Pole Fan Addicts

Great hustle for these ladies, but they hustled the wrong one!
Well, purchased a Groupon with the intent of finding a studio to attend classes at on a regular basis… bad choice. Extremely hard to schedule classes with «travel days» frequent during the time period I attempted to schedule classes, the policies with scheduling classes and the number of «voucher» spaces alotted for each class. The studio is NOT in the best area and it’s quaint, it’s quaint and I guess cute to some, but a little too quaint for me. I’ve actually NEVER had a bad experience with Groupon until now and I was extermely disappointed with the service and level of professionalism or lack there of when dealing with this business. If you want to get a great experience for your money, do your research and purchase classes elsewhere. I unfortunately attended class the day after my instructor apparently was out for a night on the town… I could care less about the amount of alcohol had and who did what. I just wanted to get my work out on! I can’t say I’d go back if I were paid! Speaking of paid, thank goodness I purchased a Groupon as I would’ve been extremely pissed if I’d paid «full» price for what is asked at this studio. I was only able to attend ONE out of TEN classes purchased via Groupon. Everything happens for a reason and I’ve found a wonderful studio that offers classes that are convenient and do not require a reservation upwards of a week to two weeks, if not more for attendance. If you want to learn moves from current and former dancers, that have a «name,» this is your place, just don’t get your hopes up on a the best quaility experience. Maybe my experience was an exception. I will not recommend this studio to my enemy if asked. This business would benefit in some classes on professional business etiquette. It’s one thing to have fun, it’s another to be down right tacky. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want formal when I attend a dance class, but I do want to get my money’s worth. Do your research and check out their policies BEFORE purchasing classes, especially if you just so happen to be considering a Groupon, Living Social or whatever other kind of «deals» that may be available. Yeah, I think that’s it.

I was not sure what to expect but I think I found my new workout! I went to the Pole I class taught by Gigi Maguire and instead of choreography we learned spins. OMG! Spins are no joke but it was so refreshing to let go of all of my inhibitions and just do it. Gigi is down to earth and a ton of fun. I will be back!

So I came across a deal for Gigi Maguire’s (of Magic City fame) Pole Fan Addicts studio on Living Social. How could I pass up taking classes from a world-​renowned stripper? I know I couldn’t because I always felt like I had an inner stripper waiting to get out.
She has a link on her website where you can conveniently redeem your voucher and each time you want to take a class you just go back to that link. I didn’t receive a reply email but when I called she quickly cleared that up for me. She as in Gigi. She joked that she’s her everything right now since everything is still brand new.
I went to take her Booty Bounce class Wednesday morning. Now, I expected her class to be similar to the one I took at PoleLaTeaz (which was straight cardio!) so I came prepared to sweat myself silly. I got there early and the door was locked… again she’s her everything so she had to stop the class she was teaching to open the door. (I didn’t go in the studio until I saw another girl go in.)
The studio is located in the historic Auburn Avenue district. Parking is at a premium so be careful where you park. Also the studio is easy to miss but it is situated between two funeral homes and across from Wheat Street Baptist Church.
The studio is painted pink and brown and has a very girly feel to it. Its comfy (read: small) which to me is okay if you want to take classes and have more personalized attention. There were 5 people in my class total which was nice because Gigi could see each person and critique them when something needed correcting. Who knew this whole time I wasn’t popping my booty the right way the whole time… I felt kinda intimidated, which I’m sure wasn’t the intent but I’ve never felt that way about any other studio I’ve been to. Maybe I did that to myself knowing who my instructor was going to be. She did take more time to teach technique and there was a lot of repetition to make sure you got it right. She also encouraged working out outside of the studio to build your strength to do the things she does.
The way I felt when I left that one class is the reason why I couldn’t give it 5 stars… I just felt strange. I have 4 more classes I can take so maybe a different instructor won’t make me feel some kind of way. Don’t get me wrong, Gigi is very nice and down to earth (she even told the back story on how she had to transition her technique to work at MC which was very funny) but I didn’t feel confident leaving that class.
I’ll give an update when I go back for the 5^th class in my series.

It’s not easy to find from the street, but Pole Fan Addicts is an awesome little gem of a dance studio.
I learned about them courtesy of both Groupon and Living Social deals and, dance enthusiast that I am (I’ve tried all different kinds for fun once I stopped my classical training after high school), snapped up a deal to give this place a whirl.
Last night, I finally made my way over to Auburn Ave to get my groove on. The first class I signed up for was called, «Hard on the Pole» — lovely innuendo there, and was described as a boot camp conditioning class incorporating poles for an even better workout. Sweet!
The space is a little hard to find on the street — it’s across from a church and next to an herbal store and funeral home. But once inside, you know you’re in the right place. Pole Fan Addicts is pink inside (so girly and feminine, I know) and in the actual dance studio, 5 poles are spaced in front of full length mirrors. The whole room is lit softly and there are scented candles placed around the edges and lit for extra ambiance, plus curtains for the doorways to shut out any extraneous street noises.
It was a very small class (just me and one other girl), which was great because it was almost a personal training session, and my instructor was a great personal trainer named Shelby. She was fantastic and had us good and hot by the end of the class. We did a traditional cardio warmup then started using the pole to do squats, burpees, spins forward and back, pull ups and more. There was also floor work like mountain climbers, push ups, and an ab section, as well as a stretching section at the end.
I loved every minute of it (when I’m sweating from class, I feel like I’m getting my money’s worth), and I’m looking forward to going back to try more classes soon — there are at least five different ones rotated throughout each day not including the traditional pole dancing classes for different skill levels.