From Not Wanting to Be Seen to Taking the Stage: Interview with Amanda Strand
Sep 19, 2024
by Sara Schreiber
Amanda Strand’s first pole classes were at a studio that soon closed, but a few years later, she went looking for adult hip-hop classes and found a pole fitness class at First City Dance. The class wasn’t running at the time, but Amanda rallied a group of women and convinced Cathy Marcotte, the studio owner, to run a Community Ed pole class in fall of 2021. Just three classes in, Cathy pointed to Amanda and said, “You know you’re going to take over these classes, right?” Amanda’s reaction then does not reflect her confidence now. Amanda says, “I was really uncomfortable…I felt really inadequate and surprised and scared.” But pole changed that for her, and a year later, she was instructing. “There’s been a big transition in who I am today versus who I was then, before pole,” says Amanda. “Then, I was somebody who was scared to show up and to be seen and to be put on the spot and certainly couldn’t imagine myself teaching class.” Saying yes changed everything.
Photo by Jon Heller
For Amanda, pole has been a source of healing and a way to grow her body confidence. “I feel really free in my body,” says Amanda. “I’ve always really loved to dance and I’ve always felt really good dancing, but something about having a pole and dancing with the pole…it’s like a dance partner. It’s grounding. A lot of times when you’re just dancing, you’re free floating in the air doing things, and then, when you have a pole, you have something to push against, to resist, to pull, and I just really love that dynamic. It made me feel really strong, and I was building muscles that I had never been able to build before. It’s given me a lot of confidence, and I feel really sexy with pole dancing.”
Photo by Jon Heller
In Bemidji, MN where there are few options for such unique methods of fitness, Amanda has been growing the pole community and spreading it beyond Bemidji. This fall, she moved to a new location to teach at Boss Lady Fitness. She’s also teaching pole classes in Brainerd, MN. Recently, she’s brought her pole performances to music shows, expos, and other community events. Even as her classes are growing, she continues to push herself. She’s putting a lot of focus on developing her performance skills. “A big thing for me is getting comfortable with eye contact with the audience when I’m performing because I tend to go in my own world and shut out everybody,” says Amanda. “That and incorporating more floorwork into my routines. It’s a really important part of the whole show, and I think I overlook it, thinking I need to be doing all these pole moves.”
Photo by Jon Heller