The Making of the Stanek Spinner - Part I
Thank you for your interest in the Stanek Spinner! I appreciate it so much and I cannot wait to see what magic you create on it!
This has been a process y'all.
I would love to share with you a bit of the history, inspiration, and sneak peek into this process. The pole community is made up of the best people in the world, IMO. So I appreciate you being here with me.
Always and forever, I must honor my legacy. I must recognize the real pioneers of the pole industry in which I now participate and those dancers who made ALL of this possible - the strippers and SWers. Although my initial idea had nothing to do with spinning around the base of the pole, I discovered through this process that dancers at Hustlers (thanks icon Michelle Mynx!) and other clubs (thanks icon and friend AM Davies!) managed to stand on a small platform at the base of the club poles as they spun and danced. Fabulous! Once we launch, we will be supporting yaswork.org - please check them out and support too*
I haven't seen it yet but Crazy Horse uses similar poles (thanks/merci friends Marlo and Prana!) If you don't know, I have seen Crazy Horse twice. Obsessed. My first time inspired my 2012 USPDF competition piece! So, viva la Crazy! Now, from Paris to New York City ...
...over a decade ago I saw this image. It is from a Bridal event for New York Fashion Week at the New York Public Library. I was stunned by this image and it never left my brain.
Funny, the original idea never had anything to do with spinning...
When I saw this, I Immediately thought, wouldn't it be awesome if I could stand at the top of a pole with a giant 15 foot garment like this?! The curtain would open and I would look like a giant regal queen. Or witch or bride or something totally over the top and outrageous.
From there I had no other plans! But it was inspiring.
(Fast forward "Radical Acts of Unrelenting Beauty," a cycle of three live performances by @Jordan_Roth at the Louvre. Great minds think alike! Except I need a bigger budget than "kids parachute from Amazon." LOLz)
Anyway, I did nothing with this idea for many years. Then, I was invited to judge and guest perform for Pole Theatre Canada in June 2025. I was so honored! But it has been a while since I did a proper pole performance, especially after a full day of photo shoots, workshops, and hours of sitting and judging the competition. Oof.
I needed to create a piece that wouldn't stress me out at all, perhaps something more conceptual, but also artistically fulfilling.
At the same time I had this idea for a photo shoot with the fabulous Gina Alm.
I thought ... what if I could figure out how to wrap this fabric around me and the pole, stand on a base, and just spin, float, and luxuriate to a beautiful piece of classical music?
I was motivated to figure out how to make a platform so I could stand on it and make shapes, possibly inside fabric.
What material? How does it attach around the pole - heavy duty velcro? That concept did not materialize (YET).
But "the Stanek Spinner" was in progress! A friend of a friend who makes ninja warrior equipment jerry-rigged prototype 1. It worked! It wasn't efficient and definitely not mass-produce-able. It was heavy, clunky, and not easy to attach/unattach.
All things I didn't think about. And things that would take over my life in the coming year!
But I could make my dance on it. So off I went to the studio to create and experiment. I loved the piece I came up with for Pole Theatre Canada.
However, on-site, the poles were 45mm, but not custom cut 100% top to bottom like I have in the studio. Ruh roh.
Because it was a pole with x joints and attachments, the bottom part of the pole where I would attach the spinner, was a hair smaller than 45 mm and the clamp wouldn't stay. It dropped to the floor.
I couldn't get the spinner to attach! WTF was I gonna do?!
The amazing stage managers and I figured that we could attach it about 8 inches or some above the floor where the pole was a true 45 mm. Whew. It was a bigger step up for me than I had practiced. But, I could make it work!
The performance on "The Stanek Spinner" was a success! I enjoyed every single moment and It was exactly what I wanted to do and exactly how I wanted to feel while dancing.
... Stay tuned for Part II: Protoypes, Patents, and Money, oh my ...!
GET ON THE FIRST DIBS PRE-ORDER LIST
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