The art of pole dance throughout the years
Pole dancing/pole fitness is just becoming one of the most popular and exciting ways to get fit made more acceptable throughout the years by the media, celebs and society’s increasing obsession with alternative fitness, but where do its origins lie?
The first type of pole related fitness may date back to the 12th century in India with the art of Mallakhamb (meaning “man of power” or “Gymnastics pole”) This Amazing gymnastic/contortionism display was practiced by Indian wrestlers on a carved wooden pole in order to hone their skills in the game “kusti” This truly is a jaw dropping sight, most recently seen on “Indias got Talent”.
Today’s modern pole dance was thought to have started in Canada in the 1980’s in table and lap dance clubs. This spread to the USA and the rest of the world giving rise to famous lapdance clubs such as Spearmint Rhino and Stringfellows. In the UK stage pole shows grew in popularity to what we recognise now as pole dancing in a gentleman’s club. In the art form sense the famous Cirque Du Solei have used Chinese pole acts. Chinese pole uses friction between the skin and the pole. The main difference with this the skin is completely covered in clothing and the pole is covered in rubber for gripping purposes. The tricks and sheer amazing gymnastics used in these performances is very similar to the pole fitness we know of now. In fact a lot of aerial acts used in the circus have similarities to the tricks used in pole fitness.
Pole fitness still has a long way to go before it is taken seriously for the astounding art form that it is. Mention the words pole dancing and most people still associate it with stripping off in a club for money. In recent years pole dance has separated into two camps. There are those who pole dance as a profession in a club and there are those who see it purely as a sport. In the sporting sense the USA now have the USPDF (US Pole dance federation) With the UK holding many respected and recognised pole dancing competitons such as Miss Pole Dance Fitness UK. And there is an ongoing petition to get pole fitness into the 2016 Olympics. However we at Twirl N Tone Pole dance Academy believe that pole fitness can be both sensual and the work out of your life and that viewing pole dance as either purely sexy or a hard core sport is wrong. It should be viewed as a good mix of the two. Pole dance is an art form, whether this is on a stage in a gentleman’s club on in a fitness class we should all be proud of it.
Here are some Amazing pole performances from some famous and inspiring British pole dancers.
Chantelle Pritchard: British pole Dance Academy launch:
Deb Riley and Sasha Kavaleva Miss pole dance UK 09:
