Mar 4

Written by: kristen
3/4/2010 1:22 PM

I've been thinking a lot about this subject. I could probably rant on and on about all of my gripes of the pole dance industry, but I think I'll leave this to one main complaint that will cover just about all of it.

Pole Dance as I know and practice it is still an accessible form of dance, meaning that most people in any condition can train and learn the dance art as well as they could train and learn Ballroom or Bellydance. It's dance... moves connected by transitions that flow with the music. What the ladies on the Olympic bandwagon are practicing is NOT dance, it is Aerial Pole Trickery. Don't get me wrong, I applaud anyone who safely trains and accomplishes the feats of pole tricks as these women have, but it isn't dance!

Dance happens when the dancer and the music become one. Dance is from the soul. Dance as art takes many forms and evokes emotion for both the dancer and the audience.

Pole tricksters rarely move to their music, although on occasion I have seen it done nicely. Tricksters are inclined to be show-offs, competitive in nature, and suffer from the "look at me" illness. It is the rare trickster who is in it solely for the benefit of their student, if they even teach it. Therefore, Olympics being a competitive sport, you may ask why I have a problem with Pole Dance in the Olympics? It's simply semantics. The Pole "Dance" industry is too young to know itself. It has no clearly defined delineation between styles, and yes folks, they are not all the same! I have no problem with Pole Aerialism as a competitive, even Olympic, sport. But DANCE it is not and should not be so called. I simply ask for a change in the name so that we can identify that which is highly advanced and that which is accessible.

Stepping down from this soapbox...

Copyright ©2010 Kristen Titko

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