Pole Dance dancing videos and lessons

Pole Dancing, in which a single dancer performs sensual, graceful, and acrobatic moves using a floor-to-ceiling metal pole as a support, began as an exotic dance performed in burlesque shows and strip clubs. In the past decade pole dancing has steadily gained acceptance as a form of exercise and personal expression and more recently, as a form of competitive acrobatic dance. The dance has traditionally been performed by women, but with the move out of strip clubs and into gyms – plus an increased emphasis on strength and difficulty – more men have been attracted to the practice.

There can be no doubt that pole dancing originated in strip clubs, though alternative origins for the dance have been suggested including the European May pole ceremony, the Indian Yoga practice Mallakhamb (the practice is also known as “Indian rope trick” and can involve a pole or a rope), and age-old Chinese pole acrobatics. Instructors interested in legitimizing the dance may shy away from discussing its sensual aspects, but without fail they say the practice gives women “confidence.” Participants in the classes are often more open to admitting that it makes them feel sexy.

Pole dancing requires strength and flexibility, making it a novel method of building core strength and burning fat. Basic posture is lifted throughout the body: feet on tiptoes, high buttocks, arched back, head high. Some basic moves include the “walk-around,” where the dancer walks around the pole on tiptoe while holding on with one extended arm, and the “lift,” where the dancer holds the pole high overhead with both hands and pulls her (or his) body up and folds in her (or his) legs. These basic steps are combined and modified by adding back stretches and arches, leg extensions, faster rotation, and most impressively, by locking the legs on the pole to free the hands and remain suspended in the air.

In recent years the popularity of pole dancing for fitness and fun has exploded worldwide and businesses are capitalizing on the fad. Peekaboo, a company that markets pole dancing kits and how-to books on the subject, recently partnered with Carmen Electra to market the “Electra-Pole Professional Pole Dancing Kit” and has reportedly been seeking a deal with Nintendo to produce a pole dancing game for the Wii platform. Pole Dancing is also being marketed for at home parties, similar to the Tupperware or Avon model, by a company called EPM EmpowerNet, which sells poles, props, and how-to DVD’s for aspiring pole dancers and instructors.

In 2003 The Oprah Winfrey Show featured pole dancing as an aerobic exercise and Emma Thompson gamely tried her hand at the pole on a 2006 episode of The Ellen Degeneres Show. Kate Moss pole danced in the music video for the White Stripes song, “I Just Don’t Know What to do With Myself,” as did Kylie Minogue in the video for her single, “Wow.” Other famous pole enthusiasts include Jennifer Aniston, Angelina Jolie, and Madonna, who recently wrote and directed the movie Filth and Wisdom, in which a former ballet dancer pole dances the traditional way: for money.