I’d seen dancers in America performing with Snoop Dogg and thought, “wow that’s SO cool!” But I never thought it would be a possibility for me here in the UK. A friend had told me that Snoop was planning a world tour, including the UK and Europe, and that we could audition to pole dance with him on stage. I was like “SHUT THE FRONT DOOR.” I knew I had to audition!
The tour began in Australia and the pole community watched eagerly as dancers were announced for all the Aussie cities. We salivated as all the instagram clips were released on each dancer’s story. There was immense pride that all these sexy butts were getting to perform on a stage of that scale, and with the icon that is Snoop! It was a huge deal for the entire pole world, we rarely get opportunities on platforms of that size.
I waited nervously as Snoop began the European leg of his tour. Waiting, hoping, thinking “any day now…” The day he was performing in Manchester, my home city, finally arrived and I still hadn’t heard anything. I felt a huge swell of disappointment, thinking I must not have been chosen, but I got the call the very next day!
During an initial phone interview where I was asked ice-breaker questions like “What part of your body do you wash first?” I was in such a state of nervousness that I couldn’t think straight and I think I said, “my butt”. It was in this same interview I finally found out I had got the job! The gig I would be performing at was tomorrow, in Glasgow – about three hours drive away. I had less than 24 hours to get prepped and packed!
I was so elated after I found out I had got the gig, I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited about anything in my entire life! I was giddy for hours and could barely focus. Packing was difficult. What outfits should I wear? What shoes should I bring? I’m an over-packer at the best of times. I threw about ten pairs of shoes into my car boot, even though I only ended up wearing two pairs. I called my friend and asked if she could do my hair & make-up tomorrow for the most important day ever — SNOOP DOGG DAY!
I was so elated after I found out I had got the gig, I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited about anything in my entire life!
On the drive to Glasgow, I made a Snoop playlist and listened to it on loop all the way there. I was voice-noting a friend who was also performing, like, “OMG IS THIS HAPPENING.”
Arriving at the stadium was when it suddenly got very real. Even though all the seats were empty, you got a sense of the scale of what we were about to do. All these thousands of seats were going to be full of people watching Snoop, and watching us. Holy moly.
There were two x-stage poles either side of the stage so the dancers were split into two groups. There was a tent by the side of the stage stairs where we could get changed. I did my final stretches and then some feel-good affirmations to get myself ready for the biggest stage of my life.
We were performing on stage for an hour, with breaks and swaps in between. I ended up dancing the full show, not half like I had originally been asked, so I danced for eight songs! One pole was at the front of the stage, and the other was just behind and we took it in turns with the other dancers as to who was up front and who was in the back.
I didn’t really feel nervous and normally I am super nervous before shows! I just felt excited, like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. I think because the whole show was freestyled, there wasn’t any pressure to memorise moves or hit specific beats with specific poses. We could do what we wanted. It wasn’t like we were alone on stage either, which would have been way more scary. The attention of the audience was divided between Snoop and four pole dancers, so it felt like less pressure.
The whole show was freestyled, there wasn’t any pressure to memorise moves or hit specific beats with specific poses.
It was a very different experience to other performances I’ve done. I’ve been performing for over a decade, and if there’s one skill I do have, it’s adaptability. Dancing for eight songs means you really need to pace yourself. I listened to the vibe of the music, and when the song told me to grind, I was grinding; when the song told me to wiggle, I was wigglin’! I did some tricks, but ones I could hold well so I could pose in them for longer periods of time. I kept floorwork to a minimum, it wasn’t going to be especially visible for the audience. I made sure to always know where Snoop was on the stage, I kept one eye on him, so when he came over to interact with me I was ready. My butt had never been more ready! I was prepared to throw my ass to Jupiter and back. Feeling the audience cheer for you, and then realising your ass is on the big screen behind the stage is such a high!
Snoop himself was a joy to work with! He was super respectful, laid-back , and very funny. After the show we got to meet Snoop properly and talk to him. He was very accommodating and signed all the dollar bills and heels we asked him to, and we took a few cute polaroids together with my camera. He was smoking a fat blunt, and I was eyeing it up trying to muster up the courage to ask him if I could have a toke. In my head I really wanted to call him ‘Mr Snoop’ but I was like, “no don’t be weird” haha. I finally plucked up the courage to go up and ask, and he generously let me share his blunt. I thought, wow I’m sharing a blunt with Snoop Dogg – is this real life?!
My favourite part of the whole experience was having those interactive, duet moments with Snoop. He’s such a pro showman, and his stage charisma is infectious! When he came over and was rapping to me, tilting his head to the side to show he was in awe of me and giving me the space to shine and stage-flirt back to him. Making it rain on me as I bust out my best booty-shaking moves. The energy bouncing back and forth between us was just really magical.
My favourite part of the whole experience was having those interactive, duet moments with Snoop.
A lot of people saw these clips on Tik-Tok and were quick to jump to conclusions, mistaking these on-stage chemistry moments as lust or an invitation for sex, taking it too literally and maybe projecting a little. What they don’t understand is that it’s a stage, and the pole dancers and Snoop are performing, role-playing even, the stripper and punter interactions from the clubs. A lot of us, as strippers or ex-strippers, felt so celebrated in these moments, being able to perform in an authentic, uncensored stripper style. With Snoop’s status and influence, no one could really slut-shame us for it. Everyone from your kids to your grandad knows who Snoop is, and because of this, his open respect and celebration of us, no one really questioned it. At least, not in my experience! Everyone I spoke to about it was delighted for me, from my sex worker friends, fellow pole dancers, family members and even my postman! That was the power of it, strippers and pole dancers getting celebrated and representing ourselves on a large platform, both figuratively and literally. It’s a platform we very rarely get access to due to our open sexuality and our alignment with, and connection to, sex work and sex workers.
I’m not the best pole dancer by any means, but I am a great performer! I know how to connect with the audience, make them feel seen, make them feel, and make them fall in love. If you’ve seen my interactions with Snoop on stage, you can see that is a skill, and I learnt that skill being a stripper. Every time I danced with Snoop, it was a love letter to strippers and sex workers everywhere – I wanted to emulate our powers of seduction on the big stage and how that ability for connection is more beautiful, and precious than anything else. I fell very proud to have represented the stripper style community on stage with Snoop, and I hope I did them proud.
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