Plymouth Tattoo Convention 2012

On Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th May Plymouth played host to an International Tattoo Festival and the Art of Dance Pole Dance Troupe were one of the many attractions at the event. Plymouth Tattoo Convention (PTC) in now in it's third year and it attracted over 80 Tattoo artists from across the globe, I think it is one of the first events I have attended where I have spoken to so many people from so many different countries; Mexico, Brazil, Croatia, Spain, France and the Netherlands. Whether local or not I must say what a fantastic crowd of people the PTC attracted, It was so refreshing to pole dance to such an open-minded group and to feel part of such a lovely community.

PTC is the brainchild of local Tattoo artist Dave Wooley, owner of Plymouth's Living Art Tattoo Studio, when I first spoke to Dave about the Art of Dance performing at his event I was worried that he and his crew were expecting a different sort of pole dance than we offer and that we would not be treated with the respect we feel we deserve but any worries I had were soon dispelled by Dave and we were treated like family; we had our own dressing room, the security looked after us all night (not that they needed to) and we received so much praise from all concerned throughout the weekend.

In total I think we performed 8 sets throughout the weekend opting for a pole jam style demonstration where 2-4 dancers did 10-15 minute sets, the idea was to keep the acts fresh and vibrant and to allow us all to perform our best moves without having to choreography a whole routine. Each set had a theme and costume although I think all the photos were taken during our classic rock/leopard print sets. By the end of the weekend we were all bruised and battered but it was well worth it. We were also able to dance to some amazing tunes - here is our playlist from the event:

Disturbed - down with the sickness, Korn - Coming Undone, Metallica - Enter Sandman, Gun's n Roses - Sweet Child O Mine, Creed - Six Feet Under, Metallica - Nothing Else Matters, Mt Eden vs Prodigy - Omen and Prodigy - Smack my bitch up (proved to be a great finale song).

On Sunday our very own Burlesque Artiste Georgina Gale AKA Sue Manser (pictured below)  charmed the crowd with some traditional 1940's inspired burlesque. Sue really does have a way of making striptease beautiful, her stage presence is just phenomenal and anyone who thinks burlesque is simply a matter of taking your clothes off will have their opinion challenged by Sue's art.

Some memorable moments for me included adjusting to the constant buzzing of the more modern methods of Tattooing and seeing Japanese Tattoo Artist Hori Kei/Tomoya Akitsu using traditional methods of Tattoing to create beautiful designs. Aside from the Tattooists there were some great bands, clothing and jewellery stalls, piercers, the Demon Drone and a fabulous display of hot rods and motorbikes. The weekend was a perfect mixture of sights and sounds to stimulate the senses and the glorious May weather meant you could enjoy the delights of the convention whether inside or outside.

I should add that the PTC is held in one of my favourite buildings, the Plymouth Guildhall, this place holds such special memories for me; it was the place where my school speech days were held, it is a place I have performed at on numerous occasions such as International Women's Day and the Women's Health Fair but more importantly it is the place where I got married and thanks to my husband and I we managed to get a licence for the Guildhall so that now anyone can get married in this charming building in the heart of Plymouth. I really think Plymouth's Guildhall is a much over-looked venue with so much potential.

Vicki Terry from Vix's Pole Fitness and Megan Hookins from The Art of Dance. Make-up by Lucy Gaskell.

All in all I can highly recommend the Plymouth Tattoo Convention to anyone, with a weekend ticket costing just £25 you can entertain yourself throughout and mingle with some truly lovely people. Before I sign off for today I would like to thank a few people; Cuz  Cussen for looking after us so well and ensure the running order went without any hitches, Andy Howard for being the best MC ever and for getting the crowd rocking, Ossie Glover for some fabulous photography and Lucy Gaskell, our new resident make-up artist, for making us all look beautiful. Lastly a massive thank you to Dave Woolley for organising the event, we are already looking forward to Plymouth Tattoo Convention 2013 which promises to be even bigger and better.

You can read more about the PTC event at Plymouth Buzz.

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

Author : Abdul Adhi

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