We recently connected with Geissa Peralta Reyes and have shared our conversation below.

Geissa, appreciate you joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Thanks for the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Geissa Peralta Reyes, and I am an elite pole dance athlete. My skills are solid, my heart is in my sport, and my dedication is to train hard to become an even better athlete. I have a passion for teaching and sharing my love, experience, and knowledge related to pole dancing. As a child I was always playing sports. Sports is, was and always will be part of my daily life. After high school I decided to study medicine. I wanted to become a doctor. I wanted to collaborate with people and help them with their health. I had discovered through sports that, that is where my passion lays. In the meantime, I became a sports instructor.
In the fourth year of my studies in the University I had to interrupt my medical studies due to family problems. My father had a cerebral hemorrhage and I had to take care of him. The result of his illness was that he could not work anymore and generated no income. The situation forced me to drop out of university and work to support my family.
I started with a few jobs for a couple of hours a week. I also started working as a volunteer. It was a professional and valuable experience to add to my resume and widen my personal network. I participated in sports lessons with detainees and drug prevention programs. It was a wonderful way to be involved and to give back to the community.
For 12 years I worked as a volunteer at a non-profit organization “Moving the street”. We organized sports activities in the public space every Sunday. People of all backgrounds were welcome and could participate for free. Through volunteering and later in a leadership role I developed skills that I required to demonstrate my potential and to take on a managerial position.
Thanks to volunteer work, I gained increased experience and name recognition. This made it easier for me to get a well-paid job.
In 2007 I “discovered” the sport of pole dancing. For me it was love at first sight. It is a sport that challenges the entire anatomy and physiology of the human body. After my first competition I also became aware of the mental struggle of each individual top athlete. It is this complete package that appeals to me enormously.
I started to grow quite quickly in the sport. Not only by getting better as an athlete and winning medals, but also by continuing to develop myself theoretically. Which technique do you use for what purpose and how does this relate to the anatomy and physiology of the body. In addition to my knowledge gained during my studies, I have followed various courses related to anatomy, physiology, and movement knowledge.
After participating in world championships all over the world I discovered that I could not develop myself any further in Venezuela. As you know, Venezuela has many socio-economic problems. This manifests itself, among other things, in public transport, lack of basic facilities (water and electricity) and safety. (for example: I was robbed three times on the street. Once at gunpoint) It is therefore very difficult to practice sports at a professional level and maintain excellence.
Now that I am here in the US, I discover that this country is very “fertile” ground for athletes. To belong and to stay at the top of the top, the US offers an excellent training ground. The training facilities are top notch, and the competition makes every athlete even stronger and better in the sport.
More importantly, I passionately believe that the time I have spent so far in Miami has really enabled me to utilize my knowledge and skills to contribute in a positive way to this sport environment. It has allowed me to give back to the community, just like I did in Venezuela, and help to grow the sport. Sports connect and the most rewarding aspect of the trainings is to build bridges between cultures and bring people together. Sports also help to provide accessible and fun ways for young people to exercise and stay healthy.
For me is exceptionally beautiful to see that there are many young children here who want to master this sport. And I love to share my knowledge and experience to them.

Geissa, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

With my performance I always try to tell a story and I do this with a lot of emotion and energy. It makes me pround when I see I touch the hearts of the public with my performance. Athletic Resume of Geissa Peralta Reyes:

2013 Venezuelan National Championship, Amateur Category

2014 National Championship of Venezuela, Professional Category.

2015 National Championship of Venezuela, Professional Category 1st place.

2016 Venezuela Championships, Elite Category, 2nd place.

2017 IPSF Venezuelan National Championship, Elite Category, 2nd place

2017 Represented Venezuela at the IPSF World Championship in the Netherlands.

2018 Firelily Competition in the Netherlands, Pole Artistic, 2e place

2018 IPSF Venezuelan National Championship, Elite Category, 1st place

2018 Represented Venezuela at the IPSF World Championship in Spain.

2019 IPSF Venezuelan National Championship, Elite Category 1st place

2019 Represented Venezuela at the IPSF World Championship in Canada.

2021 PSO Level 5 Championships 2nd Place Senior Women

2022 I represent Venezuela in the World Pole Art Italy, Elite Category

2022 PSO Artistic Level 5 Los Angeles 3rd Place, Elite Category

2023 I represent Venezuela in the World Pole Art Italy, Elite Category

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

After a competition of Pole Art Italy 2022, when the body went into rest, I felt a pain in the right shoulder. I could not take off my bra, opening the fridge at home, taking a glass from the cupboard, all of that caused me pain. I had to carry my arm. An MRI showed a tear in the supraspinatus, bursitis and an injury compromising the long biceps tendon, as well as a formation of osteophytes that generated impingement at the joint level. A whole cocktail of things affected me emotionally a lot. It took me several months looking for other opinions.

Fortunately, I found people with whom I still count today as my physical therapist, my sports traumatologist who reviewed my MRI. He and the physiotherapists who treat me know each other and came to the conclusion not to operate. Although this was the first advice I received from the primary doctor. They gave me other alternatives, I went through very painful processes and treatments that I had never imagined in my life, but that helped me recover from this injury.

I achieve close to one hundred percent recovery, and I am back to competing in championships.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I like sports and pole dance in particular. My goals were to reach the world top and to touch people with my performances. I invest all the money I earn in courses and training. I have never had the goal of getting rich by dancing pole. To be honest, it costs money to participate in championships at my level. Now that I am in the process of applying for a talent-based visa here in the US. By doing so I realize I have made a mistake. To get a visa based on talent, suddenly it is about brand awareness (be famous), the number of followers you have on social media and money.
This is new to me, and I still have many steps to make here. Everything I do is for the love of the sport, but that is not enough. I will have to be more businesslike. That is another mindset which I must develop.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @geissaper
• Youtube: Geissa Peralta