more certifications than I actually thought about, because when I signed up it was you who passed the link to me, and then when we decided to do this episode I was looking for a list, and I was like holy!
So the next part we’re going to go into won’t be as detailed as we just were, because we don’t really have much experience. These are different certifications that we do want to introduce to you and we’re going to give you access to in the links below. If these certifications, listen out! And you’re looking for affiliate partners, hit us up at Pole on the Call!
We are currently not partners with anyone, but this is important information for you to have! So let us begin with that. This list is not a full list, perhaps missing some things…
Yeah yeah and it’s not really detailed neither because we don’t know much about them, we just know what they get into, and what they offer. So you want to go first?
Yeah so I my list is shorter, I’ll go! I’ll start with the ones that offer just basic pole training for like tricks, and the different levels.
POLE LEVELS TRAINING
elevatED (US & worldwide) https://elevateducation.com/ Live in person
XPert (US & worldwide) https://xpertpolefitness.com/find-a-course/online-pole-fitness-1-2/ Live in person, online live, and online in your own time
MyPoleSpace (Russia) https://online.mypolespace.ru/teaching_course Online on your own time (Russian only)
Pole Fitness Alliance (US & worldwide) https://polefitnessalliance.com/ Live in person, online live, and online in your own time
Spin City (UK) https://www.spincityinstructortraining.com/ Live in person, online live, and online in your own time
Pole People (UK) https://polepeople.co.uk/pole-instructor-training-qualifications/ In person live
HEELS TRAINING
Indi Pole From the Heels Up Certification (Europe & Asia) https://indipoledance.com/HeelsTT/ Live and Online
Cleo’s Rock & Pole (Australia & Worldwide) https://certification.cleosrocknpole.com/ In person and Online live or in your own time
SPECIALTY Pole Teacher Training (US) https://poleteachertraining.com/pole-beginner-cert Beginner Certification & Pre/Postnatal Pole Certification Online in your own time
So my list, I’m gonna pretty much do the same thing as her. My list is specified. The ones I have first are the ones that include pole, but they also might include other stuff. And then I have just specific dance ones, which we’ll go into later, like you said.
So we went over Xpert Fitness. So we have for pole dancing, coaching plus size pole dancers, which I didn’t even know this was out, there so I’m so glad this came up! We’re gonna have that link in the bottom I’m even thinking about taking it because it’s so important and we all have different body types.
And I think the training from Roz, is that the one you’re talking about?
It doesn’t say who teaches it. It just says plus size dancers and then the website member of the IPIA.
Oh interesting! Yeah I know that Roz the Diva has has one, and I’ve taken hers and it’s it’s amazing!
I’m gonna have to take that! Like I didn’t even know you could do that! Yeah yeah! Also we’ll add that one in. Awesome! So uh we talked about elevatED.
We also have all kinds of circus and aerial, which includes all aerial things like pole, silks, aerial hammocks, and that is American Circus Educators. You can get certified in a bunch of different things. I don’t know how expensive their list is, but you can check that out in the comments below.
We also have Discoveries Dance which you can get certified. Impulse, I believe they’re like a studio and they give online courses but they also offer different pole certifications.
We also go into, let me see, I think you might mention this later, but they do pole certifications, Cleo’s Rock & Pole!
Yes so we’ll talk more about them later…
We can talk about them now! I was going to just list that they teach all sorts of different heel styles. And the fun thing about them too is they offer choreo. So like let’s say you really love teaching flow, but you are not good at creating it, they offer, you know to their teachers, a set choreo that you can teach your students. So you can still you know have the experience of teaching a flow class without making it.
Online, live, and in your own time as well, that’s awesome! Omg I’ve never even heard of them, so that’s Cleo’s Rock & Pole. That would be in the bottom.
We next have for pole, the Canadian Pole Fitness Association, which is so cool I didn’t even know they had their own pole association! So you can get certified through there!
So this one is a little more category specific, this is for pole judges training and pole coaching training, and that is through IPSF. They run World Pole! They do incredible work. That is International Pole Sports Federation. And yeah, if you want to be a like a judge, and judge incredible routines around the world, you might want to get certified in that! Maybe you don’t want to teach pole dancing maybe you want to judge pole dancing, so that’s a cool way to do it!
We also have the Pole Dance Community which I think is so cool that they teach pole because I didn’t even know — if I #poledancecommunity all the time and even though that is like a real thing, so I thought that was pretty neat to find out!
We also—excuse me—we also have Pole Dance Instructor Training also very specific but they do teach pole and you can find that link down at the bottom.
I hope I’m not going too fast! Let me see… That we’ll get into that one.
We also have FabPole which talks which has different certifications for pole and silks, which I might get into because I’ve been dying to try silks! I have an aerial yoga hammock and I’m just like, silks is calling me! But that’s a different thing! So that’s FabPole Certification.
We also, like I believe Mændy said earlier Pole Teacher Training. They do different certifications in pole and I think they now have, were you saying pre-natal, and postnatal?
Yeah yes!
Thank you pre-natal and post-natal teacher certification training yeah this is important because I think there’s always there’s classes now coming out for for people who you know, are pregnant and still want to take pole. But now there’s teacher certification, so you can you know, teach safely during all the times of life! I love that that is incredible! I’m learning like so much like I know we can get pole certified in like spin pole, and levels but like now plus size, prenatal… I’m dying to get certified to teach kids because like, gymnastics coach here I go!
Gymnastics and and silks!
Cris — I don’t mean to interject but I know you were like, "oh I wanted to to take silks!" I don’t know if this is on your list but the New England Center for Circus Arts in Vermont, NECCA! They offer all sorts of aerial teacher training I think they offer lyra, trapeze, all sorts of other ones! I don’t think they offer Chinese Pole, but they do have Chinese Pole classes and maybe soon dance pole as well!
That was not on my list but I’m so glad you added that! It was incredible. I did not know they do a silks certification! And Chinese Pole! That’s another one!
Yeah and that’s what come on it’s right over the the border of Massachusetts and Vermont so we have we’re gonna have to talk about that later!
So we I’m getting back to this extensive list! I’m sorry I told you we had a lot to throw at you but this is good information because why not! There should be all types of pole dancers, so what else are we gonna do with our lives?
Facts and if there’s not a studio near you to teach in then [ __ ] teach at home! Do it your damn self! It’s ah it’s a great way to make money with a hobby you love.
With that being said let me continue because you’re like hurry up! This is what is in our next category. And then we have Le Studio Francois which gives pole and lyra certification. And I think that is a studio that bases out of France and they give it in French and I think they’re working on English too, English courses too. Or they might have them. Don’t quote me, but you can definitely check that out!
We then have also Ecole de Pole with pole instructor training by Justine McLucas. so Justine McLucas is a famous pole coach, pole dancer, pole instructor, and is certified to give their own teaching certification. And you can find that link down at the bottom.
Also for pole, we have IPDFA Pole Pro. I’m not sure what that means, but they do give certifications for pole dancers and for you to be able to teach professional polers and coach them as well, which is awesome! I would love to be able to do that! Now first I got to become a professional poler myself!
But next we’re going into CirqFit which gives you certifications in pole and lyra, and that is CirqFit. That will be at the bottom!
We also have Aerius which teaches pole and sometimes other stuff but mostly pole.
We’ll go into that one next we also have vertical joes which sounds like Vertical Jones but it’s Vertical Joe’s, j-o-e-s! And it does pole dance, and lap dance, and choreos, and things like that.
And certification for twerk!
I was just about to ask, do you know anything about that? So pole, lap dance, and twerk! Which you know we all want to be, I want to say like Miley Cyrus, but sometimes better than Miley Cyrus’s twerk!
Miley Cyrus!
You don’t know about that famous twerk?
Why would you bring that up again!?
Because we want to be better than that! So take this twerk certification!
Why would you remind me that!? S
So we can tell ourselves yeah we don’t want to look like that! I need to get sick! So that’s Vertical Joe's! Do you have anything to add? Do you know anything else about them?
No I think that that was all of my my knowledge of them.
Oh I love Georgia! I was stationed out there. I wish I was a pole dancer back then. That would have been fun!
But anyway, Goddess Dance Studio, you can get certified in pole and lyra! And then we have I feel like I did I said this already Canadian Pole Fitness Association, or maybe that was another one?
I think you said that.
Yeah I did! So they had that twice on this list, so of course that certifies in pole.
And then we have The Pole Studio which certifies and pole various pole certifications, beginner and intermediate, and stuff like that. And then we have Aradia Fitness, which has various pole certifications. And then last but well not last, because I’m sure there’s more that we don’t have on this list, but last on my list — we I lied there’s another one in my head!
The second to last also certifies just in pole, different pole certifications, is Forma Pole Dance, and that link will be on the bottom. And my last one, I have it written here is Graycon Our House, Greg Khan Art House International which is based in Mexico. It is run by Gregory Poe and Constantine Escobar. I hope I didn’t mess up their names. They are fabulous pole dancers, I am in love with their work! And they have an International certification from Mexico. It is in Spanish! You get certified in beginner and advanced and I was looking into it it’s only for us like $300. And if I if I read it correctly it’s approved internationally which is incredible, and I’m really looking to into it because I think it would improve my Spanish pole! But that’s a story for another day.
So that is my last one! Greg Khan Arthouse International which I’ll also add in the link below.
And I think now we’re getting into just random dance certifications, right?
Yeah I think, I mean the last one that I had on my my list that uh we didn’t mention is the the one from Indie Pole, it’s From the Heels Up Certification and that one really interests me because it was taught by one of my idols, Jazzy K! But it looks like that it is only offered in maybe Europe and Asia. It was live and and online, you had to like be in person, so if you are over in Europe and Asia and you are able to attend in some sort of way to this From the Heels Up Certification it looks really cool! And you get to learn from Jazzy K, all of her amazingness!
Yeah that was, that was it! That’s all on my list! There’s more we just don’t know of them. This is a google search!
Yes for pole dancing! So that’s your whole list even for dance!
Yeah, yeah I mean that you you covered all the other ones that were called. Yeah awesome!
I have some more that just focus on floor work and dance. So this little list is no pole, no lyra, it’s just floor work. Different kinds of dance. If you want to get certified in that, and maybe add that to your studio, or even just get certified and combine it with your pole dance and create a new [ __ ] style in class, completely up to you!
So the first one we have is Sensuality University which gives you certifications in different Sexified dances, chair dances, and low floor body work. It even offers a free intro course to see if it’s a certification you want to take. I took it and it’s amazing, so give that a try, Sensuality University we’ll have that link at the bottom.
We also have oh lord, okay Liquid Motion which gets you certified in floor work and heels. We also have Rad Roller which certifies you in mobility and different things like that related to dance. We have lord lord, Cleo’s Rock and Pole which we discussed. Pole, floor work, do they have anything else that you know of?
No yeah it was mostly like heels sexy I like, Australian, sexy…
I absolutely love that!
So next we have Twerk Technicians which gets you certified in twerking which I’m so glad I found this list because I’m thinking about that because I’m a pretty good twerker for a boy. But y’all can check that out on my instagram anyway!
Next we have Paper Doll Militia which gets you certified in silks ropes trapeze and lyra. They don’t offer pole now, but that could change in the future. That’s Paper Doll Militia.
And then we have Twerk After Work which is also a twerk certification and I might just take that one because twerk after work that sounds even more enticing! But yeah so they certify and twerk in different certifications like that.
We next have Sexify which I talked about, which is floor work and that’s through Sensuality University.
And that is all I have! Is there any that you can think of? All right.
No I mean that seems like it! That’s incredible that there’s so many available in our industry. And then a lot more than I thought, like that’s amazing!
I also wanted to mention that, you know in addition to pole, and like we have this dance training, and everything like… if you wanted to get you know, a training in yoga, or pilates, or something, all of this is going to help you as an instructor and be make you more well-rounded, and help you be the best instructor that you can ever be!
I love that you said that! I love it because she’s right. I would have never thought when I got my yoga and personal training certification, it would help me with pole dancing. And it does it helps me teach my pole fitness class, my pole yoga class… So she is 100% right, thank you for saying that.
Yeah and even like like, what happened with me, I got the three for one deal, and the flexibility training wasn’t even something I was thinking about, and I did it, and like it turned into a whole other lifestyle for me!
And like get that teacher training!
And also like you can take teacher training without ever wanting to be a teacher! That teacher training is going to help you in so many ways other than you know, just preparing you to teach a class.
Facts, and maybe, like she said, you don’t have to teach a class, but you could teach like a family member.
Yeah it’s just a really good experience! And yeah it’s gonna boost your own personal practice as well. So yes it’ll help you with competitions and help you really master the basics.
I really loved getting certified! I really am envious of you of that elevatED certification, but nevertheless my certification was so much fun and I highly recommend it for all of you! I can’t wait to finish this new one and get certified in other things!
You can find all the links and ways to contact us on our bio and everywhere else on our website, and thank you for watching and sharing and and all your comments. And also if you have any um ideas for upcoming episodes or things you'd like us to talk about we would love to hear that as well!
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