Founder and Master Trainer
Michelle Stanek is the 2012 United States Pole Dance Champion and has won 5 out of 6 competitions she has entered. She began cultivating her dance skills from age 8, but it wasn’t until after college, graduate school, professorships and a full-time job in design that Michelle has finally been able to call herself a dancer by profession. And it is because of pole. She has traveled to Dubai, Tokyo, Scandinavia, Europe, Mexico, Australia, the Caribbean and around the U.S. to perform, teach workshops and judge pole dance competitions. When she isn’t traveling, she lives in New York City and instructs at Body & Pole and Crunch Gyms. Michelle is a founding member of the aerial dance company, AERA.
Michelle embraces any and all styles of pole dance. Whether she is shaking her booty in a music video for Diplo, performing in a contemporary art installation at MoMA or dancing in the studio, Michelle cherishes every opportunity to perform and express herself through movement. Always admiring the role of “teacher,” Michelle truly enjoys sharing her skill and knowledge to help her pole students become the dancers they want to be.
Related Projects
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Lara Michaels
Lara Michaels first found pole in 2011 through a Groupon. Originally from San Francisco, and a classically trained violinist, she holds two degrees in music performance, a bachelors from the San Francisco Conservatory and a masters from Mannes College in New York. She has a background in ballet and other dance styles. Lara has competed many times, notably with USPDF, Pole Sport Organization, Pole Classic at Pole Expo, US Aerial Championships, Pole Theatre USA, and the Asia Pole Championship. She is an elevatED master trainer and has been teaching at Body & Pole since 2013.
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Zoe Kantor
Zoe first discovered Pole Dance while teaching English in Korea in 2011, and instantly became hooked. Originally from Boston, she has been studying movement and dance since childhood. Zoe is a NASM certified personal trainer, and currently teaches pole dance in New York City at Body & Pole. Zoe is the Aerialympics All Star 2018 Pole Champion, and has competed in numerous domestic and international Pole Competitions. She is motivated by seeing her students progress and utilize their creativity. Becoming an Elevated Master trainer has merged together so many of Zoe's goals. It gives her the opportunity to share her wealth of teaching knowledge with others, spread pole around the world, and teach not only the physicality of pole but also the theoretical side. The Elevated Program merges creative movement with academics with proper technique. Zoe is honored to have the opportunity to teach this one of a kind training around the world.
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Jessi Colon
A native New Yorker, Jessi began her dance career at Jacques D'Amboise's National Dance Institute, later graduating from Steps on Broadway's pre-professional program. Since then, Jessi has performed across four continents with a variety of multidisciplinary artists. In 2013, Jessi became enamored with pole after a decade of teaching and performing grounded dance. It has both reinvigorated and humbled her, lens-shifting her career as both a teacher and an artist. She has performed and competed with Black Girls Pole, AERA, Pole Theatre, PSO and more. She also co-created the pole short film, Lone Signal, which toured the national festival circuit, including the American Dance Festival. Today, Jessi continues to tour the country as both an artist and a teacher, currently teaching at Body & Pole, Sweet Water Dance & Yoga, and National Dance Institute. As a teacher, her greatest honor is creating a space that allows students to celebrate themselves and be present in their minds and bodies. As an ElevatED master trainer, she strives to provide both practical and creative tools to support each participant’s unique teaching goals. She is motivated by working along the growing edge of her students’ and her own creativity and athleticism.
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Michelle Stanek
Michelle Stanek is the 2012 United States Pole Dance Champion and has won 5 out of 6 competitions she has entered. She began cultivating her dance skills from age 8, but it wasn’t until after college, graduate school, professorships and a full-time job in design that Michelle has finally been able to call herself a dancer by profession. And it is because of pole. She has traveled to Dubai, Tokyo, Scandinavia, Europe, Mexico...