SIlhouette x The GIFTED Journal x Women's Month — *Image: Sophie ‘Herflysoul’ Merlin*

Happy Women’s History Month! This month, and every month, we’re celebrating women and change makers who are leading with consciousness, creativity and compassion. As we channel more movement and ease this year, we’re inspired by the founding duo behind Silhouette - a boutique movement space in Toronto that specialises in pole dance, pilates and sensual movement. Here’s our sit down conversation with Lisa Lam and T'yawné Ayodeji.

We’re so happy to have you both here. Thanks for slowing down with us. We’d love to hear more about how you both started Silhouette…

Back in 2019, we went to a Daniel Caesar concert and there were these visuals of a girl pole dancing. We turned to each other and said we always wanted to try that. It was funny the way it clicked for the both of us at the same time. We immediately started looking for a studio to attend but we noticed a lack of diversity. At that point we decided to learn so that we could open up our own space and bring a different energy to the city. Lisa was already a Pilates Instructor, so we figured it was best to combine the two, to differentiate ourselves even more. From there, Silhouette Pole & Pilates was born.

You are both representative of ambitious, dedicated women; what are some of the lessons that you’ve learnt since opening Silhouette?

We’ve learnt a lot during the process of opening the studio, but two of the biggest lessons have been patience and to always have multiple back-up plans. Starting a business isn’t easy, and it comes with many obstacles and learning opportunities. But being patient with ourselves, each other and the business has made all the difference. From the moment we decided to open Silhouette together, we knew it was the right idea for us and regardless of the journey it would be more than worth it.

Pole dancing requires both strength and grace - what has pole dancing taught you both about life outside of the studio?

Pole dancing has taught me to be more confident, and care less about what others think about what we’re doing. We know pole dancing comes with a lot of stigma and sometimes I get nervous about posting myself dancing online, but then I remember that what I’m doing is beautiful and the strength and grace of pole dancing is beautiful, and if people judge, then so be it. The pros that come from sharing our creativity, is much more beneficial than the cons that come from it. - Lisa
Pole dance has taught me so much and continues to do so constantly. Some of my biggest takeaways from dancing have been patience, to feel at peace with my personal journey and confidence. It’s caused me to be nicer to myself, to fall in love with my body and to be appreciative of where I am in life, which is the same mindset you need to have in your pole practice. Dancing has completely altered my view of myself for the better and I keep that energy as I go through life. - T’yawné

Silhouette attracts such a supportive, body and sex positive community. How have you created this culture, and why has it been important to create such a safe, inclusive space?

We’ve created this culture by being this way ourselves and that energy is palpable even through social media. When a person comes to the studio and attends a class, it’s even more apparent how much that inclusive, supportive energy radiates through the space. It’s so important to us to create this kind of space for many reasons but mainly because pole dancing can be vulnerable and the city we’re from is so diverse. We wanted that to be reflected in the studio and in our online presence. Diversity, inclusivity and positivity were what we wanted the Silhouette community to be made up of from Day 1, so to see it be just that is fulfilling.

What’s it like working with your best friend? How have you overcome challenges that you both may have come up against so far?

Honestly, 10 out of 10 would recommend! We’ve both worked with/for lots of people and now working with/for each other is the best decision we could have made. I think the biggest thing is the trust factor and knowing we always have each other's best interest because what is good for Silhouette is positive for both of us. It’s always nice to see your bestie win and because we’re in this together a win for one is a win for both. We definitely lean on each other and calm each other down in times of stress. Funny enough, we both used to work on a lot of school projects together in high school, so we had an idea of what it was like to work together. We have opposite strengths, so where one of us lacks the other is able to execute and vice versa. Sometimes we run into differing opinions, but we communicate, try to understand the other person's perspective and then try our best to compromise.

You recently performed at ‘Stupid Cupid’, an immersive Valentine’s Day experience - pole dancing can often carry negative connotations - yet Silhouette offers a refreshing celebration of sensual movement. What would you say has been a pivotal part of your message?

Yes, that performance was our first one together and it was so much fun! We were so happy to perform together and share what we love to do with such a receptive audience. Pole dancing does, for some, carry a negative connotation and the underlying part of all of our messaging has simply been... it shouldn't. By bringing Silhouette into existence, we’re helping to break those barriers of stigma and that was our goal. We would like to continue to show people that strippers and pole dancers are artists and gymnasts and should be respected and appreciated for the art that they offer to the world.

We love this! Moving forward, we’d love to hear more about the vision you have for expanding the Silhouette brand…

Moving forward, we’d like to be able to grow into a bigger location, so that we can offer multiple classes at the same time. We’d also like to begin having workshops, customer appreciation events and showcases as we continue to grow our community. We’d also like to add a clothing line as it was something we talked about starting together before the idea for the studio. Now that we have the studio, it is the perfect way to create and introduce a clothing line geared towards Pole Dancing and Pilates.

We love to share recommendations... What are you:

Listening to?

Celestial - Naomi Sharon

homies - Saint Heron & Tiana Major9

Peak (Fed Up) - RAAHiiM

Love Sick - Don Toliver

Reading?

‘The Other Black Girl’, by Zakiya Dalila Harris

‘The Kite Runner’, by Khaled Hosseini

Watching?

Grey’s Anatomy (always re-watching seasons 1-9)

Love Island UK

Silhouette Pole and Pilates: The Treacherous Twins