Pole dance

Pole dancer performing

Chinese pole acrobats perform

Pole dance is a form of performance art (you gotta be kidding), traditionally associated with strip clubs, which combines dance and acrobatics centered around a vertical pole. This art form has recently gained popularity as a form of fitness and mainstream entertainment, practised by many enthusiasts in gyms and in dedicated dance studios. A wide range of amateur and professional competitions are held in many countries around the world.

Since the mid 2000s, promoters of pole dance fitness competitions have been trying to change peoples’ perception of pole dance and to promote it as a non-sexual form of dance and acrobatics. Pole dance has furthermore been influenced by Chinese pole, a form of acrobatics that is performed in cabaret, circus and stage performances in a non-erotic environment. Competitive pole dance competitions are by and large performed in a non-prurient fashion which combines a range of dance styles and/or gymnastics.

Pole dance requires significant strength, flexibility and endurance. In a commercial pseudo-erotic setting, however, pole dance is often performed less gymnastically and is used more as a prop in striptease, Go-Go or lap dancing, with the performer simply holding the pole or moving around it without performing acrobatics. Pole dance proper involves athletic moves such as climbs, spins, and body inversions using the limbs to grip. Upper body and core strength are required to attain proficiency, and rigorous training is necessary.

Pole dance is now regarded as a recognized form of exercise and can be used as both an aerobic and anaerobic workout. Recognized schools and qualifications are now common.

History

A home version stage pole

Pole dancer using a street pole

The use of a pole for exercise has been traced back at least eight hundred years to the traditional Indian sport of mallakhamb, which utilizes principles of endurance and strength using a wooden pole, wider in diameter than a modern standard pole. The Chinese pole, originating in India, uses two poles on which men would perform “gravity defying tricks” as they leap from pole to pole, at approximately twenty feet in the air.

In the 1920s, traveling circuses and sideshows would utilize pole dancing with a pole in the middle of a tent. Eventually the pole dancing moved from tents to bars, and combined with burlesque dance. Since the 1980s, the dance pole has increasingly been incorporated into striptease routines, and Go-Go or lap dancing, first in Canada and then in the United States. In the 1990s, pole dancing commenced to be taught as an art and use in fitness exercises. Since then, pole dancing classes have become a popular form of recreational and competitive sport. K.T. Coates, a famed competitive pole dancer, and the International Pole Dancing Federation, are currently promoting a campaign to include competitive pole dance in the Olympics in 2016. Numerous competitions exist, including the World Pole Sport Championship, U.S. Pole Federation Championship, and the International Pole Masters Cup Championship.

The pole

Standard pole

The standard dance pole typically consists of a hollow steel or brass pole with a circular cross section, running from floor to ceiling. Affixing at the ceiling gives more stability, but is not always realized, especially at night clubs with higher ceilings or at transportable devices. In the United States, the diameter is usually 5 cm (2 inches), allowing it to be gripped comfortably with one hand. In Asia, the diameter is usually 4.5 cm or less..

Another common pole is the spinning pole; as its name suggests, it is similar to a standard static dance pole but spins using ball bearings. The purpose of this pole is to create better momentum and higher rates of speed to have a greater dramatic effect.

Home versions are available which may be used for practice or aerobic exercise. Materials of which poles are made include polished stainless steel, chromed steel, brass, powder coating, and titanium coating. Poles can also be made of acrylic glass which allows use of "glow poles" with LED lighting effects. Each material surface has different gripping properties. Polished steel is one of the slickest materials, which provides for a faster, more fluid dance, and is great for spins; brass poles provide more friction, allowing for an easier hold during inverts and poses and creating a slow, sensual dance style. Products such as chalk, "Dry Hands" or "iTac" may be used to help "stick" to the pole.

Poles can be held in place by using threading to brace them against a ceiling joist. There are also poles that do not require construction and can be set up using tension. Stationary, rotating, and switchable versions are available.

Show pole

There are now poles available for use in clubs that provide visual effects. These poles are made with clear plastics and contain water, glitter, and special reflective materials which stand out when used in conjunction with strobe lighting, as well as lighting hidden in their base joists. However, these poles are not favorable to a dancer wanting to achieve better pole tricks, as they bend slightly and have a tendency to create a friction burn when slid down with any sort of speed.

Pole dance as exercise

A public demonstration of pole dancing techniques

Pole dancing has gained popularity as a form of exercise with increased awareness of the benefits to general strength and fitness. These forms of exercise increases core and general body strength by using the body itself as resistance, while toning the body as a whole. A typical pole dance exercise regimen in class begins with strength training, dance-based moves, squats, push-ups, and sit-ups and gradually works its way up to the spins, climbs and inversions which are the métier of the exercise. Pole dancing is also generally reported by its schools to be empowering for women in terms of building self-confidence.

Pole dancing as an exercise is very similar to Mallakhamb, an Indian men's sport with no erotic component.

A growing number of men are incorporating pole dancing into their fitness programmes. In Australia, the UK and the US, dance studios are beginning to offer classes just for men. And in China, 2007's National Pole Dancing competition was won by a man. Dance instructor Zhang Peng, 23, beat a host of women dancers to the top prize.

Pole dance competitions

A wide range of amateur and professional competitions are held in many countries around the world. They are strictly non-nude and focus on pole dance as an athletic and artistic form of dance and fitness. The first "Miss Pole Dance World" competition was held in November 2005 in Amsterdam and Elena Gibson from the UK won the championship. The following day Elena was disqualified by the organizer John Benner amongst much controversy and the title went to the runner up Reiko Suemune from Japan.

A group of advocates even pushed for pole dance to be represented as a test event in the 2012 London Olympics. But because this is a relatively new trend, scoring for competitions is not standardised, while names of the techniques vary among different clubs in different regions.

In Australia, "Miss Pole Dance Australia" was started in 2005. Felix Cane took home the first prize in the latest 2010 (named Miss Pole Dance 2011—for the coming year) competition. The first US Pole Dance Federation (USPDF) Championship was held on March 19, 2009, first place was taken by Jenyne Butterfly. The 2010 winner of "Miss Pole Dance Canada" was Crystal Lai, who went on to win the People's Choice Award at the worlds.

World Pole Sport & Fitness 2009 (World Pole Dance) is a competition opened to all nationalities and all continents and changed the venue with time: was held in 2009 in Jamaica and was won by Australian Felix Cane, took place in Switzerland in 2010 and was won again by Felix Cane and took place in Budapest in 2011 and was won by Alesia Vazmitsel from Belarus.

Pole dance in the media

Pole dancing, which has been featured on Desperate Housewives and The View, like other exercise trends has its share of celebrity following. Jennifer Love Hewitt had a short pole stint dancing in an episode of "Ghost Whisperer". Actress Sheila Kelley was so taken with the sport, which she learned whilst preparing for her role in Dancing at the Blue Iguana, that she launched her own pole-based exercise programme.

Rima Fakih's victory at Miss USA 2010, including the fact that she had won a pole-dancing competition three years earlier, attracted media attention.

Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai showed her pole dancing skills in the music video "Agent J" and "Beast". She gave a live double pole-dancing performance in her Myself concert in Kaohsiung.

Pole dance has its own media, the magazines Free Spin, Pole Spin and Vertical.

Pole dance is also the main subject of a popular webcomic titled, "Pole Dancing Adventures".

In the video game Bayonetta the titular character use pole dancing in means to advance to the next area or combat her foes. In the ending credit to the game, she is seen dancing on the pole. If you get a platinum award you'll hear her say "I should have been a pole dancer".

Pole dancing has been incorporated in the performances of some K-Pop Idols. Ga-In of the Brown Eyed Girls included a few shots of her pole dancing in the music video of her 2012 solo single 피어나 (Bloom). Girl group After School used pole dancing extensively as part of the dance routine for their 2013 song 첫사랑 (First Love).

See also

• Kara Nova
• Mallakhamb