In 2018, I was heading to Zumba class when I saw "The Brass Barre" printed on the directory of the same building. Immediately intrigued, I looked up the website, started obsessing, then booked my trial class! I was so excited to learn how to dance sexily! (Yes, that was my main motivation, but it doesn’t have to be everyone's.) And, well, we can all see where I am today.
I didn't join TBB to make friends, but it happened anyway. Despite my grumpy face and keeping to myself, I met Esther at Queen Street when she asked for tissue and directions to the toilet, Ishie during her first performance week at Studio 1 looking nervous but killing it, Yibong always being zany in class and singing along during warmups (unfathomable to me), Des and Aileen looking like the coolest devil and angel at the Halloween Freestyle Battle.. I can't keep going because I'll cry.
Change is hard and that's why "change management" is a whole module we go through in the corporate world. So when TBB completely closed the Queen Street studio, I was a little sad. The chill, literal old school vibes of the area were great, like you feel cool when you hang out there, without feeling crowded out like you do on Orchard Road. (Esther wasn't sad though; she was overjoyed to leave the creepy toilet behind.) But I wasn't too sad because the flagship Orchardgateway studio was so nice, with a proper reception area to hang out in!
You know how when we were children, we thought of our parents as superheroes, and we took for granted that they would always be around? It's very crushing the first time we realise how vulnerable our parents are, just like us. I've been attending classes at multiple studios, so I'm not at TBB every term like how I used to be, at the start. But I guess I think of TBB as my parent in the pole world. This closure of essentially half the studio space is a blow to me because it feels like the studio is being injured and I don't want it to be!
And of course, to think of what it means to the amazing instructors who teach there. And the loss of our shared spaces - Studio 1 where we had six performance showcases a year, and many other ad hoc performances besides, plus that one time Toxotic booked out the studio using our Privilege Club credits (?) for a full squad pole prac session; Queens Room where we would also try to book out the studio by individually booking pp slots and mess around together; and the reception and locker area where we'd hang out in between, before, and after classes like we didn't have a home to go back to.
But also maybe I'm just being oversentimental as always. Let's hope this is just a blip and the TBB community can all get through this together and continue kicking ass in the studio.
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| This was taken just before VK yelled at us because we were holding up her class. I was scared of her for months afterwards! Sorry love you VK! |
