Ross Kendall
Local pole dancer Christine Priestly was chosen as a finalist in the Queensland Pole Championships held in Brisbane in late July.
‘I was very excited to be selected as a state finalist where I had to compete against another 30 contestants including amateurs and professionals,’ she said.
The contest was a ‘step-up’ for the part-time amateur pole dancer and her first go at a graded competition.
‘I was happy with the performance, it was a bit different, and challenging,’ she said.
‘I was happy to get there. Finalists were selected after sending in a video of their performance,’ Christine said.
Winners from all state championships earn a place to compete at the national titles she said.
Christine works full-time, mainly as a hypnotherapist, and even with her pole-dancing teaching only gets a couple of hours a week to train in the studio, but she does supplement this with training at home.
She took up the sport five years ago and is looking forward to having a go at other graded competitions.
‘It is a very different style of dancing, but you can see your progress every week. And you can feel yourself getting stronger,’ she said.
Christine trains at Byron Bay and Lismore studios, and also travels to Queensland to develop her skills.