PDC Registered 2 star Pole Dancing Instructor Patricia Knausz.
Patricia joined the Pole Dance Community in November 2017. She commenced pole in 2015 and quickly fell in love with her art. We spoke to Patricia to find out more about her passion for pole and her aspirations for teaching at Studio 11 Pole Fitness in Bristol.
"I was in love with pole-dancing before I even started taking classes. Although when I started, just over two years ago, my initial goal was to become an exotic dancer, I realised it's not as easy as all those amazing girls make it look.
I have tried many different sports and taken various dance classes from breakdancing to bellydancing - I pretty much tried it all - but none of them seemed to suit me quite like pole-dancing does. I am now at a stage where I can't imagine my life without classes, workshops and of course my pole family!
Pole-dancing is a great way to improve strength, flexibility and confidence whist having an amazing time with encouraging and 
inspiring people! For the first six months or so I was only taking classes once a week and spent the rest of my time at the gym training.
The dedication and hard work of the girls that I was training with completely amazed, inspired and motivated me. After only a couple of months I slowly started to increase the number of classes I was taking and suddenly found myself doing five-six hours of pole training a week. The turning point for me was attending Pole World Festival 2016 where I met so many amazing dancers and artists. I knew then that I wanted to be part of this fantastic community! A couple months and endless hours of training later, I found myself being a finalist for three amazing competitions. Taking four trophies home from three different events, within a six week period was more than I could've ever dreamed of:
Bristol Pole Championships 2017 - Beginner Champion
Bristol Pole Championships 2017 - Sexiest of the night
Kent Pole Championships 2017 - Beginner Champion
Heir to the Chrome 2017 - Performer Runner-up
Being backstage at a competition is absolutely magical. The support and love the competitors give each other regardless category and level is simply wonderful!
As soon as the competition season was over I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I signed up to take an Xpert Pole Fitness Instructor training course, which I have competed successfully, as well as passing my Level 4 PDC grading and becoming a PDC Registered 2 star pole dancing instructor. I've also recently passed my training and become a Certified Twerk Technician.
I am so proud to be part of the Pole World Festival helpers crew and I'm grateful to be able to support such an amazing organisation, which brings the pole community together. I am already counting down the days to next year's event where I will be holding my very own twerkshops!
Balancing a full time job, learning Chinese-Mandarin and doing a college course on Sexual Happiness as well as pole-dancing is definitely not easy, but oh so worth it!I would like to say a special thank you to Studio 11 Pole Fitness owners, PDC Approved Instructors and my wonderful friends Lisa Henderson and Vania Vitillio for their continuous help, support and guidance. I will forever be grateful for the encouragement they give me! I look forward to attending more training courses, competitions and spreading the pole love as a PDC Approved Xpert Instructor!