DollHouse, dollhouse, doll house, the doll's house?

DollHouse, Dollhouse, doll house, the doll’s house...it seems like you can’t spit these days without hitting a pole studio with one of those names. How do I know this? Because I am co-owner of one and the spit is hitting the fan!

Ms M and I christened our studio, DollHouse Pole Studio, from Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. We saw Nora, the heroine, not only as a frivolous self-centered woman who is second-class to her husband, Torvald. We recognized glimmers of her self-realization, which are the roots to empowerment, whether the form it manifests is socially acceptable or not. We wanted to champion her innate understanding of her sensual power over Torvald, rather than vilify it. Every woman’s journey to find her strength is unique and Ms M and I make no judgements on the different routes taken. The concept for DollHouse Pole Studio was never about ‘objectifying women’ but giving women a safe environment to explore those paths. Our dolls aren’t fragile or helpless or only to be viewed from behind a glass case. Our dolls are courageous, brilliant, able to laugh at themselves, and always ready to encourage one another. This is the DollHouse that we hoped to create.

Before opening our doors in March, Ms M and I did a quick internet search and discovered one studio with a similar name residing in a town several states over, as well as a burlesque troupe located in another coutry. Six months later, two more pole dance studios have cropped up in the US with names almost exactly the same as ours. Again, those other studios were nowhere nearby, but suddenly we were uneasy. Had we been unknowingly sucked into the collective consciousness of pole studio owners?! Here we’d been mistakenly believing that our identity was unique, only to find that we were as common as a Prius owner in Boulder.

We sat down and did a lot of soul searching. We didn’t want to be lumped in with the other dance studios, nor did we want to be necessarily associated with the zillions of xxx venues that use some form of ‘doll+house’. Our business plan changed, grew and expanded, and we clearly saw that we, as a studio, had to follow suit. As Summer drifts contentedly into Autumn, Ms M and I would like to invite you to embrace the transitions that fill the air. We recently put up 8 new stainless steel PoleDanzer poles; we are currently stocking our shelves with new apparel and new shoes; we’ve got new classes, new teachers, new apprentices; and soon we will be offering a brand new Teacher Training Program.

You see, we realised that we are unique, regardless of what our name might be. Our identity wasn’t tied in with words. We saw that the studio was no longer a tiny idea that we birthed earlier this year.  It had grown and matured before our very eyes, due to the love given to it by you, our clients. It is your commitment to yourselves and your support of us, that fuels the studio.

Without “you” there is no “us”.

Please help us celebrate our new name: Boulder Spirals!