Pure Studios was set up in 2005 by Ms Annie Norris. She used to be called Pure Pole, this is because She started the company when the old pole instructor moved away. She used to be called cardio pole and the I hated that part of the class as I was super unfit so I decided we would only teach pole, purely pole….so the name Pure Pole was born! A few years later we introduced Aerial Hoop, so the name already started to bug me. When we opened our satellite studio in a local town Ross-On-Wye we changed to Pure-Studios. (The hyphen in the name because we can’t get hold of the domain name without it)
I started the studio with savings from working in a bar and decided to scrap my place at university to start up Pure-Studios and 15 years on I am so glad that was my choice in life.
Over the years we have had several instructors come and go and our current team I feel is elite. I often hand pick our instructors from students. I always notice how people interact with others and when they are happy for others success, that along with a very good understanding of their apparatus. Each instructor then takes their Xpert training (to start with) and must complete 20 hours of continued professional development each year which can be done with certifications, workshops, seminars, private tuition with people outside the studio – they normally come back each year with about double the amount required!! Our team currently consists of Edd Fletcher – hoop extraordinaire (he has won pretty much every hoop competition in the Uk and competed international) Beth Thomas with 20 years ballet and contemporary experience, Jade Wozencroft up and coming in the hoop world and winner of several competitions, Vicky Fraser over 12 years experience in the air and will try anything from trapeze to pole comedy (winner Pole Theatre Comedy Amateur semi pro UK) Steph Sparks contemporary creative silks artist and our newest member Talia Wheeler strong on the trapeze and aerial straps queen.
4 years ago I managed to secure a lease on my dream studio. I saved stringently for years and finally the opportunity came up! The studio is separated into 2 rooms with a large fire retardant theatre curtain. I’ve tried to think of the best features to make our studio all welcoming. We have mirrored double glazed double doors to enter (you can see out of them but the outside cannot see into the studio) to make the studio light and airy. 2 toilets so there is enough room for people to get changed – in the toilet we offer a range of feminine products and deodorant free of charge in case anyone gets caught short. One toilet has disabled facilities too. Our flooring in the toilet areas is non slip grade in case of any water spillages. All our lighting is on a dimmer switch so we can set the mood for each class and our pole room has a rope LED light to add some funky colours. Our water from the taps is drinkable but we do offer bottle water for sale at £1. We have a surround sound system to play our music and plenty of cubby holes for students to put their belongings. There is a staff only kitchenette area where they have a kettle and microwave teas and coffee. The first aid box and certificates are displayed on the walls (all our instructors are first aid qualified) All our Aerial and Pole equipment is from X-Pole and Firetoys and all rigged from our bespoke truss.
With Covid-19 the studio has been kitted out with 5 hand sanitiser units, a one way system, social distancing stickers for people to know where to stand. Boxes marked around each equipment so people don’t go closer than 2metres to each other, posters on the walls to remind people to wash their hands, cleaning rota’s for the instructors – in fact there are so many changes to the studio to help reduce the risk of spreading Covid-19 I won’t list all of them.
Our pole room is mirrored down one side and has 5 poles approx 3.5m apart from each other. We have 4 X 45mm competition standard poles in brass, powder coated, stainless steel and chrome and 1 X 40mm competition standard chrome to give students the opportunity on different types of pole. They are just over 4m high. Our crash mats are awesome! We have – what I believe – to be the biggest crash mat for pole in the UK at 3.5m wide about 30 cm deep – made out of specialist foam that can take an impact from a 5 meter fall and limit damage to the individual. We have 2 mats for our pole room. Our Aerial Room has a pull up rig, wall bars and 5 crash mats so every single apparatus has a mat to use. We offer different sized hoops for adults and children, different height hoops from the floor for beginners through to advanced, some solid, some hollow, single points, tabless and double point. We want to make sure everyone has the opportunity to use different types of equipment. Our silks are all slightly different too not only different colours but also different textures and stretch from FireToys and X-Pole. Finally our Trapeze are static or dance (spinny) Trapeze. All aerial equipment can be set to be static or on swivels depending on the student or the apparatus.
At the studio we have an ever expanding list of classes available for people to book (these have been streamlined for our reopening but will get back to our full timetable when Covid-19 allows)
We offer all our classes and courses for everybody no matter who they are. We have students from age 7yrs old to 70 yrs old and all different genders. from Level 1, 2, 3 and also mixed in Pole Fitness, Pole Flow, Exotic Pole, Spinny Pole, Aerial Hoop Fitness and dance, Aerial Silks Fitness and Dance, Trapeze Fitness and Dance, Corde Lisse, Aerial Straps Back Bending, Front Splits, Middle Splits, Contemporary, Burlesque, Chair Dancing, Jazz Dance, Ballet, Vogue, Pop, Smoothment, Kids classes in Hoop, Silks and trapeze for different age groups. We also often teach special workshops in classes such as Lap Dance, Low Flow Swinging Trapeze and Chairlesque (Burlesque and Chair)
Smoothement is a class that I came up with, a floor based class focusing on seamless smooth movements from pose to pose, suitable for anyone. Its a lights down low, smooth, rolling around on the floor to an awesome chilled soundtrack.
There are only 2 other studios in our surrounding areas and I am proud to say both studio owners started their pole and aerial journey and trained with us for several years before starting their own studio. Its nice knowing that Pure-Studios inspired people to begin their own studio journeys and their passion for teaching was ignited by attending and teaching our classes.
During my school life I was bullied and never felt comfortable in groups of people. When I first set up the studio I wanted to make sure every single person who walked through the door felt comfortable as soon as possible. No matter what age, shape or size the person is, we want them to feel welcomed. Students who have been with us a long time will always make new people feel welcome and chat to them. In our beginners classes we often have a long standing member come to a class to make sure brand new students have someone to talk to and a friendly face to look forward to seeing when they come back. I wanted women and men who step foot in Pure-Studios to feel like they can achieve whatever they set their mind to, to make them feel so comfortable that they will try any trick, combination or flow they want to learn. As we run lots of different styles of classes I’ve also created an atmosphere where people feel comfortable to wear whatever they want to. This is important for our beginners classes for example, when people are often nervous about putting shorts on for pole and then very quickly go for it! In our exotic classes the students wear all sorts of wonderful sexy underwear and I am so happy to have a studio where they feel comfortable to wear whatever they want to in a safe, friendly environment.
Our studio is fully insured with music licenses, all necessary policies and procedures, risk assessments and safety procedures.
We are extremely vigilant with our health and safety and making sure all our policies and procedures are in place BUT our other top priority is to make the 4 white walls feel like each individuals home. Somewhere they feel safe, make friends and have moments in time where they can forget about the stresses in their lives and dance to their hearts content.
