Pole dancing may conjure up images of men in seedy clubs leering at semi-naked women, but it has a growing following in the United States as a way to keep fit — and even aspires to be an Olympic sport. The sensual dance form began to appear as a variant of aerobics or “step”-type workouts about a decade ago, changing its name to “pole fitness” to distinguish it from the erotic nightclub version. Since then, some 500 pole dancing/fitness studios have sprung up across the country, and it is often difficult to determine which ones are purely fitness and which ones have elements of erotic dance.
“They are almost always both in a studio and very few studios differentiate,” Claire Griffin Sterrett of Vertical Art & Fitness magazine said, adding she had seen women as young as 14 and as old as 72 on the pole. “Many fitness routines feel dull, repetitive and stale,” she told AFP in praising her sport’s “incredible fitness benefits”. “Pole dancing provides a physical challenge that keeps your mind and body engaged. I also think that women are finding great pleasure in the sensuality of the movement.”
While Griffin embraces the sensual aspect of pole dancing, noting that women are attracted to the pole precisely for this reason, others prefer to distinguish it clearly from the sexually-charged version. Intent on improving the routine’s reputation, the Pole Fitness Association stresses that it’s also an activity for men and celebrates pole fitness as a “rigorous, tasteful and athletic art.”
“Over 50 countries worldwide take part in lessons, workshops, conventions, expos, competitions and teacher training,” said an online PFA petition for pole dancing to be included at the Olympics, like parallel bars for gymnasts. “This is an international sport that both men, women and those that are on a low income can take part in, unlike sports such as horse riding, sailing and snow-based sports.”
But the division between sexually provocative dance and acrobatic exercise routine is not clear cut. In Las Vegas, the number of pole dancing academies has grown in recent years, fuelled by the permissiveness for which the Nevada gambling mecca is known. For tourists visiting Sin City, pole dancing is a great attraction, be it sport or dance.
