CindyCoverdale.com

Vertical Fitness Dance Studio Lake Tahoe

I am the owner of a Dance/Fitness Studio called Vertical Fitness in Incline Village (Lake Tahoe) where I teach Pole Dancing… my passion! I took a class a few years ago and was immediately hooked. It reminded me of when I was a little girl and would play on the bars at recess. You couldn’t get me off those things! So,  check out my Dance Studio in Lake Tahoe if you’re interested in alternative fitness classes.

In addition to Pole Dancing, Vertical Fitness offers classes in Belly Dancing, Sexy Stretch, and Salsacise!  Come try a class!  Or you can get a group of your friends together and have a Private Workshop or Party!

We believe in getting fit the fun way.  Our classes are all designed to take the “work”  out of working out.  Instead, we infuse creativity and play into our classes, allowing you to bring out your feminine side. It’s innovative and different. You’re going to love it!

Why I LOVE Pole Dancing!

By Cindy Coverdale

I discovered Pole Dancing when I turned 40 years old.  I had just come off spending two years acting as President and creator of the Parent Association at my son’s school. After pretty much spending what would have been a fulltime job as a volunteer, I decided when it was over to take some time for me.  During that time my best friend was explaining this mysterious bruise to me that she had on her foot.  She said it was from a Pole Dancing Class. I was immediately intrigued and I knew I had to experience it!

That first class was all I needed to become absolutely addicted to Pole Dancing.  My background in gymnastics made it very easy for me, and it was unbelievably fun.  I was immediately transported back to my childhood when I would play on the bars. You couldn’t get me off those things!  Spinning… spinning… spinning.  Sure they were horizontal, not vertical like a pole, but the feeling was the same. Total Freedom and Joy!

As I continued taking classes I noticed another unexpected side effect.  Well two.  First of all, my core was tightening up and my whole body was getting more toned and strong.  I had tried everything after having my son to get my abdominal area back to how it once had been and nothing worked like Pole Dancing. The amazing thing to me was that it never felt like working out—it was just FUN, and a little bit challenging.  I had zero dance experience so moving with freedom was very new for me.

The second side effect was the magic of feeling empowered.  I noticed through claiming my femininity and sensuality I was able to express a whole other side of me. A very locked up and repressed side.  My confidence grew right along with my improved posture.   This was the piece that helped me decide I had to open my own studio and become an instructor.  I wanted to assist other women in experiencing this as well.

I find that women my age (30 and 40 something) seem to have the hardest time giving themselves permission to attend classes, and tap into their own creative and feminine expression.  I think some of it is because we have conditioning from our own mothers who were forced to be the “perfect” mothers of the 60’s.  Their sole job was supposed to be their family. They were our role models and our teachers. I know my own mother was not ever able to realize her full potential as a woman and creative person. She was supposed to be in sacrifice to her family.  That is what was deemed admirable.

In my classes, which are promoted and designed as Pole Dancing for Fitness, I do my best to create permission for women to notice and appreciate their inner beauty and strength, at the same time allowing their femininity to be expressed through sensual movements.  When they reach that point, I feel extremely blessed to be a part of it. There is a magical transformation that takes place. A new sense of self-assurance is being projected out.

I think what sets Pole Dancing apart from other forms of fitness such as Pilates or Yoga is the piece of dancing and expressing yourself.  The workout piece is there, but there is also a very unstructured and flowing piece that is unique and individual to each person.  It is the creative essence of that person being expressed.  Nothing is more beautiful than that!

Side Note:

One of my missions to help me be the best instructor I can be is to learn from as many fantastic Pole Dancers I can.  I have had the privilege of learning from:  Fawnia Monday, Katie Coates, Jenyne Butterfly, Michula Nunez, Jamilla DeVille, Leigh Ann Orsi, Bad Ass, and Kitty Cadillac. I am AFAA Certified as Group Fitness Instructor as well as PDIC Certified from Fawnia.

I am a Pole Dance Instructor and the owner of Vertical Fitness in Lake Tahoe, NV. which I opened in July 2007. Ladies, I urge you to give Pole Dancing for Fitness a try!  Pole Dancing Studios are popping up all over the place.  I think it’s destined to become the new Pilates. I recommend you do a little research and make sure you find a good instructor with some fitness experience as well as dance experience.  Also make sure you feel comfortable and safe with them so you can really let that sexy side of you out. She’s in there I promise.  And if you haven’t had a lot of contact with her lately you are going to love playing with her again! Enjoy!

Food That Rocks

Food That Rocks” was co-written by Margie Lapanja and myself in 2004. Part entertainment, part cookbook our goal was to create a book that would be fun to read while actually preparing one of the artist’s recipes. In addition to delicious recipes, it’s packed with juicy tidbits like what do the artits recommend you listen to while preparing their favorite meal, and what do they require backstage during their shows. Our intention was to give the reader an opportunity to get to know the musician while they’re preparing their recipe!

Writing Food That Rocks

It was great fun to write.  We got some wacky recipes!  Many came handwritten without any ingredient amounts, or cooking times or temperatures. Thank goodness Margie had prior cookbook experience! Some of them are pretty funny as well. There are some really great personalties that shine through.  The musicians were so much fun to work with.  That was probably the best part of writing the book… For me anyway.

Margie and I split the writing down the middle.  We would write our intros and swap them for the other to comment on.  It worked very well for us. We divided other duties up.  Margie did the recipes and I took care of permissions, etc.

“Food That Rocks” was written for charity.  To benefit Freedom From Hunger. Our intention was to be able to give back in big way and present them with a large check.  Unfortunately, things didn’t pan out quite as we visualized, but we’re still hoping to give them a nice big check one day.  We ran into some obstacles along the way.

One of the biggest obstacles was having our publisher be sold half way through the writing of our book.   Our new publishers  inherited something like 50 books and only 1 extra staff person, so they were stretched pretty thin.  I also don’t think the “got” our book in the same way our original publisher did.  They thought it was a cookbook, which it partly is.  The problem is, bookstores want cookbooks to be all about the recipes and “Food That Rocks” is more about the musician’s contributing the recipes.  Some of the recipes are fabulous, some are kind of silly. They don’t necessarily compare with Julia Child if you know what I mean.

We had fantastic reviews and some extremely successful book signings. The book signings were great fun! Depending on the location they were held, we had musicians on hand to sign their recipe pages as well. We also did a lot of very fun radio interviews.  I remember having to be wide awake at 4:00 am to do live morning radio shows on the East coast.  Those were tough! It was pretty disappointing that our book didn’t fly off the bookshelves, but  I am proud of it and extremely grateful for the experience I had participating in the whole process.  I learned so much and I got to meet some wonderful people.