There often comes a time in a successful business or industry when a pivot point arrives, a fork in the road where transformation needs to happen or dissolution will. The pole dancing industry had that moment this past Saturday night at Pole Show LA 2012.

I did not attend the two previous Pole Show LA events at BeSpun, the premier Los Angeles pole dancing studio. BeSpun has trained world-class pole dancing competitors and has top-of-line performers teach classes and hold workshops. I have been to BeSpun for class and I love it! The girls are friendly, the instructors are patient and helpful and the camaraderie is inspiring. Leigh Ann Riley is an owner and instructor. She is down to earth and self-assured and I feel safe in her competent hands.

At the end of the evening on Saturday she said that a lot of sweat, tears and skin rashes went into the Pole Show LA production and I believe it. I was stunned at the caliber of inventive choreography, costume design and pure technical talent. I cannot even imagine what it took to put that show together.

Natasha Wang did an eccentric routine and moved her body like a twisted black leather panther. She took command of the floor and the pole like a stretch and bend rubber doll. The “Wonderland” skit toward the end was one of my favorites and it was energizing to see the show sponsor, X-Pole’s very own Lindsey Kimura with a joyful smile on her face the entire time as she moved her hips in sensuously wide circles dressed as the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland.

Of course, Jenyne Butterfly wowed the room with her skill and dexterity. How she does that move where she is walking in mid air with her body 100% perpendicular to the pole is beyond me. She received the first standing ovation of the night.

I would have loved to see more of Josiah BadAzz Grant and my super-secret idol, Alethea Austin (guess it’s not a secret anymore). Flying Laura had my jaw on the floor as she started her routine walking on the CEILING. Yeah…you read it right.

I almost lost it though, when Zoraya Judd did her snake dance. When a big, beefy man (her husband?) walked out with a giant snake my heart skipped a beat. One of my all time favorite cinematic moments is when Salma Hayek does the snake dance in the movie “From Dusk Till Dawn” so when Zoraya started undulating with the snake, I thought, “No, she isn’t going to…” Yep. She did. She got on the pole. With the snake. Spectacular. I have now seen it all.

This night was a turning point for the world of pole not only because of all the electrifying things that went right but because of the unfortunate things that went wrong. The room opened for cocktail hour at 7 p.m. and at 7:30 p.m. there was still a line around the block and it was moving s-l-o-w-l-y. Eventually Leigh Ann Riley and a couple of other people came out and started handling the line. Leigh Ann is sassy and take-care-of business and funny. As soon as she arrives you feel like something is about to happen, and it did. The line sped up and we got inside quickly.

There were a few vendor booths and it was great to see my former colleagues from Vertical Art & Fitness Magazine, David D’Angelo, Amie Nicole, Paige Warthen and Claire Griffin-Sterrett. I also had the opportunity to meet Alethea Austin who was promoting her wares. I would loved to have seen a bigger vendor showcase.

About halfway through, the sound system went down so the audience could not hear what the cute emcee was saying and the music did not carry throughout the room. My program got lost somewhere so half the time I did not know who was performing unless I knew them personally, because I could not hear the emcee. Also, aside from the first few rows, no one who paid for floor seats could see the entire show and the large screen on the wall was partially blocked by a column. King King, the venue where the Girl Next Door pole dance troupe performs in Hollywood has similar issues. Giant columns in the middle of the room and curtains which are never pulled back all the way during a performance. Unless you pay for seats front and center your view is blocked. Frustrating as hell.

It’s clear that folks are willing to pay for tickets to see a high-quality show like this with such superb performers, so here are my humble and heartfelt suggestions for next year. Get risers or bleacher seating for the floor seats so that everyone can see. I’m 5’3” on a tall day, so even when I left my seat to stand up, I couldn’t see the floor work, which is half of the allure and often the sexiest and most expressive element of pole dancing.

I recently published Penelope In The Divine, the world’s first novel about a pole dancer by a pole dancer. The main character owns a nightclub called the Liquid Navel, which is an open space with a large stage surrounded by cocktail tables. The stage is visible from every corner of the room. I wish BeSpun could have a room like this for Pole Show LA!

The world of pole is blasting out like torrential floodwaters, which is the source of these problems. We’ve outgrown ourselves as a cottage industry, we’ve exploded outside of our corral and we are officially too big for our britches! As Natasha Wang commented on Facebook, the next Pole Show LA needs to be at the Staples Center. I agree.

I am shopping around the screenplay for Penelope In The Divine, so if I have anything to do with it the world of pole will soon be so huge that BeSpun will need the Staples Center. If it’s up to me it will be sooner rather than later.

I am already looking forward to Pole Show LA 2013 (at the Staples Center) so thank you to Leigh Ann Riley, Amy Guion, Kelly Maglia Couture and all of the visionary performers who uplift the alluring sensuality of pole dancing to the level of art and beauty.

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