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Beautiful Butterfly

Butterfly deserves a separate post. It is pretty, easy and fun.

Butterfly is such a pretty shape. It doesn't require any extreme flexibility or strength, but looks absolutely stunning

It was my very first 'advanced' move, or so I thought at the beginning of my pole journey. It's funny how my perception of a 'cool move' changed with time and experience,  but I still consider Butterfly  beautiful and worth putting in a routine.

Just for a change I had no particular struggle with the Butterfly,  apart from a minor body positioning issue. And that was back when I had to cheekily jump into my Invert (yes, we all did that). Facing the pole, while holding a perfect shape seemed to confuse me a little. My body tended to turn either to one side or another. I could still easily hold the move, but the shape was a bit crooked and imperfect.

Not sure exactly how I overcame the issue,  just lots of practice,  I guess. And I did practice it a lot, alongside with Scorpio and Gemini. There were some moves I had to work on out of necessity, but this one was a pure fun and desire to make it look perfect, the way the girls from advanced group did.
It was much later when I discovered different Butterfly variations that are worth mentioning.

No hands Butterfly

Don't particularly like this photo, but it gives an idea about this variation

This one was a bit of a struggle as was attempted after my more than a year long break from pole. It felt funny and I'm still not sure whether I like the way it looks. I'm usually not a big fan of variations of moves that already look good, but No hands Butterfly was an exception as it posed a challenge.

Extended Butterfly

Showed this photo to my dad and he was like: "Why is it not a split?"

When I showed my dad a picture of me doing Extended Butterfly, he asked: "Why was it not a full split?" So, yes, it does look heaps better if you posses fantastic active flexibility, but in case you're suffering from a severe lack of flexibility like myself, Extended Butterfly still looks pretty as long as you keep your legs straight. I suppose, that's the tricky part, as you need to rely on your grip a lot more while maintaining a proper body position. I personally love this variation more than the original Butterfly to the extend where I stopped doing it altogether, and switched to the extended version instead. Mastering Extended Butterfly is also a step towards a handspring Aeysha. It has a similar feeling about it in terms of finding the right balance and hand positioning.

Handstand Butterfly 

Still lots to work on with this one, but it's a base I can build on

Looks super pretty (when somebody else is doing it) and super terrifying to get into. Just like in free standing handstand, it seems like you're tipping over and about to lose your balance. What I struggled most with was letting go of the pole and swinging that leg backwards into a Butterfly shape. This part is essential, because it is pretty much what is keeping your balance. The best way for me to do a Handstand Butterfly was with a spotter, so don't be ashamed to ask your instructor for help. Once the first terror is behind you, you're on the right track to finding the balance and perfecting the overall shape. I'm still struggling with this move, but it's 100% worth the effort.

Adding any version of Butterfly to your combo will spice it up a bit, despite its simplicity this trick looks advanced, especially to non pole dancers. Once this move is done and dusted it's really hard to ruin it. I find it a perfect back up option in case some harder moves do not get into shape fast enough before the performance.

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