Encinitas Dancer Taking Art Form to New Heights

“I was born with a daredevil inside of me,” said Encinitas resident Laura Martin. “Even as a child, I was climbing before I could walk. I have always had a natural love and aptitude for it [stunting and climbing].”

Spending years in gymnastics and cheerleading as a child and teenager, it was a natural progression for Martin to fall in love with dance, performing, and acrobatics. She eventually took a job preforming at a nightclub, where she she said she became “instantly hooked to pole dancing and knew I wanted to be the best.”

She's now aiming to do just that. Martin — who preforms under the stage name 'Flying Laura'— has spent years perfecting her craft, and she is challenging audiences to see the dance form in a new light.

“For me, pole [dancing] was not about being an object, but sending a message that there is more on the inside," she said. " I had my pride, and [I wanted] to send the message that there is so much more that we are capable of, than what we think, what people tell us, what our family told us, or what the media tells us. The pole was my revolution."

Honing her dance skill has been no small feat, Martin said. She has spent years developing her athleticism through kung fu, calisthenics, yoga, swimming, mixed martial arts, boxing, and running. “Now, I only train for stamina, and do contortion for strength and flexibility. The key is cross training. You have to constantly be challenging yourself, stay hungry, and train your weakest link.”

This month Martin continues her pole fitness training for the upcoming competition season. One of only eight women in the nation chosen to compete, Martin will compete in this year’s American Pole Fitness Championship in October, and looks forward to the California Pole Dance Championship next year. “It is California’s biggest competition,” said Martin. Competing and placing in the past three years of the competition, Martin took second place her first year, and Most Flexible. “Last year I won third place, and most artistic,” said Martin. This year Martin won Most Athletic.

Placing in the cutthroat competitions takes hours of practice and an undeniable drive. “My ongoing, driving, and almost nagging inspiration comes from within. It is something that lives in my guts. A performance is an expression of experience. So many performances have nothing to do with what I personally know, but the ability to tell a story through movement,” said Martin.

An Encinitas resident as of 2008, Martin said she has “always loved Encinitas.” A regular at Java Hut and Swami’s Café, Martin’s first job when she moved to California was working in the Lumberyard at St. Tropez. Performing locally at the La Paloma and The Belly Up, Martin also regularly performs in Downtown San Diego, and teaches pole fitness for individual or group lessons.

“Pole fitness is still a fairly new trend,” said Martin. “For the most part it is practiced by adults. It is not commonly a family activity, as it does root from exotic dance. However, that does not limit it; as pole acrobats is a Chinese sport, and a circus art.”

Telling her stories through music and acrobatic pole dance, Martin loves the reaction her art garners. “People never really know what to think until they see it. They have such limited language and reference to the pole, that when they see what an athletic and artistic thing it is, they are mesmerized and usually have a changed opinion when they walk away.”

But it's not just the audiences who walk away with changed perceptions. Pole dancing has also changed Martin.

"I used to be very ashamed of how I came about being a pole dancer," she explained. "I used to buy into that shame garbage that society feeds us, but I realized something: I realized that because I bled my heart out on a pole for all this time, I am now able to perform what I love the most and get to inspire other artists and people to do what they love, too.

For more information, and show updates, please visit flyinglaura.com

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