DEB ROACH: Being on the stage is electric. I love it. I feel more alive in those
3-5 minutes than I do at any other time.
DEB ROACH: I am a woman doing something taboo and reclaiming my body for me in a safe environment,
where I am not told that the fact that I am pursuing my own sexuality means that I am
lewd, crude or a slut. And I think that that’s a really positive thing.
COMM: Putting a positive spin on life, pole champion, dancer and acrobat, Deb Roach was
born without her left arm - but as you can see that’s not held her back.
DEB ROACH: I definitely wanted to have a go, as a kid I loved music, I loved dancing. But
at school kids were given the option to pick people to join their teams. I was always the
last picked, wasn’t particularly great at ball catch or ball throw. Accessibility, inclusion
and integration weren’t of strong focus of the schooling system in Sydney, Australia
in the 80s and 90s. I focused really on my academic and my cerebral pursuits and got
very trapped in my head from my teenage years. It wasn’t until my early 20s when I was
working and a couple of my colleagues started to, you know, they were going to the gym at
lunch or going for a run and they encouraged me to participate. I very quickly became very
addicted and I tried everything; I tried Kung Fu, I tried Yoga, I tried Pilates. I just
wanted to give everything a go and I started to feel really strong, really healthy. I was
stage dancing and DJ’ing at a nightclub event when I saw this double pole act. They
blew my mind and when we were back-stage and I said, ‘You lucky girls, with your two
arms and your fancy pole dancing, that was insanely good.’ And they said, ‘Have you
given it a try?’ And I am like, ‘Why would a girl with one arm try and do what you guys
are doing up there?’ And they challenged me and they said, ‘Why not?’ It was a
pretty good question. I was in the studio the next Monday and never looked back.
DEB ROACH: Pole dancers as a community are really supportive and encouraging and welcoming.
Things like climbing the pole took me a lot longer because my teachers had always trained
with two arms. It was still a pretty new sport back then.
COMM: Deb learnt a number of adaptations, taking traditional pole moves and making them
her own. Clearly showing talent for pole, Deb quit her job and entered the fitness world
full-time. She started winning local pole competitions but there were bigger triumphs to come.
DEB ROACH: November 2011, my phone rings and a lady called Natalie Tikhonova introduces
herself as one of the people working behind the scenes for the International Pole Championships
in Hong Kong in March. They said they had a disabled division. I ended up going there, then I won.
That’s when my mind was absolutely blown. There was international coverage on
a number of different platforms and recognition that I had never dreamed of. I started receiving
invitations to come and perform abroad.
COMM: Deb now travels all over the world to perform and to teach pole, including today
at the London Dance Academy.
DEB ROACH: I have taught women who were grandmothers. I have taught lawyers and doctors,
uni-students, mechanics.
DEB ROACH: Another thing I love most about pole dancing is actually in teaching. It’s
about seeing people who came in with fear that they weren’t strong enough, the change
in them. I don’t see pole as just a sport or a hobby. I see it as a vehicle for personal
growth and transformation.
SHIVA MANOHARAN: So, basically I have learnt how to do the inverts and the crucifix as well.
It’s also something that I really struggle with. I am just a beginner. So, it’s
really, really hard for me to, sort of, do all of these tricks and stuff like that. And
she was really encouraging today. So, and the fact that I was able to pull through some
of her moves, was just really great, yeah.
EMMA SYKES: I’ve never heard of her but kudos because I can barely do it with two
arms. So, the fact that she is doing it with one arm is really, really impressive.
DEB ROACH: There are definitely some shocked reactions, students that can’t believe that
they are in a room with a one-arm pole instructor.
There is also this beautiful thing that happens
with the student-teacher relationship. I get loads of students every class I teach is that
they forget to use both arms. I am like, ‘Both hands. Both hands.’ And they will still
be there just with the one hand going because they are mimicking their instructor. So, that’s
very cute. There are still people out there that believe it only exists in a strip club.
But there are ignorant people all over the world.
DEB ROACH: That’s not really my problem. If they want to look at me and think, ‘Oh,
she is a pole dancer that means she is a stripper,’ more is the pity because they don’t get me.