Name: Wiktoria Baczkowska (Wika)
Course: Psychology
Year: 4th Year
What made you choose to join the AberFly Society?
Honestly, I love how poling makes me feel, but I haven’t been very consistent at it. So I’ve decided that there’s no better time than my last year of uni to create a whole new community with and for people, who will hopefully enjoy it as much as I do, to motivate and cheer for one another!
What initially drew you to pole, and how has it impacted your physical and mental well-being?
I spent a fair chunk of my childhood and teenage years in a dance group and found myself missing it sometime after I had to quit. So when a friend told me there was a new pole group opening in a studio nearby, I thought it would be very exciting to try, and I loved it! Because of moving a few times in the past few years, I’ve done pole on and off (Which I hope will change to training consistently once we get the society going!) and have left every training feeling so much better than before it. What’s amazing about pole, is that to me, its main point is to move my body in ways that feel exciting and have fun with unlocking new shapes and tracking my progress! The ‘training’ part that makes my body feel physically better and stronger is basically just a side effect that I don’t think about. Until the soreness kicks in for the next few days, of course, but that’s a part of the experience😊. So to answer the actual question now, pole has definitely improved my physical abilities like endurance or strength without me even knowing, as I was just focusing on having fun! It’s been great for me mentally too, I love leaving every training excited about what I could learn next!
How do you incorporate creativity and self-expression into your pole routines or performances?
I’m not that far into my pole journey so I don’t have any of my own pole routines, nor have I ever performed. However, I really like using little movements and shapes that I learnt while dancing whenever I learn a flowy spinny combo!
Are there any specific themes or styles that you enjoy exploring? Tell us more.
I love bendy shapes and spinny pole! It’s so much fun working on my flow, trying to connect all the shapes together nicely, learn different transitions and learning little combos and choreos! The spinny pole also just makes everything look so much more fun in my opinion!
If you could time travel, would you go to the past or the future, and why?
I would definitely go to the past and relive my favourite moments! It’s probably because I wouldn’t want to see my future before I get to live it, I like to be in the moment and just take it as it is :)
What's your favourite board game or video game, and what makes it so enjoyable for you?
It’s not a board game nor a video game, but I love playing taboo! It’s just so much fun trying to explain seemingly simple words/phrases when there’s a bunch of words you can’t use, especially under time pressure, it makes people say the silliest things. Laughs guaranteed!
If you could have any animal as a pet, regardless of practicality or legality, what would you choose and why?
I’d probably go for one of the big wild cats like a tiger or a leopard. Can’t really explain why, they just look so cuddly!
