1st Place Winner in Aerial All Stars 2015, Distinguished Pole Champion and Brand Ambassador

Amy Hazel is known for her flexibility, interesting pole transitions and her instagram @amyhazel92. Amy started pole dancing in 2010 and quickly built her reputation to becoming one of Australia’s top pole dancers. Without professional background training, Amy has always had a passion for dancing and choreographing attending dance classes from the age of 6. Her love for fashion can also be seen in her costume designs and decorations.

Amy´s Accomplishments:

• 1st place Aerial All Stars 2015
• 1st place Miss Pole Dance Victoria 2015/16
• 1st place Pole Theater Classique HK 2015
• 2nd place Victorian Pole Championships 2014
• 2nd place Miss Pole Dance Victoria 2014/15
• 3rd place Miss Pole Dance Australia 2014/15
• 3rd place Beijing International Pole Championship
• 1st Place – PPS Aerial Performance Tournament – Professional Pole Champion 2013
• 2nd Place – Ms. Bikini Australia – Musclemania Australia 2013
• 3rd Place – Model Australia – Musclemania Australia 2013
• Official Bad Kitty® Brand Ambassador
• Official Pole Ugg Brand Ambassador
• Official Bling It Heels Brand Ambassador

1. Amy could you please tell me your story.

How did you come to pole dance? Has jazz / funk influenced your pole dance style? 

I started pole dancing in 2010 after hearing a radio advertisement for Pole Divas Melbourne (Australia). I attended my first class with the lovely Lou Landers and fell in love with the sport straight away! As I had always loved dancing, my jazz funk definitely helped me with coordination and fluidity but i definitely struggled with my flexibility to begin with – especially my active flexibility.

2. Does training influence your meals habits?

I have always been a health conscious person having struggled through years of an eating disorder. I try to be more relaxed about my diet throughout the year but definitely make sure that the majority of my diet is healthy. My diet usually consists of organic, vegetarian, raw foods however I am not vegan or vegetarian and do allow myself meats or treats every now and then. I also try to avoid all sorts of refined sugar.

3. Do you have a special training routine that you are doing daily?

How does your usual day look like?

I usually wake up, run for 30 mins at the gym, stretch, drive to the studio, train in pole or hoop for however long I last (sometimes i just lay at the studio, sometimes i train for 6 hours), teach classes then drive home to sleep.

4. You won a lot of pole dance competitions.

What do you think is the most important in a pole dance performance? What is your biggest inspiration in pole dance?

I love feeling the music, engaging the audience and hearing the crowd. It depends which competition you are doing but I definitely like fluff time (unchoreographed sections of the song used to get the audience attention). I pick songs that mean a lot to me and it helps me to want to do my best with the piece. I come from a very musical background (my brother is a great drummer and my mum was a DJ in the 80’s)

5. What tips can you give for good and fluent transitions in pole dance choreography?

How do you invent your transitions?

I train them in slow motion. If you can do it in slow motion then you can control it smoothly and it will look fluid. I create them by getting into positions and wondering ‘what if i move my arm here… what if i move my leg here’

6. What are your favorite strength exercises to get strong arms, shoulders and back for pole dance?

I mainly just train pole and hoop for my upper body. Lots of pull ups, slow transitions, stretch band exercises and long pole combinations.

7. Could you please share 1 or 2 flexibility exercises using a pole.

8. How long does it take you to prepare a pole dance choreography and to choose the right music?

Do you have a special training process for this?

Choosing the music takes FOREVER and it drives me crazy! The choreography is about 2-4 weeks. I train combos I like, then place them in the music then make the dance in between.

9. What are your favorite music bands and singers for pole dance?

Anything! There is so much inspiration in all genres of music but it definitely needs to have a build, a peak and a finish.

10. I know that you also perform adagio. How long are you doing adagio?

Has aerial adagio influenced your style and in which way? Could you please give some tips for a good adagio?

I only trained with Blue Phoenix for a couple of months when we competed together at Pole Candy as Tinkerbell and Peter Pan. Trust is the biggest tip and being very comfortable with your partner. We would research tricks on youtube or instagram and try them out.

11. Which workshops do you offer with as a duo with Blue Phoenix? When and where?

Blue Phoenix moved to Sydney last year and so we no longer train together and have not been able to do Adagio for over a year. I do miss it dearly and hope to firstly train with him again and then teach some in the future.

Photos:  Kimberly Russell