On the 25th March, Newcastle University Pole Dance Society took part and came away victorious in the largest university competition for our sport in the UK, the Inter-University Pole Dance Competition (IUPDC) 2017.
This year, NUPD had the honour of hosting the competition finals at Newcastle College, making us the only Northern University to ever have hosted the competition since it began.
After winning the competition last year, the pressure was on for us to deliver some original and technical performances. We went into the weekend feeling hopeful that we could pull something out of the bag.
The event involved 9 universities; each of whom had to qualify through regional rounds in order to reach a place in the Final. Each university submitted performances in 4 categories (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Group) with a total of over 70 performers.
57 point NUPD lead over 2nd placed Glasgow
Performances were given in front of a theatre audience, along with professional pole dance judges, including a World Champion and two UK Champions: Bendy Kate, Sam King and Hannah Rose Kaynes. Each of our judges also gave guest performances throughout the day, featuring a cameo performance from our IUPDC organisers in Bendy Kate’s routine!
The entrants from our Society were Abby Gunn (Beginner Category), Eunice Goh (Intermediate Category), Nisha Kathrecha (Advanced Category), Leah Williams (Group Category), Cec Nichols (Group Category), Rosie McCallum (Group Category), Jessica Telsnig (Group Category), Hannah Hamblett (Group Category) and Kirsty Webb (Group Category).
Each of our performers showcased incredible routines, and all placed really highly. Our beginner achieved 2nd in her category with a beautiful routine to ‘Youth’ by Daughter. Our intermediate performer also placed 2nd after a sassy showpiece to “So Good” by Louisa Johnson.
“This was a massive hit at the competition, featuring doubles, triples; and some newly created moves of our own”
Despite facing some really strong competition, our advanced performer also did amazingly; reaching 4th place with her fabulous flex and floor work skills to “High for This” by the Weekend. Finally, our group routine performers created a routine to Disney’s Mulan.
This was a massive hit at the competition, featuring doubles, triples, and some newly created moves of our own; we went on to place 1st in this category after a great reaction from the audience.
In total, these scores meant that Newcastle University Pole Dance Society placed overall 1st in the competition, and have the privilege of retaining the title of ‘Best University Pole Dance Society in the UK’ for the second year in a row! This means we will be able to host the competition again in 2018, and hopefully bring just as much talent with a new set of performances.
We are really proud of our achievements, and cannot give enough thanks to those who were involved in helping to run the event, both during the planning phase, and the organisation on the day. Special thanks have to go to our IUPDC organisers, Alexanne Hood and Genny Godwin, who did an incredible job of putting on an event for NUPD to be proud of!
2 consecutive wins at Nationals for NUPD
For anyone who would like to see what NUPD is all about, we would love for you to take a look! We have our largest number of members ever this year, and we are hoping to keep growing as our society gains more and more success.
