Boulder and the Beautiful

I few years ago, I wrote about Boulder’s Vanessa Barcus and her online store Goldyn.
Tonight is the grand opening for her new storefront, 2040 W. 30th St., in Denver.

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Because this is a top 10 shoe list I have not yet made.

Strippers, burlesque dancers and showgirls have the most creative footwear.
For a local shop selling dancing shoes (but not all of these featured below), check out thehouseofharlots.com.

1. You stepped on something.

2. Geek chic: Tron sexy.

3. Wood. Heh. OK, I don’t really like this one. I picked it for the unique award.

4. Hardcore. This shoe says “Look, but don’t touch or I will murder you.”

5. Something else to do with your old newspapers.

6. For gals who like sneakers and trucks with mud flaps.

7. If Dolly Parton were an exotic dancer.

8. My name is James. James Bondage.

9. There’s no place like home.

10. Pin up, get down.

And my least favorite shoe ever:

I am sure there are a lot of nasty puns I could make here, but instead I will just say “I don’t really like cats.”

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AP Photo

Yankee Doodle went to the 2012 men’s fashion show in Paris,

Riding on a horse

Stuck a feather in his hat

And called it the next fashion force.

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There is something ethereal about the way Teresa Chamberland moves. She shyly stretches out her fingers, and it’s like watching a song.

Sometimes, but only when she thinks no one is watching, she lets that music roll through her entire body. And simply witnessing this raw potential, this rare honesty in movement, brings goosebumps to my skin and tears of joy to my eyes.

Part of the intensity in Teresa’s beauty is that she has no idea.

She doesn’t know that, even when she tries to tuck into the corner, she will always be the center of the room. That all energy seems to be swirling around and toward her, as her strong arms carry her body in circles around the pole. Like so many women, this mother of two is so hard on herself. She tries to smother her feminine power with sarcasm and criticism and rolled eyes. But it keeps sneaking out, despite her. And her habits of humility and self-suppression are losing the battle against this newly discovered light inside her.

Teresa was so nervous for her first pole-dancing class that she texted me all night about it and enrolled in a level 1 class, even though I promised to her she could handle level 2. She liked it. Hmm. It was interesting. She came back, this time to level 2, but she wanted to make sure I would be there. For moral support, you know. She chose the pole in the farthest back corner, far from the mirrors and attention.

Her spins began close to the pole, cautious, held back. But underlying her every step, from day one, was a magnetism. Something different. Something big.

On Facebook, she writes:

Anytime I tell someone I’m taking pole dancing classes, people avert their eyes and sometimes blush. It does bring up a taboo preconceived idea in their minds. They won’t say it, but they look at me differently.

And that’s OK. I’m fine with that these days.

I’m learning this because it’s sort of addicting. It’s fun and hard to do, but then really fun again. The instructors there are incredible and make you feel good about yourself even when you know you’re not quite getting the spin or the sexy up.

Teresa enrolls in a few more classes. Suddenly, it’s not so awkward to walk around the pole. Her movements indicate that she is starting to discover her hips and core. And her hips and core can move in circles and front to back and side to side. Not just in a straight and rigid line. As Teresa’s body grows stronger in its circles around the pole, the circles of her hips grow more confident, too.

And something deeper begins unraveling.

Teresa writes:

I started off doing this because it’s an amazing workout. And I brought so much baggage with me. My sister was a topless dancer for years. She was also an alcoholic and was severely abused as a child. And so I always assumed dancing on a pole came from a place of sadness and desperation. It seemed to be her only way to survive in the world.

I grew up in the same house as my sister, so I have all the same experiences she had, but I processed my abuse differently. I shunned anything sensual and maintained very low self-esteem. That seemed safe to me. That seemed like the right thing to do.

But I realize I’ve given up so many experiences in life because of the abuse. I’ve been afraid to try new things and to attract attention to myself. I survived my childhood by being the “good girl.” By just being quiet and not attracting any attention, good or bad. But that’s a very lonely place to live your life.

On Tuesday, Teresa discovers the Ice Skater Spin. It’s the final spin in level 2 — the hardest one. Maybe it’s the challenge — a lifetime of soft and quiet perfection, finally imploding. A levy crashing. As if she has waited her entire life for this one moment, Teresa effortlessly bursts into a flawless spin.

She lands with a shocked look on her face and laughs.

“Where did that come from?”

She asks the question out loud, but I don’t answer. Because I know it’s rhetorical.

We all know where it came from.