Instructors, Trainers and Performers

Michelle began pole dancing in early 2008 and joined the Girlfriend Fun and Fitness team as an instructor in mid 2008.

Michelle is a trade qualified Boilermaker having completed her trade in the heavy mining fabrication/repair sector. Michelle also has a strong and successful background in gymnastics and trained at the Australian Institute of Sport when she was younger.

Michelle brings her gymnastics skills into her performances with a very strong trick base and surprising strength and flexibility. With a strong passion for pole dance and an interest in aerial hoop, MMA and martial arts, Michelle is constantly improving and evolving as a performer.

Michelle also loves sharing her passion for pole dance by instructing. Michelle specialises in training all levels of clients and upgrading the skill base of pole dance performers and instructors in the areas of pole tricks, flexibility, strength and control.

Competitions and Awards

Michelle competed in the doubles section of Miss Pole Dance Australia 2009/2010 and achieved 1st runner-up and the Best trick award after pole dancing for only 1 year & 7 months! She then went on to take out the Australian Pole Dance Championships in the Women's Freestyle division 1 month later, earning her a position in the 2010 Worlds championship in Tokyo. In August 2010 Michelle won 1st place in the Miss Pole Dance Queensland competition, with her high energy, Tomb Raider inspired performance (watch it here!).

More recently, Michelle has won 1st place in the Women's Freestyle division of Asia-Pacific Pole Dance Championship 2011 with a Terminator themed performance that showcased her incredible strength, flexibilty and death defying pole tricks. As a result, Michelle has been invited straight to the finals of the 2011 International Pole Championship, which is to be held in Hong Kong next year.

Michelle is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser, and can be booked for private one-on-one lessons, instructor skills upgrading, pole parties, group bookings or for performances.

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Nikki started pole dancing in 2008 with Girlfriend Fun and Fitness at UQ sport. She was instantly hooked and by 2009 she had completed her instructor course in pole dancing.

Nikki has performed all over Brisbane for Girlfriend Fun and Fitness, as well as run a workshop in Sweden with Pole Fitness Sverige and guest performed in the Swedish sports pole dance showcase in Gothenburg.

Nikki loves teaching pole and is able to cater for students of all shapes and sizes from beginners to advanced students. She believes that pole dancing promotes a healthy mind as well as body, and has personally experienced the therapeutic benefits that pole dancing has to offer.

Aside from pole dancing, Nikki has also completed her Bachelor degree in Psychological Science. She plans to pursue a career within social psychological research, and has a secret passion for statistics.

Most importantly, Nikki's enthusiasm for pole dancing is contagious and she loves her classes to be fun!

Nikki can be booked for private one-on-one lessons, pole parties and group bookings or for performances

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Danielle started pole dancing with Girlfriend Fun and Fitness in early 2010 and began instructing in early 2011.

Growing up Danielle has always been active and competed in many different sports. She has a strong background in swimming where she competed at Qld State level and was a member of the Brisbane Torpedoes Representative Swim Team.

After competitive swimming, Danielle was looking for another fitness challenge and decided to give pole dancing a whirl! She instantly became inspired by the determination, strength, power and flexibility needed for pole fitness and quickly became addicted and now she says that she couldn't live without her pole!

Danielle has taught group lessons at the Pure Pole Academy and Love and Rockets and has been hired to instruct and perform at many hens nights. Danielle recently performed at the Thrifty Threads Charity Ball and is looking forward to participating in many more performances and competitions with the Girlfriend Team.

Aside from Pole dancing, Danielle is an accredited Swim Australia Learn to Swim Instructor and has been teaching for 3 years, she also holds her Certificate III in Community Recreation Instruction. She is currently studying her Certificate III and IV in Fitness and is looking forward to helping people lead active, happy and healthy lifestyles.

Danielle can be booked for private one-on-one lessons, pole parties and group bookings or for performances

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Chris currently trains several of the Pure Pole Prodigy team members and recently helped Girlfriend instructor, Georgia, take out 1st place in the Miss Pole Dance Queensland Amateur division. 

Chris is looking forward to training more pole and circus athletes and aspires to eventually train a Miss Pole Dance Australia winner and Cirque du Soleil performers. 

Background and Qualifications

Chris has always been heavily involved in many different sports including soccer, rowing, cross country, water polo and competing competitively in basketball and athletics.  Therefore it seemed a natural progression for Chris to base his career around helping other people reach their physical peak.

After spending 2 years at University of Queensland studying a degree in health science, Chris decided to fast track his study and enrolled in a Master Trainer course at the Australian Institute of Fitness.  He excelled within the program and not only finished with a Certificate III and IV in Personal Training, but was also awarded a Master Trainer Certificate and was nominated for both Institute Champion and Institute Energizer.

Sessions with Chris

Chris is a committed and energetic Personal Trainer who enjoys training people for their sport oriented goals.  He admires the strength, grace and creativity that circus and performance sports such as pole dancing require.

If you are interested in booking a session with Chris, visit the classes page for more information.

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Natalie TeKanawa is one of the first pioneers of professional pole dance, having been involved in all aspects of the industry from clubs, pole studios and gyms through to the competitive and elite performance arenas since early 2000. With over 10 years of experience in both managerial and training capacities, Natalie is known for providing elite level pole dance training across Australia and around the world.

Training pole instructors and performers is Natalie's main passion and her focus. Her extensive training and choreography record speaks for itself, with many of her performers having won awards both nationally and internationally.

Natalie is also the current Competitions, Systems and Criteria Specialist for IPDFA, where she is responsible for setting guidelines and standards for pole competitions, writing the IPC judging criteria, profiling competitions seeking IPDFA approval and managing the IPC judging panel.

Natalie is passionate about promoting pole dance as an art and a sport that is accessible worldwide to all members of the community. In addition to this, Natalie currently manages both Girlfriend Fun and Fitness and the Pure Pole Academy, whilst also acting as an agent for a variety of world class performers through Girlfriend Management and Pure Pole Management.

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