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

Plymouth City Council Leaders - have they lost the plot?

Perhaps Vivien Pengelly, Barry Keel and other council senior officers have completely lost the plot? I was led to believe that the council were there to serve the people of Plymouth, to lead by example and to spend our council tax wisely. I thought that we paid our taxes so that we could enjoy basic services such as road re-surfacing, mending of pot holes and bin collection but now when the council carry out such a service they seem to want a badge to congratulate them, if they repair a road we see a sign stating 'You've been upgraded', I would rather the council saved money on unnecessary signage and just got on with the job in hand.

The Mayflower steps are a perfect example of the councils sheer ineptitude and an example of a simple repair job that should have taken priority over the big white elephant that is the Plymouth Life Centre (I'll come to that one later!). The Mayflower steps are part of Plymouth's amazing waterfront and world renowned maritime history yet they have been left to decay for years, finally the council manage to secure some funding to repair the steps and we are are expected to congratulate them on doing a job that should and could have been done years ago.

If I were to list the council blunders over the last 10 years I would probably run out of server space or if I published the ridiculous photos of our council leaders in hard hats, hi-vis jackets brandishing spades I would waste an equal amount of web space.

In light of the council's disappointing performance I find it hard to see how they can continue to justify their over-inflated salaries and why they have taken so long to consider a pay cut especially when you bear in mind how eager they have been to cut the salaries and working hours of those offering front line services.

Several months ago I challenged the senior council officers to consider a severe pay cut, I started by re-publishing information printed in both the Herald and on the Taxpayers alliance website. The figures stated that senior council officers had received pay-rises of up to 18%, this is vehemently denied by the council but the taxpayers alliance still stand by the figures. When I re-published the figures I faced a vicious verbal outburst from Vivien Pengelly that could be simply described as bullying, she shouted over me, refused to let me have my say and threatened me with legal action, I have never received an apology from Vivien even though she attacked my personal character in public, not the sort of behaviour one would expect from a senior politician.

Vivien's threats were followed with this e-mail from Richard Longford, representative of the chief executive:

I understand through the media that you are still claiming that the chief executive received a pay increase. The chief executive and senior management salaries are a matter of public record and I can tell you categorically that they have not received pay increase. We will be issuing a media statement confirming this and passing on all materials repeating this claim to our legal team.

The e-mail had no Dear Madam, or To it was merely written as above in bold letters, more examples of the bullying techniques used by our council and displayed again in a statement from Finance chief Ian Bowyer last week threatening major job losses if staff did not agree to pay cuts and negative changes to working conditions.

So why have the council been so reluctant to take up my challenge to drastically reduce their rather cushy pay packets? Well this was my original request followed by the council's response:

The Plymouth Pay Protest was actually campaigning for cuts to senior council officers rather than the many cuts to public/frontline services and the cuts facing those on the lower end of the pay scale. I did attempt to explain this to Vivien Pengelly at our first event but was not given the opportunity as Vivien raised her voice and talked over me. Perhaps you or Vivien would be able to comment on our proposal:

The Plymouth Pay Protest aims to reduce the divide between rich and poor in Plymouth by asking for a £50,000 cap on the salaries of senior civil servants. We feel that £50,000 is a fair, living wage for anyone living in this city and working for a public service.

We challenge those currently in council positions earning over £50,000 (please bear in mind that our chief executive Barry Keel is earning in excess of £170,000) to either accept the pay cut or find an alternative job in the private sector in Plymouth where they can match their current salary/pension. Whilst our senior officers impose cuts on those at the lower end of the pay scale we feel it is essential that those cuts are matched at the higher end of the pay scale. I do intend to follow up this campaign and look forward to your response to both the Pay Protest and Plymouth City Council's threat of legal action against me.

The reply from Richard Longford - chief exec's office:

Salaries of those leading private businesses of this size tend to be much higher. If local government is to attract and retain the right calibre of people to lead large and complex organisations at times of great change, it needs to pay appropriate salaries. (N.B.This has been proved to be completely untrue in recent studies, many media sources have reported stories about this inaccuracy - check this article from the Telegraph - see I can use bold text too!!)


The salaries of all Council staff, including senior managers, have been frozen this year. The proposed terms and conditions changes affect senior management more in some areas than other members of staff, including reductions in holiday allowance. The Council's budget plans for the next two years also include substantial savings in its senior management structure. We cannot say any more about this at this stage.

As far as I am aware, no public sector organisations have capped pay in the way you are suggesting. The City Council has no plans to do so at present, though I cannot speak on behalf of elected members or say what they may decide in the future.


It now seems that the council leaders have not decided to lead by example but instead have been ordered to do so by national government.

I sincerely hope that Plymouth City Council leaders step up to the challenge of a serious reduction in wages and a commitment to putting Plymouth and its people first. Unfortunatley my faith in the current electorate is dwindling, their decision to put 65 million pounds of taxpayers money into the Life Centre was surely the worst decision they have made to date, I know they keep telling us how well used it will be by a handful of Olympians but sadly the Olympics are not a regular event for the UK! The Life Centre will not attract tourists (we probably won't have any tourists soon anyway as we will have no airport, no motorway and decaying rail links.. The Life Centre will be too expensive for most local people and the local transport links in Plymouth mean that if lots of local people did decide to use the centre there would be traffic gridlock. RIP the rather badly named Life Centre.

Plymouth City Council (Best achieving council - what a joke!) - Please watch this space or do the right thing. To sum it all up I will leave you with a link to this marvellously apt tune from Dan le Sac entitled 'Stake a Claim' the lyrics are just perfect.

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

Pole Dance Photography and Health news.

It is now just over 3 months since my knee injury and for the first time since then I feel almost back to full pole fitness, OK so I won't be doing the cupid for a while but most pole moves are back within my reach. Last month I did my first post-injury pole dance photo-shoot which really highlighted that I was not back to my required pole fitness and it has really boosted me to get back into training. Mark Doyle, aka Miso Photography, had an idea for an urban themed pole dancing photo-shoot at Marsh Mills in Plymouth directly under the A38 dual carriageway. The area is a mass of concrete and steel bedecked in fabulous graffiti. I have included a few of the shots from the day on this blog but you can view the rest by going to the Art of dance photo gallery and selecting Mark Doyle Photography from the images menu.


As this is the first time Mark has worked with a pole dancer he has yet to learn that we do not have infinite strength and there are some poses that I simply can't hold for too long especially as I am still regaining strength after my pole absence. Mark still managed to get some great shots and we hope to being working on another exciting photography project very soon. Mark Doyle is available for commercial and private photography so if you need a photographer just give him a shout.


Government guidelines for physical activity.

A few bits of health news that I wanted to share with you; the government have released new guidelines on physical activity and how much we should be exercising. The guidelines start by focusing on those under the age of 5 and recommend 180 minutes of exercise per day, the over 5's are advised to exercise for at least 60 minutes (moderate to vigorous intensity)per day with the government recognising the importance of running, jumping and dancing for bone and muscle development.


For adults the guidelines have changed from the previous guidance of exercising 3 times per week to a more sensible approach advising exercising daily with a minimum of 150 minutes per week which should be easily achievable for even the least active amongst us. These guidelines extend to the older generations but with an emphasis on exercise for improving balance and coordination to reduce the risk of falling and to aid mobility.


Are you meeting the criteria? For more information just visit the Department of Health website or the Change for life website.

A good night's sleep?

Finally a great bit of news from scientists on how much sleep we should be getting, I can finally justify the need to sleep for 10 hours a night as it will seriously benefit my pole dancing practice! The findings come from Stanford Universities Cheri Mah who says "Many athletes testified that a focus on sleep was beneficial to their training and performance. For full details of these marvellous findings visit the BBC News/Health website.

More news to follow on the Sexual Encounter Establishment licensing and how it will be implemented!

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

To REP's or not to REP's

As I have no staff at the moment due to sickness and holiday so time is very limited and I have no time to write a proper blog instead I will refer you to an article I have contributed to on the Pole Dance Community website. The article discusses how to become a pole dancing instructor and whether REP's (register of exercise professionals) is the best route or not.

The article does not seek to doubt REP's as a good fitness organisation but is does question the process involved in becoming a REP's insured instructor. The article does not mention the financial implications of going down the REP's route either and it certainly is not a cheap option!

Here is the link to the article; To REP's or not to REP's.

More news to follow on the importance of sleep and other health related issues.

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

Why I love teaching pole dancing

For anyone who owns a professional pole dance school they will know that is not the most lucrative career choice but what you lose in income you make up for in happiness; the reward of seeing your students develop in both fitness and confidence is simply amazing.

I am extremely proud of all my students who work so hard in class and who achieve so much, to see students exceed their own personal expectations gives me such a buzz. I love seeing the inductees on their first lesson, thinking they will never go upside down and then finally after a few weeks of training they start to achieve more complex moves such as Headstands and Inverted Crucifixes.


Recently, at the art of dance, we have had some specific success stories which I would like to share with you. Hanna Silva (pictured above) came to us with a very unusual brief, she wanted to learn to pole dance so she could recite poetry at the London Word Festival. The piece entitled sushi was a spoken word recital accompanied by a confident pole dancing display with the words designed to challenge ideas on empowerment and perceptions of pole dancing. Rather than me try to explain it check out this link to Hanna's review of 'Sushi' and photos from the night. A big thank you to Hanna for the lovely flowers she bought for Rosanna and I and I can't wait to see the 'Sushi' piece which will be performed again at our October Social.

Another recent success came when our fabulous teaching assistant Emma Thorpe (pictured above) won the South West heats of the intermediate category of the United Kingdom Amateur Pole Performer (UKAPP). Emma joined the art of dance with the University of Plymouth Pole Dancing Club (UPPDC) and quickly caught the pole dancing bug. Emma has worked so hard to improve her pole dancing skills and this really showed at the UKAPP competition. I can't wait to see Emma perform at the UKAPP finals in St Alban's in September.

I want to say a huge thank you to all of my staff and students for making my life so special. I can't wait to get back into the studio to teach again tonight - Bring on the pain and bruising :)

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

The problem with pole dancing?

I have been trying to get my head around the exact problem with pole dancing; what exactly is wrong with those 2 little words pole+dancing that drives the media into a frenzy and makes people come out with very strange and often inappropriate comments. I have been pole dancing since 2004 and the stereotypical comments I often receive are now starting to wear thin.

When I say I pole dance I don't need someone to ask me which club I work in and I don't need some guy to offer to 'grease my pole'. I consider myself to be a gymnast and a performing artist so why have I received hate mail and death threats from all over the globe when I have demonstrated my art to children?

How can my art exclude me from supposed multicultural events?

Why should I be banned from performing at my local Lord Mayor's Day when belly dancers and street dancers have been allowed to perform?

Why have I been excluded for the last 4 years from the 'inclusive Dance, Dance, Dance event run by the South Asian Society, an event that prides itself on improving community cohesion and tackling prejudice!

How can the Plymouth Soroptomists book me to perform at one of their meetings, call me out to do a risk assessment and then let me down at short notice because they have now decided my performance may not be suitable for them?

Why does local publication the Plymouth Shopper decide that I am an unable to advertise in their magazine as they only do family friendly adverts?

Why was I banned from performing at Marjon's Student Union after doing an extremely successful event there, the answer was apparently that pole dancing might incite violence! This answer came from a senior member of staff at the college.

The above are just a few of the many examples of prejudice and ignorance that I face on a daily basis.

Throughout my years of teaching and learning the wonderful art of pole dancing I have remained thick-skinned but over the last few months my patience has started to wear thin, especially after the most recent comments about my attempts to run pole dancing lessons for children between the ages of 12-15, Both MP Gary Streeter and a Mother's Union came out to attack my proposed activity without them having any real knowledge of what my classes were about. As my husband pointed out you have to question the intelligence of both parties if they feel they can pass comment on something they actually know very little about.

I feel the simple answer to my problems lies in educating the press and the government and getting them to use the correct terminology when referring to different activities, surely a dancer who works in a club is not actually a pole dancer as that is not where her revenue comes from, her revenue comes from lap dancing and stripping, therfore her correct title is a lap dancer or stripper, likewise a 'pole dancing club' is actually relying on income from bar takings and commission from the lap dancers therefore it is a lap dancing club not a pole dancing club. I have no issues with lap dancers or strippers and I respect their chosen career however we must differentiate between the 2 otherwise fitness pole dancer and fitness pole dancing schools will continue to be wrongly labelled.

This is not just about the personal feelings of fitness pole dancing instructors such as myself, if the correct terminology is not used in the correct places then I, and other pole dancers, could suddenly fall victim of the new laws on Sexual Encounter Licensing whereby if I carry out more than 12 public performances of pole dancing I would have to apply for a sexual encounter license. This is neither something I should be required to have nor is it something I can afford.

Here are some examples of the words pole dancing being used in correctly within the media; A recent press article in the Herald used the headline 'Banned from Pole Dancing' when the real headline was 'Lady banned from taking clients to her home'. A recent mail article accused primary school teachers of pole dancing in a club, these women were not pole dancing, they were drunk and gyrating against walls, tables and a column that resembled a pole, the headline and associated article should have been talking about their drunken behaviour and exotic dancing and not titled 'pole dancing'.

In an effort to help encourage people to use the words pole dancing correctly I set up a meeting where I invited local council reps, MP's and press contacts, the invites were sent on Monday 13th June yet 5 days later I have had no response from my local MP Oliver Colville, no response from my councillor Chaz Singh, no response from any of the BBC or ITV contacts and a decline from MP Gary Streeter and the Plymouth Lord Mayor. The only positive response I received was from Bill Martin, editor at the Herald and Jane Atwill from Radio Plymouth.

Of course there is another argument that pole dancing can be sexy which I would agree in some cases but then any form of dance can be sexy, you only have to look at the controversial history of dance to see how, historically, dance has faced many criticisms especially from religious sectors. Check out Barbara's Ehrenrich's book dancing in the streets. The issue is that I don't teach sexy pole dancing to kids and most of my adult classes are gymnastic based so are far removed from their historical links to exotic and lap dancing.


Within the last 10 years Salsa has emerged from being the 'dance of the devil' to being a mainstream way to keep fit. Kids can watch Salsa and tango dancers writhe in skimpy outfits on prime time TV on the BBC's Strictly come dancing but if I were to pole dance on TV at the same time there would probably be outrage.

It seems people's attitudes towards pole dancing schools spread beyond personal feeling or current legislation but also effect my business finances; my recent application to turn The Art of Dance into a social enterprise was laughed at by Companies House who sent me a very short letter stating that they could not possibly see how pole dancing could be used as an activity to benefit the community, this was despite my application being accompanied by a 20 page document filled with action plans, testimonials and examples of community projects.

Let's face it, if it's just sexualisation that everyone is worried about then there is plenty of overtly sexual material for kids to watch, just switch on MTV and check out the latest music videos or take a look at the latest kids fashions in high street stores. Let's not blame sexualisation of kids on pole dancing schools please. Take a closer look at female role models such as Jordan before you start to have a go at a fitness pole dancing class.

Perhaps I should change my career and take up something less controversial such as Maypole dancing where young virgins dance around a stick to celebrate their imminent loss of virginity (apologies for the sarcasm).

Well the debate continues and it seems that for most fitness pole dancers there is a long way to go before the ignorant and prejudiced are finally educated. Please feel free to comment and I will publish all intelligent comments - no nasty, malicious trolls please!

Stay Healthy,

Sam x

Plymouth is going to the dogs!

On Thursday evening I came across another example of how Plymouth City Council is failing us; I was driving home from work when I spotted a dog standing outside a closed shop, there was no sign of an owner and so I decided to stop to see if the dog was OK. As I approached the dog it started to bare its teeth and growl so I backed off. A family were also approaching with a pushchair and 2 small children, the dog again become agitated so I waited for a while to warn others to cross the road and avoid antagonising the dog, to be honest I was worried it may attack someone. A young girl approached claiming that the dog had attacked before.


Firstly I phoned the police non emergency number (08452 777444) who informed me that this was a council issue and that I needed to call the dog warden. I called PCC only to be told that the dog warden now works from 9am till 5pm and that if I left a message someone would get back to me the next day. Bear in mind this was 8pm in the evening and the dog was getting increasingly agitated. By now a few other people had approached to offer to try to help, one other lady again tried to approach the dog nearly resulting in an attack.

The RSPCA were called but could not help as the dog was not injured, the local animal rescue centres were all shut so basically we were expected to leave the animal. No one could help and eventually I left the dog with another couple who took over my vigil.

To me this is another example of P.C.C cutting essential services whilst refusing to make cuts at higher level. As I have said before a pay freeze for senior officers is simply not enough, they should be taking cuts like the rest of us. I have asked the council if they would consider taking pay cuts at higher level but have been told that they would not consider doing so. Here is the response I received from Richard Longcroft:

"If local government is to attract and retain the right calibre of people to lead large and complex organisations at times of great change, it needs to pay appropriate salaries.

Plymouth City Council has seen very significant improvements in its performance over the last few years and the strength of its leadership and senior management has been recognised in inspection reports by independent local government watchdogs such as the Audit Commission.

The salaries of all Council staff, including senior managers, have been frozen this year. The proposed terms and conditions changes affect senior management more in some areas than other members of staff, including reductions in holiday allowance. The Council's budget plans for the next two years also include substantial savings in its senior management structure. We cannot say any more about this at this stage."

As far as I am aware, no public sector organisations have capped pay in the way you are suggesting. The City Council has no plans to do so at present, though I cannot speak on behalf of elected members or say what they may decide in the future..


This is something we are seeing right across the country; fat cat culture with the rich getting richer and the divide between rich and poor increasing. In the week when we are talking about more NHS cuts I see RBS bosses receiving further bonuses. In Plymouth we have seen lavish dinners provided for senior council officers after events such as Lord Mayor's Day whilst we see Whitleigh Nursery shut resulting in 15 redundancies and the loss of child care provision for many families, the knock on for some mothers means they will also lose their jobs as they can't find or afford alternative childcare.

We have seen another example in Plymouth of fat cat culture with the recent Argyle administration where those at the bottom end of the pay scale have finally quit after months without full pay whilst higher management have continued to receive full pay.

In this week premiership footballers have been given pay increases yet child poverty has continued to rise - where exactly are our priorities? If you didn't see it check out the BBC documentary 'Poor kids'.

How much more can we be squeezed? How much is left to squeeze and what can we do? Answers please.....

Stay Healthy (if you can afford to),

Sam x