They practiced the moves, then switched to leg swings.
“Brace on your hands, then swing that leg in the air.”
Avery felt like a ballerina, but on the floor, gracefully swinging her legs as she pushed her upper body. While the moves were fairly simple, she could already feel the intensity of the workout.
“Okay. One more! Push that booty up, hold your body, swing the right leg, dip, then carry the left leg over. That’s it!”
“Wow, this is interesting.” Avery became starry-eyed thinking about herself mastering the art of pole dancing. Heat rose into her cheeks, and her nose tickled as she bit her bottom lip.
“Okay. I think you’re ready for your first pole position.”
They rose to their feet. “Hold your hands out for me.” Avery opened her palms, and Aaliyah poured some pole-gripping anti-slip solution into her hands.
“Rub that in real good, and the first position we’re going to try requires you to get a good grip on the pole with the back of your leg. So, like this.”
Avery observed as Aaliyah gripped the pole up high with her right hand, then wrapped the back of her right leg above her hip around the bar.
“Left-hand grips the pole across the breasts, then ease into a swing by pushing off your left leg.”
Aaliyah’s body twirled in a graceful swing, and Avery’s eyes widened. The move seemed easy enough when broken down that way, but she was still anxious.
“I’ll try it again.” Aaliyah did the carousel twice more. “Okay. You wanna try this?”
“Yes.” She repeated what Aaliyah had done, but her swing stopped midway, and she dropped to the floor, landing on her feet. “Oh!”
“You’re okay.” She smiled. “Are your feet stinging a little?”
“Yes.” Avery rubbed the soles of her feet. “My heart is racing.”
“You’re nervous.”
“It’s true.” An anxious laugh shuffled from her.
“Okay…. Think of something or someone who calms you in any circumstance. This can be a certain food or a certain somebody. Whenever you indulge in this thing or this person, you always feel safe.”
Avery nodded—conjuring an image of DeAndre. She blushed, and her heart settled into a steady rhythm.
“Okay. Now, keep that thing or person in mind and try again.”
She stepped to the pole without hesitancy and went into the move twirling gracefully around as if she were on stage putting on a show. On her way down, her feet were planted on the sprung floors, and she ended with a sexy strut around the pole.
When her eyes met up with Aaliyah, Aaliyah’s mouth was open, surprise on her face. “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Aaliyah placed her hands on her waist and leaned into a hip. “What was that?”
Avery blushed harder. “I did what you asked.”
“And boy, did you! I almost want to know what the thing is you thought of because, baby, you looked like me up there.”
A deep laugh fell from Avery. “You’re stroking my ego now.”
“Something or someone is stroking it better because, with that attitude, you’ll have this down in no time.” Aaliyah looked at the clock. “We have about thirty more minutes. Do you want to keep practicing, or are you done for the day?”
“Let’s keep going.”
Aaliyah nodded. “Alright then! We’ll stick with these beginner swings but add the floor dance with them. So let’s start from the top.”
They got into position on the floor, hip thrusting, swinging their legs, then moving to the pole for the carousel swing.
They looked like two dancers springing to the beat of a song rather than a teacher and student.