-Every now and again someone will try to criticize
my work as a pole dancer and say,
"you're just selling your body" and my response to them is,
"so are you if you're clocking into someone else every day".
What I do is not for the faint of heart.
It is very hard. I wouldn't trade it for the world.
My name is Candace Cane and I am a professional pole dancer.
Alright, let's start with some head tilts
from side to side.
-My origin is in pole classes.
-And then bring your chin
to chest and then look back at the sky.
-I started training two,
three times a week, two hours a day
and I was addicted.
-Roll those shoulders backwards.
-I had been performing
as a dancer for many, many moons,
so once I became a pole dancer it was only natural for me
to want to perform that skill as well.
Once I was seen in the clubs doing the pole dancing,
a lot of people reached out
for private events and birthday parties
and "hey, I'm shooting a music video,
would love to have you in there, you know, feature you dancing".
I have a variety of talents that is not limited to pole dancing.
I do handstands, burlesque, lyra and lollipop.
Hangs trapeze.
I do Acro yoga, I can do pretty much anything as with my body.
If you can tell me what to do with it, I'll try to do it.
Being a freelance performer is sometimes a little bit difficult
when it comes to balancing all the skills that I have.
Sometimes I'm rushing off from one gig right into another
and then eventually there
is someone else who reaches out say,
"hey, Candace, I need a lesson, are available right now?"
And then eventually I make it home to go to sleep,
I'm tired and I just hit the bed
and I'm just out.
-Alright, we're done stretching,
so now it's time to get to the poles.
Yeah! One, two, three. You'll go around, you'll grab.
-So today I'll be teaching
a semi-private with two of my prior students
and I'll be showing them some spins,
a climbing pose and a pose sitting on the pole.
My students are different levels,
so I'm going to be showing them the same trick,
but different difficulty level. The beginner level of this,
you're going to turn your foot out,
whichever one you prefer,
and place it against the base of the pole.
Knee goes up, head goes down, boom.
-Teaching is something I do
take very seriously,
because people are essentially giving up their whole bodies
and their safety to you.
So it is very important for you to know
exactly what you're doing and how to fix a scenario
that can go awfully awry.
-And drop your head to the left.
Drop, drop, drop, drop, drop.
Good, good, good.
-I've been taking classes with Candace,
this will be my second class, so about a month.
What I like about Candace's teaching style
is she makes you feel very comfortable stepping up
and possibly getting to her level at one day.
-Like out, yes, see.
Whoa! Slippery but you got it.
-My feet are slippery.
-That's good.
So, when it comes to pole dancing, we have grip aids.
If you ever feel like you're getting sweaty
you could always clean off your pole
with rubbing alcohol and paper towel.
And then you have grips, there's like chalk that you can use.
There's liquid talc.
So depending on your body chemistry
you can find what type of grip aid works for you.
Uh-huh.
-Whee!
There is absolutely a big pole community,
especially in Los Angeles.
And what I like at least about the one I've found is,
anybody and everybody, gender, race,
body, whatever, is welcome to just come try and have fun.
-Okay.
♪♪
-How's that look?
When I perform, I very much enjoy playing dress-up.
Okay, so this is my She Shed,
this is where most of my costumes are stored.
I have all my props in here
and everything that I need for any performance.
Whether it be pole, burlesque, all that jazz.
I'm so proud of it because it took a while
for it to get to where it's at. Here are some of my awards
that I've won from the competitions I've competed in.
These ones are actually all from Pole Sport Organization.
And then this lovely crown here, this is from the Pole Olympics.
These here are some of my pasties,
some of what I've made myself like these ones.
And these are some of my most expensive babies,
my prize possessions.
Check this out, this is a show girl costume.
As you can see there's so many different cutouts
and the different types of jewels that are used.
So now I'm going to show you my most expensive costume.
So this, this is a Catherine D'lish robe,
you have the Swarovski crystals, faux vegan silk.
I have everything kind of tied up,
that way I don't lose pieces because these, as you can see,
are really expensive and I would cry to ever lose a piece.
So total, we're looking at over $1000
for just this costume alone.
These are some of my pole heels, these ones up here are custom
so these are going to run about $125 to $150.
Fun fact, I've actually worn these
while I was performing with Snoop Dogg.
Make sense, right?
I do have some more expensive pole heels.
These ones were probably I want to say like, $160 or so.
So most of the heels that I've been showing you
were like seven, eight inches, I even have some sixes in here.
But these ones are the heavy duty ones,
because these are ten inches.
They actually come with a warning label
not to dance in them,
but I break the rules and I dance in them
anytime I get the chance to.
It's as big as my head!
It takes a lot of focus and dedication.
You have to not quit.
Like, you really got to go for it and give it your all,
otherwise why even do it?
-So, when I start,
I'll start on stage and then the music will start.
♪♪
So I get here, I'll run a tech rehearsal,
normally not in costume just so I can preserve the costume.
Tonight's performance is a combination, it's pole-esque.
I'm doing burlesque because I am stripping my costume away
as if I was a burlesque performer.
However I am also performing pole tricks,
so that would qualify as a pole performance.
The thing is with these shows,
most of the time they don't provide a makeup artist
and as an individual performer,
it is very beneficial to understand your own face
and how to do it.
I'm excited to try this, a little nervous,
as high pigments usually can get a little messy.
So, wish me luck guys, we'll see how this goes.
Although I am stripping
because I'm doing a burlesque performance
and I am taking away items of clothing,
ironically enough it's not a strip performance
because I'm not getting naked.
I am going down possibly to pasties, we'll see how I feel.
I have pasties on underneath, just in case.
Oh yeah, I've had a stint in the strip club, I definitely did.
But it was a good time, you know.
Lots of craziness, but a lot of good times.
It's not as negative as folks would lead it on to be.
I stopped working in the strip clubs
because I was getting paid to keep my clothes on.
And I realized,
well if I have the opportunity to make more money
and I don't have to get naked in front of people,
I'd rather just do that.
Some of the physical challenges that come with pole dancing
is injury and being overworked.
And unfortunately I've had a few injuries with pole dancing
that I still deal with to this day.
When I was working as an exotic dancer
there was a night that there was so much money on stage,
when I went to go step to spin around the pole,
my foot slipped one way,
my knee went the other and I tore my meniscus
and I was out of work for quite some time.
I use cannabis to manage my pain.
Now this is how I like to spend my pre-game for my performance.
It's like, meditation.
I also have a medical condition, endometriosis,
which I use the marijuana to manage my pain
because I have flare-ups.
And my flare-ups include me having spouts of dizziness,
nausea, I will have extreme pain in my abdomen.
I either smoke it or I ingest it through edibles.
Doing all that I do it would be hard
for someone to believe that I actually suffer
from a chronic illness.
-I'm starting to get excited now.
Now I feel like, okay, it's getting close to show time.
♪♪
-It's a fabulous time,
I'm so happy you're all here.
How are we feeling this evening?
[ Cheers and applause ]
Oh my God, I can already tell you guys are going to be good.
We know you have many options for your pride celebration,
but we're so glad you chose to fly with us.
-Burlesque is originally
created hundreds of years ago, in America,
as a variety vaudeville show, that showcased comedians,
singers, musicians, dancers, the striptease artists.
When people are part of Beauty of Burlesque,
it's not just casting a dancer to do a dance in a show,
it really is about us as a tribe.
We really are a team that cheers each other on,
lifts each other up and tries to make each other better.
-I'm always like,
ready to have fun as soon as like,
the lights go down and the music starts,
I'm like, this is the time to just forget everything.
Like anything that I might be stressed
about or like in real life,
you can just have like, eight minutes on stage
where like everything stops and you're just, in your own movie.
-So me and Candace
actually work together at another club in Hollywood
and she's a burlesque performer there.
I think what makes Candace stand out as a performer
is definitely her athleticism.
I mean, I don't know anyone else who could like,
do an act in a handstands for most of the act or you know,
just like these crazy splits
and she's incredibly gorgeous and super creative too.
I've been watching her acts for a few years now
and every time she adds like a new element of surprise.
Whether it's like, sparklers or like the poles,
like, hanging from the ceiling.
She's like already started at such a top notch level
and like how she's like,
continued to level up is really cool.
-Get it, there we go.
Wiggle, wiggle.
Jiggle, jiggle.
My nerves don't kick in for a performance
until right before I go on stage.
America's Sweet, Miss Candace.
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
-The thing that keeps me coming back
to performing and dancing is my love of the craft
and how I'm able to push my body
to limits that I didn't think I could before.
It's one of those things where you see yourself achieve a goal
and then you want to achieve another goal.
Pole dancing is hard.
Whenever you see it performed on TV,
in shows, those people have put in plenty of hours
to look the way they do,
to make it look as graceful and as sensual
and as erotic and exotic, whatever the style may be.
I feel that people who look down on pole dancers and strippers
and the connection of the two,
often actually have shame around sex in general.
So they're going to try to put that on the next person and say,
"how dare you do something that I'm not comfortable doing".
People who try to make you feel bad for something,
it's because that they want to be able
to have that sense of freedom and because they're not,
they're going to attempt to bring you down
because they can't get up to your level.
-Of course everyone started
going crazy when they saw the sparklers
and then I realized, I was like,
"Wait! I'm facing the wrong way and I can't see their reaction".
So I had to, in my headstand turn around
so I could show them like, hey,
one I can do a head spin kind of and two,
I wanted to see them cheering!
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
[ Cheering continues ]
♪♪
-Oh yeah.
-I feel pretty good,
I feel really good.
I think that I got all the tricks
that I wanted to get out and then some, which was fun.
I was like, "oh, I have a little bit more time,
I can milk this a little bit".
All the costume pieces came off pretty easy.
When it comes to performance,
I never doubt my skills of being able to perform.
I will never get on a stage and get choked up.
I have too vast a vocabulary of knowledge for movement.
I've been dancing for over 20 years,
I've been doing pole for over 10
and have been performing for over 15.
What I enjoy most about expressing my sensual
and sexy side through pole is,
the fact that I'm celebrating myself.
It's a time for me to reclaim my own sexy
and celebrate not only my body and its capability,
but the mobility that it has.
And I am sexy and it's okay not for anyone else,
but for my own self.
I love pole dancing, I love the community
that I've been brought into because of pole dancing.
I love the people that I've been able to affect
with my pole dancing.
Had you told me when I was 10, 11, 12, 13, even in college,
that I'd be making my living as a pole dancer,
I would have laughed so hard.
Because I couldn't even see myself dancing
on a pole for a living. Like what?
This right here, this is it.
And this is where I'm going to be until I'm 60,
70, 80 years old.
For as long as my body is able and capable of doing it,
you will see my swinging on some poles.