Episode 5: Spinning into Pole Expo 2026 With Jonny Manzanerez

In this episode of "Between Two Poles," host Fawnia Mondey sits down with Jonny Manzanares, also known as "Jonny Boie," a seasoned pole artist who has been part of Pole Fitness Studio since 2015. Jonny share’s his exciting journey of taking over Pole Expo, scheduled for May 3, 2026, in Las Vegas.

The conversation highlights the expansion of the Las Vegas Pole Camp, which has grown significantly to include more instructors and workshops. Jonny and Fawnia discuss:

• The return of Pole Expo as a "Sunday Funday" addition to the camp.
• The global reach of the event, featuring 25 instructors from Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia.
• The introduction of an "Elite" workshop category, joining beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels.
• The evolution of pole fitness into a highly technical sport, influenced by gymnastics and contortion.
• The presence of 14 vendors, including a gold sponsor from Ukraine.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Welcome to Between Two Polls, where we meet the faces of Pole Fitness Studio and beyond. My name is Fanya Mundi, and we're here today with Johnny Manzanaris. Johnny Boy. Hey Johnny.

SPEAKER_01 0:16

Hi, how are you? Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Yeah, you're welcome. Johnny's been with us at Pole Fitness Studio since approximately 2014. Give or take.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Uh 15, I think. 15? Oh, okay. Because I moved to Vegas in 2015.

SPEAKER_00 0:31

Oh, okay. Well, then that would make it 15.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

Yeah. Wow. Now I didn't know that you had just moved here. Where did you move here from?

SPEAKER_01 0:38

From Los Angeles.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

Ah, okay. That I might have known. All right. Well, we're going to get right into it. This is such a fun interview today. Johnny, you are taking over Poll Expo.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Yes, I am. I'm so excited.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Yeah, when is it? When is it?

SPEAKER_01 0:52

So it's May 3rd on a Sunday. And I'm so excited to share everything that I've been working on for the past year and a half. Um, I decided to take it over because of my camp, Las Vegas Poll Camp here in Vegas. Um, it happened to like grow and we started adding more instructors and have uh more signups. So I decided to add an extra day to the camp, and I thought it would be such a great idea to add an expo um on Sunday, because usually that's our Sunday fun day. Um, and I asked you, hey, what do you how what are what are your thoughts of me um maybe taking over poll expo since it's been on a break? And you're like, I would love that. Like I would love to see my baby come back alive. And yes, and I'm like, well, I would love to make that happen.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

And if we're not gonna have a real baby, Johnny.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

We might as well have a poll baby.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

We might as well have a pole baby. Yeah, I'm really excited that poll expo is coming back, and this is my May 3rd, 2026. Yes, okay, and I'm hoping this happens every year going forward.

SPEAKER_01 1:58

Oh, yeah, me too.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

That's so cool. Definitely now. Who's teaching at Pole Expo? Oh gosh, or where are they coming from?

SPEAKER_01 2:04

Oh, they're coming from all over the world, from Europe, South America, Asia, Australia. We have about 25 instructors that are teaching over 50 workshops at two different studios. We have workshops from beginners to intermediate, advanced, and we added a new category this year, elite.

SPEAKER_00 2:25

I don't even want to know what that is. Is that like Olympic or unnecessary moves? You're like, why?

SPEAKER_01 2:32

Basically.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

That's a whole I've been seeing that a lot lately. Every, every, I would say every five to ten years, it gets more crazy.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

Oh, yeah. I've seen it as well. I've started poll in 2013, and within five years, it started blowing up. And every five years, like you said, it it just gets harder and harder with more flexibility and uh more people with different backgrounds join, like gymnastics backgrounds and contortion background, and they all like culminate on the pole and they just become this super pole star.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Yeah, and I'm thinking now when you look at these people, they may have been doing gymnastics for a very long time, and a lot of them might have started poll when they were 10 years old or younger.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

Yeah, that's amazing. I wish that can happen in the United States.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

Yes, yeah, yeah. I think Russia is one of the leaders with youth being in poll, and plus it's considered a sport by some of their um, I don't know if it's governments or jurisdictions, but it is considered a sport over there.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

Absolutely. I'm glad, you know, at least they're taking the initiative. And I feel like Europe also has that standard. There's a lot of uh youth pole dancers, so that's fantastic. I would love to see that more in the United States.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

Yes, you heard us, USA. Let's go. Now, what about vendors? Do you have vendors this year?

SPEAKER_01 3:47

Oh, yeah. We have 14 vendors. We have a um gold sponsor from the Ukraine, and we have 12 other vendors.

SPEAKER_00 3:55

Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, and now these vendors, where are they coming from? How did they find you?

SPEAKER_01 4:00

Um, through Instagram, marketing, um, me reaching out. Um uh yeah, I reached out to a lot of the old poll expo vendors, and some of them are coming back. Oh, um, I'm so excited.

SPEAKER_00 4:14

That's awesome. Now, let's see. I'm using my cue cards because there I feel like I have so many things I want to ask you. At Poll Expo, are you gonna have a competition?

SPEAKER_01 4:24

We are. It's gonna be a poll classic and a exotica with a K.

SPEAKER_00 4:30

Now, if you could describe exotica, what would that be?

SPEAKER_01 4:33

Exotica. It's um basically a blanket for all sensual dancing um from old school um stripper dancing or uh hard style heels. It's just it's just a blanket covering any exotic style of dance.

SPEAKER_00 4:53

And I think we should put a little snippet of what that looks like right here. Um, some people would they might even categorize it as Russian exotic.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

It can be, yeah, it's just a blanket um covering all sensual style of dance, more so flow flow and more so like character work versus um hard like polle tricks.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Yeah, so pole classic could be like what we had back in the day, which we can show an example of it here. Um and you competed in pole classic as well.

SPEAKER_01 5:23

I did. I competed in 2019.

SPEAKER_00 5:26

2019. That was our last year.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

That was yep.

SPEAKER_00 5:29

Wow, I'm so glad you snuck one in there. Now, moving along. So, what how do people get involved? How do they find information on Pole Expo?

SPEAKER_01 5:39

Uh they go to polExpo.com.

SPEAKER_00 5:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

Or they check out our Instagram page, our Instagram page, Pole Expo as well. Okay. Same name.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

Pretty easy. Are you on Facebook or TikTok?

SPEAKER_01 5:50

Um, I'm not. Only Instagram.

SPEAKER_00 5:51

Only Instagram. Yeah. So if you don't have an Instagram page, you might want to sign up for one immediately when this video is over. So yeah, you heard it from me. Um, is there anything that you want to share regarding Pole Expo that we haven't talked about yet before we dive into the world of Johnny?

SPEAKER_01 6:07

Yeah, absolutely. Pull Expo is located at Substance on Fremont Street. It's the address is 450 East Fremont Street, suite 270. Um, and it's on the second floor. And uh it's a really cool venue, super cool. Um, it's mostly a nightclub on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And we're taking it over and transforming it into Poll Expo.

SPEAKER_00 6:33

And that's in Las Vegas. If you're not sure where do I find substance, you gotta come to Vegas.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 6:41

Now, do you have a pole at home?

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Absolutely. I've uh within the first three months of pole dancing, I decided to buy a pole and put it in one of my rooms because I wanted to be committed to training all the time. Um, as a new student, sometimes you don't have access to like studio space. Um, so I decided to buy a pole and put it in my room and have access to a pole so that I could train. Sometimes I get ideas for like, oh my god, I want to try this, but I don't have studio access because it might be at midnight. Yeah. Um, so I decided I think it's gonna be a good idea if I bought a pole. So three months in, I bought a platinum stage pole and they don't exist anymore.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

I was gonna ask you what kind of pole you got, and I cannot believe that's the one you you got. Yeah, how did it handle you?

SPEAKER_01 7:28

Oh, great. Yeah, they're one piece. They used to, well, they're one piece still. Um, and it worked really good.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

But without the stage, without a stage, yeah. Okay, you know that that was a terrible company name, right? Because even me and I know what that all means. I pictured you on the white box.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Oh my god, no, it was a fixed pole. Yes, I knew that I was always big and heavy and muscular, so I thought I can't have a stage pole as my first pole. I want to be safe, so I decided to buy a fixed pole. Yes, so we measured the ceiling head to toe, and we got a custom fit pole that fit in my room.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

And we have, I think, two platinum stages poles still in studio today.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

Yeah, you do.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

Yeah, they're old school from the downstairs.

SPEAKER_01 8:09

I love them. I love that you can just take a pin out and they become spinner static.

SPEAKER_00 8:13

Yeah, it's so easy these days. If you haven't checked out pole technology and you're curious about getting your own pole, you can even hit me up. I'll send you some links. You don't even need I did the work for you. So easy. And we're gonna get into our rapid fire moment with Johnny. I'm kind of I don't even know what questions I have here because I just kind of pulled this up in my notes, and Johnny has no idea what's about to go down. Are you excited, Johnny, for your first rapid fire? Okay, whatever comes off the top of your head. Uh right, spinning or static.

SPEAKER_01 8:45

Static.

SPEAKER_00 8:46

Oh, okay. Yoga or Pilates?

SPEAKER_01 8:49

Yoga. I've never done Pilates.

unknown 8:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:52

Top or bottom?

SPEAKER_01 8:54

Top.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

You've done those. Okay. Coffee or tea?

SPEAKER_01 8:58

Tea.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

Okay. Cat or dog.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

Ooh, that's a tough one. I grew up with cats, but now I have a dog. Unfortunately, it's like a 50-50. Sorry, Moxie, that's my dog's name.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

Uh, if you're watching this, so sorry. Leashed or be leash or be leashed?

SPEAKER_01 9:18

Probably leashed.

SPEAKER_00 9:20

Did you add an E D on the end of that?

SPEAKER_01 9:21

I didn't. Like they got it. You're the leasher.

unknown 9:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

Summer or winter?

SPEAKER_01 9:27

Summer.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

Okay. I thought that said baller, and I think it does. That's not what I meant to write. Ballet or contemporary.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

Contemporary.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

Rave or meditation?

SPEAKER_01 9:43

Rave.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

I knew the answer to that one. And Raven, that's how you got your name. Oh my God, so much fun. So, what is your background in fitness?

SPEAKER_01 9:54

Do you have um so it all started when I was in middle school? I did track and field, and then that carried on to high school. I did cross-country track and field. Then um, I always knew I'd like fitness. Uh, I started exploring um weightlifting. So I found a coach to train me how to lift weights. So I did that probably from like right out of high school till 23, 24. And I knew that I love lifting weights, but I knew that I also didn't want to be a bodybuilder. I didn't want to be too bulky. Um, so I was trying to figure out other activities that I could do in the fitness world. And I took one yoga class at a gym, fell in love with it, decided to go um full throttle with it. So I started training every day, five, six days a week in yoga, and then after six months of training it, I decided that I wanted to teach it. I've decided that um yoga was my passion in life. So I did a 200-hour course in Vinyasa, and then as soon as that finished, I still needed more information. So I did a 300-hour course in Hatha, and I used to drive 90 minutes each way to training for it. Um, and both of those trainings took about uh one year to complete. Then once I completed that, I started teaching full time, and I loved yoga, but it was a little slow for me. I needed a little bit more um um I needed to be upside down more, I needed to be contorted more, I needed to be off the ground and I needed to be upside down more. So I found um pole dancing. And shout out to Elizabeth Lanchard or Elizabeth Beefit on Instagram. She was my first pole mom. I called her, I Googled um pole studios near me, and I found her studio in Orange County. And uh she's like, Yeah, come on in. And as soon as I touched a pole, I fell in love with it. I knew that this was for me. Um, and like I mentioned earlier, three months after I decided to get my own home pole and I was training at home, training at her studio. Um, then about a year and a half into my training, I decided to go to Los Angeles to train different styles. And um I found a Chinese pole coach there. Chinese pole is mostly like acrobatic on a pole. Um, they don't really focus on the artistry, such as like sensual movement or anything, it's more like just tricks, tricks, tricks, tricks.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

And did you touch a Chinese pole?

SPEAKER_01 12:23

I did, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

So tell us what is it? Diameters, texture, what is it like?

SPEAKER_01 12:27

It can range from like a 50 millimeter to maybe like a 58 millimeter, depending on the pole. And it's usually back then it was wrapped, it was pole wrapped. Now they have sleeves where you can just put a pole in a sleeve and make it a Chinese pole. It's it's made out of rubber or almost like it feels like a tire.

SPEAKER_00 12:45

And you had to wear pants?

SPEAKER_01 12:47

Absolutely. You you had to wear at least two layers, otherwise, you rip your skin. So I found a Chinese pole coach up there. His name is Cujo. Shout out to Cujo. Um, he taught me my gainer. I never was able to flip on the floor, but he taught me how to gainer, he taught me how to back tuck.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

Is a gainer?

SPEAKER_01 13:03

A gainer is uh you start on a shoulder mount position with your legs in a straddle, you swing back, and then you push off as your body is going forward, you're moving backwards.

SPEAKER_00 13:14

So you're doing a flip in the air?

SPEAKER_01 13:15

You're doing a flip in the air, moving forward, landing on the feet. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:19

I think I've seen you maybe do this on a regular pole.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

Show a video up here for reference.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

Yeah, I'm gonna be watching this interview. Wow, that's wild.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Yeah, so then after that, I spent about 18 months uh in Los Angeles, West Hollywood. I trained at Coho House and then B S Fun. And then I started to cross-train in Vegas. I would come over to Vegas to have a train cation um for a few days, and I noticed that I would gain so many new skills with so many acrobats and hand balancers and contortionists and um Jamila. Um, I would take private from her, and Swasit was here, is still here. Yeah. Um, so I would cross-train with them and I just loved the training. And after a few months of coming to Vegas to train, I decided to move to Vegas. Um, I decided to move here for one year. Um, I decided to set some goals up for myself. Um, and I did. Uh that year flew by. I decided to extend uh to uh for another year, and that year flew by and I was just learning so much and I was so happy. I started to create a beautiful community around me with friends and acrobats and beautiful people such as yourself. And um, I after the second year I decided to extend for two more years, and after four years, I'm like, I think I give up. I'm just gonna live in Vegas. Like, I love it. I'm not gonna keep extending, I'm just gonna live because you had a place in California too. I did, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:51

Oh man.

SPEAKER_01 14:51

Yeah, well, we I had a business in California. I I let go of my place in California. I did have a business and then I let that go after a year of being here. Um, it was just too hard to manage a business there and manage uh training here.

SPEAKER_00 15:04

What was your business over there?

SPEAKER_01 15:05

Um, it was it's called Genesis Party Supply, and um we did event rentals, we did bounce houses, we did um tables, chairs, canopies, silverware, glassware. Um, we did uh linens.

SPEAKER_00 15:20

So this is a side of Johnny that many of us do not know. He's a very smart businessman.

SPEAKER_01 15:25

Thank you. We ran it for six years. Um, it was a business that was going out of business, and then I bought it right before they went out of business. Then I ran it for six years, and then I moved to Vegas and I decided to just let it go. It wasn't my passion. I knew I always wanted to run a business and like manage a business and organize a business. It's just it's it comes very natural to me. Um, but I also wanted to keep my acrobatic career forward.

SPEAKER_00 15:49

Yeah. And talking about acrobatics, you know how to do a mad handstand. Who taught you how to do a handstand? Who taught you how to stretch?

SPEAKER_01 15:58

Ooh, okay. So handstands came from yoga. Um so I have a handstand, a yoga handstand. Um, that's where that's my base. Um then coming to Vegas, uh, a lot of the acrobats didn't like the yoga handstand technique. So I started adjusting my style.

SPEAKER_00 16:17

They're looking at you and they're like, oh no.

SPEAKER_01 16:19

Yeah, exactly. They're like that banana back, that doesn't work for acrobatics. And I'm like, okay. So I started adjusting my style. Um, I'm mostly self-trained uh trained in handstands. I have taken a bunch of different classes from a bunch of different people, but it was never enough to like have a real handstand coach. I've probably taken maybe 30 to 40 handstand classes over the span of from 2011 to now. So it's not very many. That's really not that many. It's not that many. No. So I wouldn't say I had a coach. I did take a bunch of classes, um, mostly private lessons, actually. Um, and contortion, I learned contortion in 2014 from fitting Bendy Christina. Oh, and we trained for about a year at her studio, and then I moved to Vegas and then I started training contortion with a Mongolian uh coach.

SPEAKER_00 17:13

That's the word I was waiting to hear. The word Mongolian.

SPEAKER_01 17:15

Yeah, so I started with her in 2015, and we I trained with her till 2017, and um the first four to five years I trained six days a week, um, two to three hours a day. Wow. And then um, she's like, Johnny, I need a break. Like, can you just come over five days a week? And I'm like, sure. So then um for the next three, four years, I did five days a week with her. Um, and yeah, I loved it. Um, she taught me a lot of amazing skills that I will always uh carry with myself. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

Is there anything that you learned that you wish that you did differently in the world of stretching? Like, was there any injuries, or do you have any advice for someone who maybe wants to be a contortionist or be able to do the do the splits? Anything at all?

SPEAKER_01 18:06

My advice is to find a good coach, a good coach that has a reputable name, a good coach that has a lot of experience. A lot of new coaches um are not very seasoned and uh stretching can be very dangerous, especially if you're contorting. Um, so I would advise find a coach that has lots of experience, that has students that have have had results.

SPEAKER_00 18:32

Um are you teaching contortion or stretching in some way?

SPEAKER_01 18:36

Absolutely. Yeah, I teach stretch and contortion. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 18:39

So hey, you found your coach, everybody. You can just hit up Johnny. Johnny, what is your Instagram?

SPEAKER_01 18:44

Uh J-O-N-N-Y-B-O-I-E.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

There it is. Now, if you don't speak English and you have no idea what we're saying this entire time, we are about to redo this entire interview in how many other languages?

SPEAKER_01 18:59

Four.

SPEAKER_00 19:00

Okay, what languages do you speak?

SPEAKER_01 19:02

Um, I was raised bilingual, uh, so English and Spanish. Uh my aunt uh loved languages, so she introduced me to Italian and French. I never picked up French, uh, but when I was 15, I went to Italy with her. She was studying abroad. We went over for six weeks, and I just instantly fell in love with speaking another language. So when I was 20, I decided to go back to Italy and spend a whole year there and learn Italian and work there and just live like an Italian. Um, and then when I was 23, I moved to Spain. Um, I was supposed to go to Greece, but when my best friend uh wanted to go to Spain, so he convinced me to go to Spain, even though I already speak Spanish. So now my Spanish has a slight Spanish accent. Um, then when I was 28, I decided that I wanted to learn Portuguese, so I wanted to go to Brazil. Um, I moved to Brazil for three months and I learned Portuguese in six weeks.

SPEAKER_00 20:02

I'm so sorry, that's insane.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

And my next and then my next language is Fran French. I want to learn French, I want to learn all the Lana languages. I just have to find three to six months time to live in France. I feel like if you want to learn a language, you have to live in the country.

SPEAKER_00 20:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

Um, it's it's very important to be immersed. So wow.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

And how do you maintain this information or does it slip away somewhat?

SPEAKER_01 20:25

I maintain my Italian because one of my best friends lives in Italy still. Um, so we talk on a regular basis. So I talk to her in Italian. Uh, my Portuguese is not as strong as when I was living there, but I can still understand it and still have a conversation.

SPEAKER_00 20:40

That's incredible. Now, being a guy who's pole dancing, uh, has it been interesting in the sense of this is a woman's world? Um, have you been rejected in any places that you've gone or given the sideways, sideways eye?

SPEAKER_01 20:55

Yeah. Um, so because I started poll early in 2013, maybe not so early, but you know, years ago, 13 years ago, poll was even smaller than what it is now. It was more like a taboo type of thing. And um and when I started, I would go to studios wherever I would travel, I would reach out to studios and I would ask if I could take classes because that would be nice to travel to a new city and check out a new studio. And um most of them were friendly, but there were a handful that rejected me in California, in Florida, in Vienna. And um, I just was shocked by why would someone reject a man because he wants to poll? Like, poll is supposed to be universal for everyone. That's just my experience and or my thoughts. And um, yeah, um I have uh an experience that I'd like to share. I'm not gonna name the studio, but it was in Florida and And uh one of my friends was teaching a workshop there, and I was just gonna sit in the workshop, and you know, she's my bestie, so I'm just gonna sit in. And the studio owner was like, No, we don't allow mails. I'm like, but I'm a bull dancer too.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

What did your what did your bestie say?

SPEAKER_01 22:16

She was shook. Wow. And um we contacted the owner. We posted on Facebook. Back then I had Facebook anymore, and Instagram, and she changed her policy with within 24 hours. She said that um that yeah, that's we want to be inclusive. And we did get a lot of messages from Instagram and Facebook saying like, you know, poll a poll studio should be for everyone, not just for females.

SPEAKER_00 22:43

So you had some backup.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

So we had some backup, yeah. Lots of people backing me up in the poll community, and they changed their policy within 24 hours.

SPEAKER_00 22:50

Wow. Yeah, that's crazy. Especially when we look at the history of pole dancing. Okay, the recent history is we think of strippers, but it goes far beyond, right? You're saying Chinese pole. Was there many female Chinese pole artists?

SPEAKER_01 23:02

No, it was mostly men right to men's pole.

SPEAKER_00 23:05

And then what about Indian? I I can don't even know how to pronounce if it's Molokam.

SPEAKER_01 23:10

Something like that. Yeah, I don't know how to pronounce it.

SPEAKER_00 23:12

We can spell it, it's right here. Uh, we're giving our video editor some work. But um, I actually have a Molokam pole in my bathroom. It is not 12 feet high and it's not made of teak, I don't think, but I had a replica made for the first poll expo because we showed the generations of polls from India and China all the way to Little Minx, which was the first one modern here in America. Oh wow, that's amazing. And then Platinum Stages, I think it was the next poll. And now we got Lupit and Italian and it goes on and on. So many poll brands. Yeah. Wow. Well, I'm so glad you're free to dance on any poll. I think it's um it's an honor to have you on our polls.

SPEAKER_01 23:52

So sweet.

SPEAKER_00 23:52

Yeah, no, it's the truth, Johnny. Oh, I'm so excited that Johnny is here today. It took a lot of work to get him in the studio. And Johnny, thank you so much. Hi, five to you. We hope that you had fun with today's video. Go ahead and like it, subscribe, and I just double dog dare you to share it with 10 friends male, female, and maybe a little alien. We'll see you soon.

SPEAKER_01 24:15

Bye. Bye.