Alloy Images Changes Course in 2019

Since the earliest days of Pole Sport Organization in 2012, Alloy Images has witnessed 73 competitions and over 10,000 performances. We’re so proud to have captured so many of your personal movement journeys along the way.

This year, Alloy Images will shift focus back to studio shoots, as PSO develops their own in-house photo/video team. As Alloy Images moves forward, we’re diving deeper into videography and refocusing on conceptual location shoots; we are so excited to create wild, magical art in the studio with all of you.

Here's what this means for you -

-If you want to book Alloy Images studio or location shoots, visit our website or send us a message - we’d love to work with you! We’re already booking shoot tours across the US for studio photos, location work, video shoots, and private collaborations.

-If you want to purchase PSO competition photos and video from 2018 or earlier, email contactalloyimages@gmail.com. We will be archiving all our PSO work through January 2020, so you have plenty of time to grab videos or photos of performances from previous comps.

- To purchase your PSO competition photos and video from now on, order directly through the Pole Sport Organization Portal. So from 2019 on, tag your photos #PSOphotos.

Looking forward to capturing more of your splits and sparkles in 2019,

Vanessa and Iris

Predator/Prey - Iris & Jordan. Mojave Desert, 2017.

 

 

 

 

they won't tell you fairytales
of how girls can be dangerous and still win.
they will only tell you stories
where girls are sweet and kind
and reject all sin.
i guess to them,
it's a terrifying thought,
a red riding hood
who knew exactly
what she was doing
when she invited the wild in
-
nikita gill

some days
i am more wolf
than woman
and i am still learning
how to stop apoligising
for my wild
-
nikita gill

10 POC (Polers of Color) You Should Know Right Now

How do we respond in times like this? We dance. It's what we do. It is, to quote a West Wing episode, "how we enter the world." It is, to quote a video of an Australian poler going around right now, "it's how I locate myself in my body." It's therapy when we're tired of arguing. It's political, enjoying being in our own bodies when the world condemns them. It's wordless connection with our community. And it's work, strengthening our muscles and our minds to keep keep resisting.
How do we respond in times like this, as people of privilege? A POC student of mine posted a quote about how white liberals have been talking about "punching Nazis" - but really, how many people do you know who have punched a Nazi? Not as many as have racist relatives that they don't confront. One of her concrete suggestions for actions people of privilege can take, instead of talking about punching Nazis, is to support artists of color. 
Which spurred me to finish this post I'd been working on for too long. As we travel across the country photographing pole, we see thousands, if not tens of thousands, of performances. The number of POC dancers has been slowly growing through the years, but in some areas it's still rare to see a dancer of color at a competition. And on the average, they're also far more likely to put a political piece onstage. This is how they enter the world. And how many of their videos get shared in the community, if they don't win a huge title? How many get shared even if they do place or win? Not enough. So here's a signal boost for some really remarkable POC we've seen dance throughout the past few years - a mix of regional champions, POC who have placed but not won, who have competed at lower levels, and dancers who are known within their local pole community but should be more well known across our pole world. 
Here's how I'm responding right now. Listen, appreciate, signal boost. 
Click the play button on each one to watch them be amazing. 

Marly Jay

Makayla Elise

JJ

Joscelyn Perez

Janine Cooper

Zhyandia Joi

Hali Sgueglia

Amy Henderson

Mikal Smith

Kirstin Brown

This is by no means an exhaustive list. There are so many incredible POC dancers competing at higher levels who deserve every word of praise - Phoenix Kazree, Ashley Fox, Crystal Belcher, Sasja Lee, Dalijah Franklin, Candace Cane, Kimmy, Jazzy Alix... This is not even a authoritative list (it was written by a white woman) - but Black Girls Pole has you covered on that. However, these are dancers whose performances have stood out to me over the past couple years, that maybe you haven't heard of. And maybe now you can go support their art. 

And to conclude, I have to share (again) the single most stunning piece of #blackgirlmagic I've ever seen. Still one of the most incredible pieces of art I think any pole dancer has put on any stage. Thank you for your movement, Crystal - and all of the amazing POC dancers in our community, including those mentioned above.

Crystal Belcher