When Stefanie Schmidbauer first stood in front of a pole in 2022, she was just looking for a balance in sports, next to her work – and found a deep passion that reshaped her life. Today, she has been teaching as a certified pole dance trainer at Freaky Pole Cats in Deggendorf for a year, helping people discover their own strength, expressiveness and body awareness.
Stefanie has found her own language, particularly in artistic pole dancing: a combination of emotion, storytelling and a clear dramatic arc. She achieved two third places (ultra pole and artistic pole) at the 2025 German Pole Dance Championships and will compete again in April 2026 at the German Championships, this time in Dessau.
For TEDx Freiburg, she presents a performance that reflects her own journey: letting go of the past, rediscovering her own voice and the liberation that comes when you allow yourself to become new.
“For me, the tension between strength and devotion is what makes pole dancing so special – it’s true freedom.”
