Yael Shahar

The one style with a real physical requirement

Pole is not a choice of mood but of equipment. Either there is a pole or there is not, and in that it differs from everything else in the catalogue.

My background is athletic and I have worked on a pole for eight years. That means real tricks rather than decorative leaning: climbs, inverts, controlled descents. It also means I have to check the pole before I use it.

Which pole works and which does not

Three kinds, and only one of them truly works.

A professionally mounted pole — bolted to floor and ceiling, or to the ceiling alone. On that anything is possible, inverts included. If you have one, send me the model or a photograph.

A pressure-mounted pole — held between floor and ceiling by tension, with no fixings. On that I work low and without inverts, and only after checking. Not because I am over-cautious but because a plasterboard ceiling and a two-metre-eighty span is a combination I know.

A decorative pole — installed for photographs or as furniture. I do not use it at all.

My check takes a minute and I do it myself on arrival. If the pole is not safe I say so immediately and move to another format, without cutting the price and without drama.

And if there is no pole at all

That is the situation in most homes, which is why I do two other styles.

Fashion is the first, and it is the opposite of pole work: not a square but a line. I need a straight run of four to five metres, a metre and a half wide, with light from the side. There is no acrobatics there at all — there is walking, holding and turning.

The second is a club set, which is what I do when the group is large and the room is loud. That needs three metres by three and a speaker with bass.

So if you are not sure what you have, just tell me what is in the room and I will say what fits. It does not change the price.

What is needed around the pole

Even with a sound pole, it needs space around it.

A clear circle of a metre and a half in every direction, with no glass table and no floor lamp in range. And a hard floor — a rug under the pole is not a safety problem but a grip problem, because I come down onto it.

One more thing people do not think about: the pole has to be clean. Cream, oil or spray left on it from last time makes it slippery, and that cannot be fixed on the night. A cloth and a little alcohol before I arrive solves everything.

What a pole set looks like

Eight to twelve minutes, no more. Pole is continuous physical effort, and past twelve minutes the quality drops — it shows, and I would rather stop at the peak.

The structure is fixed: an opening on the floor, a first climb, a descent, then two or three real elements at height. Between the tricks there are holds, and those are not rest but part of the set — acrobatics only work if there are pauses in them.

For a longer booking I add a second part on the floor or in fashion, after a break. Two pole sets back to back stop being impressive and start being tiring, for the audience as much as for me.

What happens if the pole fails the check

It happens on roughly one evening in four where there is a pole, so it is worth knowing how it looks.

I arrive, I check, and if something is wrong I say so immediately and quietly, without a scene in front of the group. Then we move to fashion or a club set, or to lap dance if the room is small. The evening is not broken; it simply looks different.

What does not happen is me going up anyway “just a little”. A pressure-mounted pole that shifts a millimetre during a check will shift five with me on it, and that stops being a repair to the evening and becomes one to a shoulder.

Which group gets the most from this

Groups who want to see something difficult. Pole works best on an audience that understands it is sport: people start counting spins and react out loud when something lands.

Excellent for a bachelor party in a loft or a house with a pole, and for a birthday with a younger group. In fashion, also for mixed evenings and occasions that want something clean rather than close.

Three things that will not happen

I do not use a pole I am unsure of, even if asked. I do not do tricks after drinking, so I do not drink on an evening with a pole in it. And guests do not initiate contact — that holds with me as across the whole catalogue.

One small thing more: I do not give lessons. People sometimes ask to “just try”, and that is precisely where evenings end in a dislocated shoulder.

Where I work most

The whole service area. Mostly where there are lofts and houses with poles: Tel Aviv, Florentin, Ramat Gan and Herzliya.

The price is the same as everyone in the catalogue, including when the pole turns out to be unsuitable and we move to fashion. Cash at the end.