Pole Dancing in the Olympics?

There has been a lot of talk over the last few years about whether Pole Dancing should be considered as an Olympic sport and it is obvious that the new modern fitness take on pole dancing certainly deserves to be recognise alongside similar Olympic disciplines. However, I personally think we are wasting our time trying to get Pole Dancing into the Olympics as at the moment there are already 4 gymnastic disciplines and a strong gymnastic committee who are unlikely to want to get rid of one of their existing genres to replace it with pole dancing.



Video above of the amazing Timber Brown performing a blend of traditional Chinese Pole and Western Pole Dancing.

I also think that at present Pole Dancing still has too many links with lap/exotic dancing and many pole dance schools still focus on the exotic side of our art encouraging the wearing of heels and stripper gear. Whilst I have no issues with this I think that it will prevent any Olympic bid. We also have to be aware that perhaps one of the things that attracts people to pole dancing is the taboo, do we really want pole dancing to be as mainstream and controlled as Aerobics?

In my opinion we would be better to focus on more realistic aims such as promoting our art on platforms that are easily attainable such as charity events, Festivals and alongside other sports that have failed to get Olympic recognition such as Thai Boxing. I know that the lovely Jess Leanne Norris (see video below) has done pole dancing exhibitions at several Thai Boxing shows enabling the audience to see her display of grace, fluidity and strength enabling her to educate them about our art.



Don't get me wrong, I do admire the efforts of those such as KT Coates who have set up the International Pole Sports Federation and it would be great if I was proved wrong and pole dancing was accepted into the Olympics but I just don't see it happening in the next 20 years. I would hate to see the hard work of those such as KT wasted as they have put so much hard work, determination and passion into their efforts.

Perhaps there are sporting events at national and international that we could focus on instead such as the Red Bull World Series?

There is a growing group of pole dancers who are campaigning against the idea of pole dancing in the Olympics for fear of our art being over-regimented, many of us love the freestyle aspect of pole dancing and the ability to interpret pole dancing in our own way. I have to admit I found the UK Professional Pole Championships to be a breath of fresh air; the UKPPC has no restrictions on moves, no compulsory aspects meaning that each performer has complete artistic license over their routine.

No doubt the Olympic debate will continue and in time we will find out exactly what the future has in store for Pole dancing!

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

Videos and WI feedback

As promised here is the footage of my dance at the Women's Institute meeting at Golberdon Parish Hall in Cornwall. I had been invited to perform and speak by the lovely Liz Moir pictured below right(far left). The event was extremely positive and gave me the perfect platform to present fitness pole dancing to an older generation.



The evening started at 7pm with the singing of Jerusalem then grace followed by supper. I have to admit that I didn't know the words to Jerusalem and my pathetic attempts to sing along were not good. Supper was fantastic, the ladies had been working had to produce a beautiful meal of chicken breast wrapped in bacon accompanied by carrots, peas and gravy. I opted for a very small salad as a large meal before a pole performance usually results in vomiting, not something that would be a good advertisement for fitness pole dancing. After the main course the ladies tucked into strawberry meringue (see below right) and then straight onto the the agenda, minutes from individual parish meetings and then me.

I was introduced in a very positive way and had decided to perform first then speak (In hindsight this may have been a mistake as I was very out of breath when I started speaking!). I danced to a classical piece of music as I thought it would be inoffensive and would allow me to demonstrate the strength and flexibility involved with pole dancing. It wasn't my best performance as I was extremely nervous ( my performance nerves do not seem to improve, if anything they are getting worse) and the wobbly pole succeeded in scaring the hell out of me throughout my performance (note the dodgy parallel handstand near the end of the routine!)

I am unsure how long I talked for but the ladies were full of valid questions about competitions, the condition your skin needs to be in and peoples perceptions of pole dancing. The main thing the ladies seemed to appreciate was how we are using pole dancing to empower people. Pole dancing is creating social networks, boosting the confidence of individuals and allowing me to work with children to help them to achieve self respect and achievement.

In many ways the aims if the art of dance are similar to those of the WI, we both carry out charity work, we both arrange social opportunities and we both aim to educate those around us. I think that the WI educated me about the valuable work they do and proved to me that they were not outdated but were a fighting force carrying out a fantastic role within society. My deepest thanks go out to the ladies from the WI for receiving me so warmly, also thanks to my mum who attended the meeting with me and of course to Liz Moir for inviting me and to her husband Steve for helping me with the stage. I hope I will catch up with the ladies again in the near future. Also check out the beautiful floral table displays below that adorned each table - truly gorgeous.

Quickly onto news from Rosanna on her latest adventures, she is back on the podium and looking hot, check out her latest video of her perfomance last Saturday at Berties in Newquay. Hopefully Rosanna will be offering some podium / street dance classes in our new studio (soon to be completed), I haven't actually asked Rosanna about this subject yet but no doubt she will read my blog soon! Check out her dance at the bottom of her latest blog.

More news to follow including details of our new Friday night pole classes in Plymouth as well as details of my pending holiday (prepare for smugness),

Stay Healthy,

Sam x