Natalie Schönberger Stats
Name: Natalie Schönberger
Height: 164cm
Weight: 48,5kg
Age: 17
School or Club: Pole Dance Academy
Location: Nuremberg, Germany
Signature Move: Scorpion, especially because of my star sign!
Favorite Song: ‘Don’t go’ – Bring Me the Horizon
P2P: How did you find Pole Dance, or did it find you?
NS: Since I was six years old I wanted to have a pole and then ten years later on my 16th birthday, I got my first pole – my best birthday present ever. All I know is that the pole was from a hardware store, it wasn’t a professional pole, but I hadn’t then had any experience and I believed that every dancing pole was equal. Up to this time I had never heard much about the sport of pole dance, so I watched some videos on YouTube which inspired me. I found it fascinating that so many moves can be done with just a simple pole, so I worked harder and harder and after one month I could see my first results of my training.
P2P: Who taught you, or how did you learn?
NS: For the first six months I learned everything by myself but it was really difficult trying to master the moves just from the internet. Because of this, I looked for a good pole dance school close to my home and fortunately my searching was successful and I found The Pole Dance Academy in Nuremberg. This was and still is a great place for me to learn new pole dance methods and new tricks. It really felt good to share my interests with other pole dancers who already had a lot of experience. I didn’t know, for example, that poles are able to spin around, so that was a new challenge for me. Jeannine Wilkerling, who has held the German Pole Dance Champion titles for four years, taught me how to develop my own dancing style. Jeannine showed me everything about pole dance and she’s not only a great teacher but she has become a very good friend, too.
P2P: How did you think and feel back then, being a newbie?
NS: When I started to do pole dance my whole body hurt for the first 3 weeks or so. I had bruises and other injuries everywhere over my body, and because of my unprofessional pole, I often fell down on the floor. Fortunately nothing serious ever happened to me. I was happy about every single new move, although it had been really painful. When I watched videos of championships on the internet I never thought that I could become as good a pole dancer as I have and it makes me feel so proud that I finally managed to do this.
P2P: And now?
NS: Since I have owned a professional pole, a lot of things have changed. All the moves and figures can be done much easier than with my old one. I am able to train harder and with my growing condition, for longer. But one thing hasn’t changed: there are still a lot of pole dancers I am looking up to.
P2P: Where/who do you get your inspiration from?
NS: First I got my inspiration from the internet as I was sitting in front of my laptop for hours watching pole dancing videos from all over the world. Later my teacher Jeannine inspired me – she’s got her own dance style and she really helped me to find my own. I have been dancing ballet for a long time too and I love integrating elements from this kind of sport.
P2P: Describe your dancing style in one sentence.
NS: It’s hard for me to describe my dance style in my own words, but my family members and my friends would say that ‘my dancing is more emotional, easy and graphic than athletic – like a fairy’.
P2P: What training regimes/diets do you have?
NS: Doing sport has always been very important for me. I love dancing and working out, but since I’ve discovered pole dancing I don’t need anything else. I feel fitter and more energetic than ever, although I don’t do any diets or similar things, actually my nutrition is rather unhealthy.
P2P: How often do you pole, and how long for?
NS: Mostly I try to do pole three or four times a week but often no longer than one hour. On the one hand it’s difficult to train for a long time along with school, but on the other hand it’s a great balance to the daily work. The weeks before a championship, of course, I try to work every day for more than one hour.
P2P: What are your thoughts and opinions about the industry and pole dancing being more mainstream now?
NS: In Germany, pole dance is not that mainstream actually, but I think that being more and more a common sport, pole dance loses a lot of the “tatty” image. I think that it has a really positive effect in most people’s opinion if pole dance is an accepted and serious sport.
P2P: How have things changed?
NS: The image of pole dance is much more serious than a few years ago. Another interesting thing I noticed is that nowadays most people know about pole dance, whereas some years ago it was almost unknown.
P2P: What are your favorite moves?
NS: I totally prefer the moves on the spinning pole, especially the ones head first, for example, scorpion, inside- and outside-fallen angel. While doing these moves I feel weightless and almost like I’m flying.
P2P: How long did it take you to nail those?
NS: It didn’t take that long because I’m a very ambitious person, but a move that needs a lot of power and agility of course takes a longer time to be mastered.
P2P: Who are your favorite dancers out there now?
NS: Of course my trainer Jeannine Wilkerling is my favorite dancer out there – she’s different to other pole dancers and seeing her dancing you won’t forget her. Also she showed me what it means to be a pole dancer, that sexuality doesn’t play a role and that it’s a hard kind of sport in which you can show your emotions during your dancing. She’s not only a great dancer, she’s also a good friend and a fantastic teacher.
P2P: What competitions have you entered or won?
NS: On the 25th July 2010, I won the Bavarian Championship in Nuremberg. I was only sixteen and it was my first championship and my very first title: Miss Pole Dance Bavaria Master Students. On the 30th April 2011, I went on and won the German Championship in the category “Best Newcomer”. It was my second championship and my second title: Miss Pole Dance Germany 2011- Best Newcomer.
P2P: What are your future plans for pole dance?
NS: I’m sure I will dance for a long time and I’ll try to become better and better. In fact, I think the most important thing is that I am always happy while I’m dancing. The only reason I’m doing pole dance is because it makes me happy and I am able to show my emotions andfeelings. Also it would be great to be successful in the future and to take part in lots of other competitions.
P2P: Do you have any upcoming events?
NS: On the 24th September 2011, I will take part in my 3rd competition in Moscow, Russia. I’m really proud that I’ve got the chance to dance together with professional pole dancers after only one year and nine months of training.
P2P: What hints and tips would you like to share with our readers?
NS: If you really want to understand the fascination of pole dance, you have to try it and you will find out the incredible feeling. You will have lots of fun!
