It’s part dance, part fitness, part acrobatics, and it’s not just for strippers anymore. Actually, it was never just for strippers. The circus has Chinese pole – which tends to be a male-dominated apparatus because of the strength and fitness required – and although their poles are longer and stickier *tee hee hee* some of the tricks are the same. However, because their poles are stickier, circus pole acrobats wear full-length leotards to protect themselves from pole burns, whereas pole dancers use slipperier poles – so the amount of attire is inversely proportional to the difficulty of the tricks (ie. the harder the trick, the less clothes you wear *tee hee hee*). But seriously, perhaps this is where pole dancing got its stripper reputation…
Now, I’ve only been pole training for about 6 months and like everyone else, it started out as a bachelorette-type thing. But here’s where my obsession began: Felix Cane. She’s one of the top YouTube search results for “pole dance” and she’s an amazing example of musicality and showmanship, not to mention insane flexibility. So here she is – 2006 Miss Pole Dance Australia:
But in addition to the dancing, pole requires a high strength to weight ratio. My friend trained with Zoraya Judd and posted on Facebook this mad feat of strength:
Because pole is gaining momentum as a respectable form of fitness and sport, there is a growing effort to get it into the Olympics. I’m not the biggest fan of mixing art forms with competition, but if pole were an Olympic sport, it would surely look like this (Oona KivelΓ€‘s routine is only 4 mins long – the last 2 mins are her winning the 1st Pole Dance World Cup):
There are already loads of pole competitions worldwide – and they’re a great showcase of athleticism – but my hope is that the art never lose its inherent sexiness. Alethea Austin is sexy because she is the master of slow:
Yet the dancing is not just for the ladies. See here – the International Pole Championship‘s Pole Idol Winner 2012, Wilson Alexander – this man knows, not only tricks, but dancing:
I’ve spent hours at a time watching pole videos and I could go on for days. So unless you’re as keen as I am and want to watch Natasha Wang storytelling on her poles, or the Jenyne Butterfly routine that recently sent some of my actor friends all atwitter on Facebook, or the Marion Crampe & Edouard Doye partner promo that made my Aussie, Steve, consider learning pole with me, then you should just watch my all time favourite Felix Cane video:
