We all have different names for pole dancing moves depending on where we learn and who teaches us. The difficulty comes from talking to other people and having crossed wires when talking about the same move.
The biggest confusion for me comes from the Gemini and Scorpio moves and variations – everyone knows them by a different name, so I’m trying to figure out what is what!
When I first learnt these moves I was taught that the Gemini and Scorpio were the same thing – an inside leg hang. An outside leg hang was called the Angel. While I knew what I was talking about with these moves, it became tricky when talking to others or explaining moves within routines. To me Gemini and Scorpio were the same thing… so what’s the difference?
The Many Names…
According to Pole Dance Dictionary what I know to be a Gemini is also known as a Closed Scorpio, Hands Free Gemini, Closed Inside Leg Hand and Seahorse just to name a few. When you search for Angel you get a side spin! As far as I can tell, it is only the pole school that I attended that called this move an Angel, so I’ve dropped it as a viable name and have moved on.
I’ve now come to realise that Gemini and Scorpio are essentially the same move – one is an outside leg hang and the other is an inside leg hang. The next question is: Which is which?
After a little research I’ve found that nobody seems to agree on which is which. Learn-pole-dancing.com calls the Gemini an inside leg hang yet Miss Dirdy Birdy who has over 1 million hits on YouTube considers the Gemini to be an outside leg hang.
On my journey I’ve come across lots of discussion over Gemini vs Scorpio. Comments under Pole Exercise’s description of the Gemini show confusion from a lot of pole dancers. On our PoleFreaks Facebook we’ve also had this discussion over a picture of the Gemini Plank (Scroll down to the 13th Feb.)
Still unsure, I’ve decided to have a look at the difference between the Gemini Plank and the Flatlined Scorpio. I call this move simply the Gemini Plank and have not known it under any other name. Yet over the years I have come across the Flatlined Scorpio and feel now is the time to figure out the difference!
Pole Dance Community considers the Gemini Plank to be with an inside leg hang and Emotion Catcher sees the Flatlined Scorpio as the same move. I can’t see how this move would work with an outside leg hang. Therefore same move, different name. It seems with this move, whatever you call an inside leg hang is how you decide what the plank is called. If you know the inside leg hang as a Gemini than you’ll also know the Gemini Plank rather than Flatlined Scorpio and vice versa.
My Conclusion
For the sake of my sanity I have decided to name these moves and stick with them! As I know the Gemini Plank rather than a Flatlined Scorpio, I have decided to call the inside leg hang a Gemini and an outside leg hang a Scorpio. There will always be confusion over what these moves should be call but for me, at least I know what I’m talking about! Phew.
What do you call these moves? Do you ever get confused? I may have made you more so… 🙂
I had same problem but I worked around it by calling the moves literally i.e. if your outside leg was hooked around the pole, it was an outside leg hang, and if your inside leg was hooked around the pole, it was an inside leg hang. I could never associate either leg with a scorpio or a gemini. Visually in my head, inside and outside legs relative to the pole made far more sense. I also try and become familiar with terms that are literal to the moves unless there is no other way to describe it apart from the terms out there. e.g. the Titantic is a perfect name because it really does look like the pose from the movie, and I prefer to call the pencil “the pencil” rather than the iguana, because the move actually looks like a pencil, upside down or otherwise.
Sometimes the literal names are not so poetic, but I think they’re easier to store in the brain for learning purposes.
Thank You Cindy for sharing your thoughts because I have been having a really (laughing) difficult time remembering names .. It might be easier if I think of them literally for the move it is. this might also help when Im trying out more combo’s… Thanks again!
I am horrendous with remembering names, to the point that some girls from another pole school got annoyed at me because I wouldn’t use their names and just referred to moves literally! But yeah, whatever helps you 🙂 Thanks for your thoughts in this blog – gets me back to consider the basics, because afterall a good basic gives the best foundation!
I have always called it a Flatlined Gemini as it is an inside leg (Gemini) trick – and as soon as you remove your supporting hand you are in a Gemini.
This is massive confusion! I learnt it as flatline scorpio, then moved and my current studio calls it dead lady! That one might be a one-studio-only name though! And now I know people call it gemini plank which makes a lot of sense. I also learnt scorpio as outside leg hang, and gemini as inside, but my new studio calls them the other way round. Just easier to demonstrate a move when you talk about it!
I have heard many different names for these exact moves as well! Different websites, books, organizations, and studios all seem to use different terms. Sometimes it seems that even within a studio, depending on your instructor, it’s hard to differentiate. At the studio that I attend, an inside leg hang is known as a “Gemini” while the outside leg hang is a “Scorpio” (deemed by the Head Instructor, if you will). And what others might call a Gemini Plank or Flatlined Scorpio, we know as just a plain “Flatline.”
I was taught an inside leg as a scorpio and and outside leg was gemini.. but i end up referring to inside outside… there is no disputing that
The first studio I went to called the outside leg hang the Angel too. My current place calls it the Scorpio and the inside leg being Gemini. I’ve not heard the flatline Scorpio be called Gemini plank, but I guess it is the same leg hooked round as the Gemini. We also call that move the Leggy Louis, not sure why.
Xxx