In conversation with three founders pioneering safe(r) community spaces in the pole industry – Beanie the Jet, Cutie Whippingham, Gemma Rose
Hosted by Bloggeronpole, Dr Carolina Are
Dr Carolina Are – @ray.marsh
6:45PM, SATURDAY 10 FEBRUARY 2024
THE COMMON PRESS, LONDON
LIMITED TICKETS HERE | £21.50
Blackstage, the award-winning Black Queer SWer-led company-cum-movement, founded by pro pole artist, instructor, activist, Leila Davis, launches Blackstage Talks – an IRL event to discuss issues facing the pole industry and how to do better as a community.
Blackstage Talks: Breaking Moulds will be hosted by Dr Carolina Are (@bloggeronpole) – the pole dancing academic behind the bloggeronpole and who’s PhD in ‘Social Media Governance’, plus campaigning work against social media censorship, has obtained direct apologies from Instagram about the shadowbanning of pole dance. Carolina is a leading voice against censorship in and outside the pole dance industry, having published the first peer-reviewed study on shadowbanning in Feminist Media Studies, and is the consultant across the #StopDeletingUs campaign. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Conversation, BBC, Wired, and the Guardian.
Guest speakers at Blackstage Talks: Breaking Moulds will include:
Beanie the Jet (@beanie_the_jet) – renowned as the ‘sexual Liberator’ and ‘pleasure enthusiast’, Beanie is the creator of the UK Pole industry’s first fully inclusive showcases called Filthy Friday in Manchester, which was created not only as a space for marginalised folk to celebrate and be celebrated, but also to honour the roots of pole dance as we know it today.
Cutie Whippingham (@cutiewhippingham) – a queer professional pole dancer, instructor, model, movement coach, brand inclusion consultant, and founder of Blackstage – a group for Black people and people of colour (BPOC) of all bodies and abilities, especially those who are Queer, Trans, Non-binary and/or Sex Workers (SW). Drawing from her own experience, Leila is known for her informative online voice and workshops such as ‘How to make money as a pole performer’, ‘How to Write a Pole Performer Contract’ and ‘How to Build an Ethical Pole Event’, shining a light on the creative industries prejudices and getting the pole community to do better.
Gemma Rose (@gemmarosepole) – a proud sex worker and pole instructor. She is the creator of Pole Dance Stripper Movement (PDSM). PDSM runs sex worker centred events by providing spaces and opportunities which directly give back to the community on which pole was founded. The PDSM Competition is the world’s most sex worker inclusive pole competition and unites the intersecting pole and stripping communities. Gemma is also the podcast host of The 6am Club.
Located at the well-loved London queer bookshop, The Common Place in Shoreditch, the evening promises an insightful conversation between guests touching on…
- Accountability as a leader
- What a safe(r) space is, what is ‘inclusion’
- How to keep conversations safe and productive in online spaces
- Private social media accounts vs. sharing your voices
- Managing privacy across social media
- Different nuances and opinions amongst SWers and pole dancers
- Balance between celebrating the glamour of stripping without appropriating it
- The business of pole: earnings and rates
Following the discussion, attendees will have the chance to mingle with speakers and other guests.
Blackstage Talks: Breaking Moulds will take place on Saturday 10 February 2024 from 6:45pm at The Common Press, Shoreditch London. Limited tickets are on sale now for £21.50 and sold here: blackstagepole.com/events
Blackstage is the award-winning Black Queer SWer-led company centring BPOC pole dancers
blackstagepole.com | @blxckstage |
Blackstage is a direct response to the lack of diversity in the pole industry, as well as the lack of opportunities for Black people and people of colour (BPOC) who pole dance. There is a lack of representation of BPOC and a hugely negative white, non-sex worker allied, pole narrative which also erases trans, plus sized and non-binary polers. Blackstage wants the pole industry to be decolonised.
