“I am trying to show the aerobic side of it, the gymnastic part of it,” says Natalie Fustier about pole dancing. “For me it is more like Cirque du Soleil.”
Photo by Photo by Boomer Jerritt
Femme Natale’s director, Natalie Fustier’s passion for fitness and empowering women is clear as she speaks about the benefits of pole dancing. “I am trying to show people the other side of pole dancing,” she says. “Yes, there are women who choose to strip while pole dancing, but I am trying to show the aerobic side of it, the gymnastic part of it. For me it is more like Cirque du Soleil.”
“I went to see Zumanity by Cirque du Soleil… it was erotic, sensual and very tasteful and I knew that was what I wanted to do with my pole dancing” Fustier adds. “It is another form of burlesque. My classes are designed to make women feel confident in themselves.”
She pauses, then adds. “When I am dancing I feel so alive, and my students feel that too.”
But pole dancing hasn’t always been Fustier’s “true love.” Growing up in Ontario, Fustier got her grounding in athletics and choreography, taking synchronized swimming, gymnastics and figure skating with her twin sister, Cynthia. “When we were growing up my sister was the athletic one,” Fustier says with a laugh as she explains that the tables have turned now that her sister teaches English in Montreal and Fustier travels there for pole dancing instruction at Alternative Fitness.
“I went to Montreal for a month to do some studying and Maiko, the owner of Alternative Fitness, wanted me to stay and become one of her instructors, but I told her that my dream was to come back here to BC and start my own studio in Cumberland because I love the community.”
Fustier moved to Cumberland 15 years ago and discovered mountain biking. She caught on quickly and it wasn’t long before she started the Dirty Skirts group ride for women and began touring the BC race circuit.
“That was a great time in my life,” she says, “but it was also frustrating. When I used to race it was hard to move up levels because there were never enough girls in my category. These races are not as well sought out by girls. I would have to call the officials up and ask if I could advance because there weren’t enough points. I would do the race and win but with only three girls in the race, I wouldn’t get the points to move on to the next level. I made it to pro-elite and then I stopped.”
The benefits of her mountain bike racing years carry through to her new profession though. She has the cardio and strength to perform the demanding pole dancing routines. Sitting across from Fustier in her Lululemon capris and a bikini top, it is hard to imagine her slender arms covered in mud and scratches ripping cross country on her mountain bike. It is possible, however, to see how pole dancing tones the entire body while strengthening and lengthening every muscle.
And it’s not just the cardio that transferred through from mountain biking, she explains, “You also have to keep your momentum going in both, and you need to loosen up. You need to become one with your bike or your pole.” But the similarities end there because, “when you pole dance you are in control,” she says. “When you are mountain biking your bike can have a mind of its own at times. The pole is always there to support you.”
Following her mountain biking adventures, Fustier opened Tarbells Café in Cumberland. After five years at the coffee shop she discovered pole dancing and knew right away that that was what she wanted to do. So she sold the shop and, with the help of her friends, renovated the space in the College and opened the doors.
She first came across pole dancing a year and a half ago at a friend’s stagette, where a woman from Campbell River had been hired to teach the party-goers how to pole dance.
“She brought her pole to the house, showed us how to do some moves and from there I got hooked on it. I bought my own pole, took it home, and started getting videos to teach myself.” Her next step was pole dancing instructor certification at Pole Dance Studios in Vancouver.
“The three day course at Pole Dance Studios was intense but fun,” Fustier says. “We were taught the moves, how to teach people, and how to lead warm ups and cool downs. The third day you have to put a routine together and teach the class. It made me realize what my weaknesses were and what I needed to work on.”
Fustier trained and performed as a belly dancer a few years ago with dancer Donna Whitford. “She has been my inspiration in dancing and gave me a big push to start this studio,” says Fustier. “I did a lot of dancing with her and got over my stage fright.”
Fustier pauses, then continues: “Unfortunately Donna got into a car accident and now she’s paralyzed. She wanted to start a belly dancing studio but got into this accident. Donna has been so amazing because she pushes me to do everything even though she can’t. She tells me to follow my heart. She is my inspiration. I couldn’t have done all this without her or my good friend Joan.”
To get a true feel for the classes, I have signed up for Femme Natale’s 6-week program for beginners. Instructor Nadyne Moldowan makes the moves look easy through a simple approach: “dedication and passion.” She came to one of Fustier’s classes to “check it out” and hasn’t missed one since. In less than a year, she has become an accomplished dancer and instructor.
Both instructors agree that the best part of their job is seeing the transformation in the women they teach. “My students walk up to me in the street and tell me that I have changed their life,” Fustier says. “At first everyone is so shy and it is amazing to see how they progress. That is my reward—seeing how beautiful they look. They come in shy and they leave as sexy felines.”
Moldowan laughs as she steps up to the pole and tells Fustier she is the perfect example of that. “You have no idea what you have unleashed,” she says. The tunes begin as Moldowan demonstrates what the beginner students will learn in their first 6 weeks. The routine, designed by Fustier, is called Cookie Jar and at first it is hard to believe that even rather awkward, timid people like me will be sassing out these moves by the end of the session.
For me, by the end of the third class things are starting to click. As each move starts to feel more natural and the muscle aches from last week’s class translate into new strengths in this week’s class, I find that I am really starting to enjoy this beautiful workout. As I look around the room at the women in the class—who range in age from 18 to 60 and all fitness levels—I can see that I am not the only one.
In addition to the new confidence and dance moves students learn, “At the end of the six week program,” Fustier says, “you get a video tape and boudoir pictures of yourself and you get to keep them for the rest of your life.”
So, what’s next for Fustier? “I really want to focus on doing shows. My next goal is to put on a show so that I can show the world how beautiful pole dancing is. I know that people think of it as…well the first thing they think of is stripping, but it’s not. It is pole fitness. Yes, you are learning a bit of sassiness, but you are learning how to be beautiful. You are getting exercise out of it. You are working on your inner core and it makes women feel so good about themselves.”
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