Pole Dancing in 2011

While growing up, one of my forms of entertainment was the television. During those times, movies in the afternoon were shown. If I wasn't doing my afternoon nap, I watched those movies, some of them were action movies wherein scenes were shot in seedy pubs & bars where ladies dance scantily clad & gyrating on a pole.


I remember watching Vivian Velez, the Body Beautiful, dancing suggestively & other nameless boldstars just holding the pole & dancing around it.

While working for a military outfit, some of the staff (male & female) were invited to a club owned by a military sargeant where half-naked women do lapdances, spins on the pole, fully naked ladies being groped & licked. (The licking part happened in a VIP room & we female staff were in a different room, but we snuck in a peek.) 

In my mind, pole dancing is pictured with a backdrop of smoky air, slow music, the smell of beer & peanuts, of girls with bored expressions swaying to the music, the lonely pole with a girl holding on to & rubbing her body on it.But my opinion changed after learning one of my best friends is teaching pole. When I first heard of it, I could not picture her dancing, certainly not of dancing on a pole! Her description of pole dancing was so different from what I used to see on TV. I never knew pole dancing could be an art! 

Watching my friend's videos of her group was an eye-opener. What they do on the pole is NOT the way Kendra Wilkinson, the Kardashian sisters, Britney Spears (Gimme More video) do pole. I've seen dancers on the Dance Your A** Off competition do better than Kendra, the Kardashians or Britney.

Pole dancing, I believe had come a long way from just dancing with a pole to entice men to look at a dancer as she strips in a seedy bar. Pole dancing is an art in itself. It is also a form of exercise to strengthen the upper body, to improve balance or to lose weight.My friend's group, the Polecats, recently won in pole competitions in Singapore & KL. I am so proud of them! GO POLECATS! You can find them on Facebook.

I wish I could do pole, but I think the pole my friend has in her studio can't support my weight.