So now pole dancing is a folk dance?
Honest to god, people.
You know what’s pissing me off lately? This ridiculous attempt I keep seeing at whitewashing the origins of pole dancing.
I’m sure you’ve seen it – talk about how pole dancing’s roots are in the Maypole. Or Chinese Pole. Or that Indian style of pole they show on Youtube.
You know what that is?
Bullshit. That’s what that is.
Just because it’s on the web, people, doesn’t make it fact.
I swear, some pole dancer trying, I have no doubt, to end the steady barrage of disparagement she was experiencing for mentioning her beloved hobby, wrote some ridiculous crap on her site about the origins of pole, and now it’s like people are suddenly taking it seriously.
Let me tell you something.
Pole dancing began in the strip clubs. In the 1980s. That’s all there is to it.
What Pole Dancing Isn’t
Pole dancing is NOT a legacy from some Celtic fertility rite.
It is NOT some offshoot of acts of prowess from hunting and gathering cultures.
It is NOT a throwback to pagan celebrations of spring.
Pole dancing is about SEX.
Yes, it is.
And what in heaven’s name is so wrong with that?
Just because a lot of people are uncomfortable with sex does NOT mean their viewpoint must be catered to.
Just because some people have issues with strip clubs does NOT mean their viewpoint trumps anyone else’s.
And, most importantly, just because a style of dance is about the gorgeous and delicious sexuality of the human body does NOT mean you need to apologize for it.
So, say it with pride.
YES, I’m a pole dancer.
YES, pole dancing started in strip clubs.
YES, it’s very sexy and gorgeous.
YES, I feel strong and sexy and deliciously connected to my body when I pole dance.
YES, I love to pole!
Pole dancing does not need to be whitewashed.
You don’t need to make up some fallacious, piece-of-crap story about the origins of pole.
Yes, pole dancing is sexual, as all dancing is sexual – as all forms of deep physical connection and mastery must be. But you don’t need to apologize for it, and you certainly don’t need to feel embarrassed by it.
So, for god’s sake, stop lying about it.
I don’t care whether your personal style is sporty or sexy, the origins of pole are the origins of pole and that is that. Pole dancing does not need you, or anyone else, to sugarcoat it – just as no one needs to cover up the origins of the tango or the waltz – both of which, by the way, were considered to be way too sexy for decent people when they first hit the scene.
So, yes, I’m a pole dancer. Yes, my art form started in strip clubs.
And, YES, I love it!
Sorry folks, but why does it matter whether or not pole dancing has anything to do with sex. If you believe people like Freud there are sexual undertones in everything from a jumbo jet landing to kiddies building sandcastles. Maybe there is some element of truth in what he says, but all that is academic and it ultimately boils down to definitions and how sex obsessed your brain happens to be. At the end of the day it is irrelevant. I found this page by accident and I’m not claiming to be an expert but taking an objective look at pole dancing, there is a tradition that goes back a long way involving dances that may or may not have sexual components. Other posters on this page have mentioned the origins of tango. This is a topic I have studied in some depth. Some sources suggest that in the early days tango was danced in brothels, with gents paying dancers to dance with them. Whereas there may be some truth in this it would seem a strange thing to do in a brothel and I therefore guess the term brothel is being interpreted in a broader sense than it would be today and that what is really meant is the equivalent of today’s gentleman’s clubs. What was being sold was therefore not so much sex in itself as femininity, sensuality and companionship. Again, this is what happens in many of today’s gentleman’s clubs, especially those where stricter rules are enforced. Whether or not that sort of thing counts as sex depends on how strict you are but in my book it isn’t.
I have to agree with Mary Ellen on every single one of the points she’s made. Just because there are similarities that were found with pole dancing and Maypole dancing (Hello? May”POLE”…when it was literally a tree!), Mallakhamb, Chinese Pole and even the traveling tents with go go dancers listed on various websites, it doesn’t mean that the publisher/author of those words meant to strip (hah!) the sensuality and sexuality out of pole dancing! The mere assumption of that claim is terrible. Because it’s just that – an assumption. Period.
I have a harder time relating to the thought of pole dancing in the Olympics than I do to the thought that pole dancing might have had some interesting connections to dances or rituals that are not outwardly pole dancing. Pole in the Olympics will almost certainly remove the sensuality from pole, in my opinion.
Claire…no I didn’t think you were attacking me. The “dont’ attack me comment was because I figured someone would read my quip about being proud of being a whore and take it the wrong way if they hadn’t heard your talk and attack me for referring to pole dancers as whores! LOL
I actually use very little gymnastics in my clases…I’m strongly in support of sensuality and the freedom to express it. Even advanced tricks, if we can’t make them look sensual, we don’t use them in our dancing, we just try them for fun and then get back to “the” dance.
I believe the more we firmly express it and refuse to back down from doing so, the more people will become use to it and it won’t seem so wrong any longer.
I guess my point is that I felt it’s been an over reaction in some ways to say that just because someone “puts crap” on their website about the similarities of Chinese and other forms with what we do in sensual dance, that doesn’t mean that we believe or are even trying to fool the general public into believing that this is where pole dancing originated or that we are denying it’s sensual roots.
I’ve probably killed this by trying to explain myself and over doing it!
Hi Mary Ellyn –
I think the point I was trying to make was simply that the undercurrent of the whole gymnastics reference thing is part of a bigger sentiment people in the community have about pole dancing as gymnastics vs pole dancing as a sensual outlet.
First of all, I’m sorry if you feel attacked. That was certainly not my intention, au contraire!
Again, I agree with you that there is room for all and I think it’s great that you incorporate all aspects of the movement into your dance instruction.
I do also think that we live in a culture that does not widely accept or embrace overt expressions of female sexuality as something that is “respectable”. One solution to this problem is to say that pole dancing has nothing to do with female sexuality – it has much more to do with gymnastics. But it’s my personal belief that pole dancers who stay true to the sensuality of the movement and embrace it’s sexiness have the ability to change the public’s perception of displays of female sexuality. They can do this by showing that a sexual expression of the female body is something to be in awe of, admired, cherished, and yes, respected. To this end, I think it actually becomes highly important for women to acknowledge and embrace the sensuality of the movement. That doesn’t mean there is no room for gymnastics type movement or that one is wrong and the other is right.
And, really, these are just my opinions.
I definitely do not think that an interest in gymnastics movement and sensual movement are mutually exclusive, nor do I think that because someone is interested in both, they are somehow “selling out” in order to be mainstreamed.
I’m glad to hear your thoughts!
So if I understand correctly, someone just references Chinese pole on their website and others perceive that they are trying to divorce sensual pole dancing from it’s strip club roots?
I agree that whitewashing of pole dancing is already happening but I don’t see that as a bad thing…I just see it as something different. As I mentioned at pole convention the two sides need to be supportive of each others choices and stop the in-fighting over which is wrong or which is better.
If you are inspired by gymnastics, then by all means, applaud Mallakhamb and Chinese pole and if you are inspired by sensuality then yell from the rooftops, I can act like a whore and be proud of it!
(Don’t attack me folks…Im quipping over a statement by Claire at the pole convention which I have repeated in my classes several times since then!)
I just don’t want people to try to tell me that because I find the connections between the two sides to be interesting that I’m denying my sensuality or trying to blur the lines in order to be accepted by “vanilla” society.
@Mary Ellyn
Hi! Wikipedia, for quite some time said that pole dancing was thought to have originated from tent dancing and the Chinese Pole. The definition has since changed and while they reference the Chinese Pole thing, and Mallikhamb, they do say that pole dancing originated in strip clubs.
I agree with you, by the way, I don’t think most people say they got into pole dancing because because of the chinese pole. And it is interesting that there is crossover.
I think that part of the subtext of the argument here is whether pole dancing should preserve its erotic, strip club roots, or shed them in favor of mainstream acceptance. The perception then that people make when they see Chinese Pole references is that somehow there is an effort to divorce the movement from its strip club roots or, as Jennifer said, “whitewash” the history of pole dancing.
What is ironic about this of course, is that so many pole dancing studios (including ones who overtly make the link betwen pole dancing and “sexy”) have all but done away with floorwork and are heavily fiocused on tricks and competitions, rather then the erotic sensuality of the dance itself. So in a way, the whitewashing of pole dancing is already happening, regardless of how we its the origins.
OK…maybe I need to make this short, so…
What website actually claims that pole dancing we do today ORIGINATED with Mallakhamb, the Maypole or Chinese pole?
Ah Jennifer! Another provocative and excellent post. The history of the pole is s murky one primarily because the history of erotic dance is also murky. It’s murky because erotic dance has been marginalized from the formal arts (such as ballet) as a result of it’s overt sexual content (and, back in the day, it’s working class affiliations). I just finished writing a post about the history of erotic dance. The pole comes from strip clubs, as do the shoes, The costumes oh, and the stripping. Now, what people are DOING on the pole might come from someplace completely different – like Chinese whatever. I think what’s important here, and what feels perhaps a little awkward, is that we try not to divorce pole movement from erotic dance simply for the sake of making others who might not like the raw sexuality of it just a little more comfortable. Because frankly,that feels a little dishonest. There is a fantastic book called Stripping In Time by Lucinda Jarrett that tells the history of erotic dance in The United States. After reading it, it’s pretty tough to argue that pole dancing came from any place other than strip clubs. That’s not to say it hasn’t changed or evolved, mind you. But to claim that pole dancing as we know it today comes from say, the Maypole, is as silly as saying that Run DMC’s music came from Bach.
To the previous poster, whom I would address directly if you had signed your name, I am one of the studio owners who put this crap on my website.
However I appreciate people who READ what I wrote. I did not say I got into pole dancing BECAUSE of the Maypole. I do not have a problem keeping my husband at home nor keeping him happy nor does he have a favorite stripper at any local club.
I DID say that I was FIRST inspired by seeing pole dancing in a strip club. I DO dance in 6 inch FMPs and sexy clothes – not only in my studio but in my home AND out in public when the mood strikes me.
However I never said that pole dancing ORIGINATED from Mallakhamb. The truth is, if anyone has ever watchedit, that there are many similarities between the moves we do on the pole and the moves done in Mallakhamb and Chinese pole. The truth is that despite the “origins” of pole dancing (which again I recognize as being in the strip clubs) that most people have no clue of the history of the Maypole or they’d be raising hell about the little girls who now do the Maypole dance.
In fact, I don’t know of ANYONE who currently teaches or enjoys pole dancing as most of us do, who actually has ever stated that the reason they got into it was because of Mallakhamb, Chinese pole or the Maypole.
I don’t know of anyone who actually believes that what we do ORIGINATED in those forms and I’ve yet to hear anyone say that they got into pole dancing because they were inspired by them either.
What’s the big deal? It’s like arguing over whether pole dancing should be sexy, ffitness, or gymnast. Personally I simply find it interesting that disciplines like Mallakhamb and Chinese pole do some of the same things we do!
Right On PoleSkivvies!!!
This topic always burns my a**. I may be a little blind or just plain STUPID to some of you all, but HONESTLY ladies, for those of you who own Studios, be realistic now please …..
For those of you who seem to like to make reference of ” The May pole or Chinese Pole & not in any relation with Strippers or Strip Clubs” let us ask you this please….
So what video or performance of Maypole and Chinese Pole did you watch that made you decide or to open a POLE DANCE STUDIO?
And when in the heck did it dawn on you to add some high heels and some boas and dance in lingerie, boyshorts, hot shorts, or even pole shorts from watching or seeing this?
What it boils down to is , Studio Owners are putting this crap on their websites in my opinion simply because it IS WHAT THE CONSERVATIVE HOUSEWIFE WOULD RATHER READ when getting information to take a class, rather than putting an article or advertisement on their websites trying to draw customers in by saying something like
” WANNA KEEP YOUR HUSBAND AT HOME AND KEEP HIS PAYCHECK IN HIS POCKET? LEARN TO DANCE LIKE HIS FAVORITE STRIPPER AT THE LOCAL STRIP CLUB”!
@Fern – Interesting points! I do think there is a difference between origin and influences, though. Lots of forms of dancing with or on a pole have been around for ages, but it wasn’t until the stripping variant got popular that pole as we now know it came into being.
I disagree.
Yes, pole dancing has grown out from the dancing done in strip clubs. True.
But that’s not the ONLY place it has its roots!
We have the opportunity and the right to create this great new sport and art of pole dancing… and to make it into whatever we want. That’s not to say we pretend it never involved sex. No.
But I think it’s a bit of stretch to say pole dancing is ONLY about sex and that’s all there is to it.
The modern day poler can choose to take influence from wherever he or she pleases. That may be strip clubs, it may be the circus tissu and trapeze, it may be the may pole.
It may be chinese pole, it may be mallakhamb, it may be figure skating, it may be breaking dance – the list goes ON and ON and ON!
Even the floor work stuff – some dancers can move away from in the traditional style of sexy movement in earthy, grinding, womanly way – and instead perform something beautiful and graceful in a different way, by taking influence from contemporary dance, for example.
I think it’s just as crazy to say pole dancing’s roots come entirely out of stripping as it is to pretend there was never any affiliation with the clubs at all.
There’s no such thing as black and white when it comes to dance OR history. And definitely not when it comes to history of dance!
What you see in strip clubs IS very different to what you see in most pole classes. Guess it depends what you teach, in my classes, sometimes what you see on the pole are exactly the same moves you would see in the strip clubs, in my area, anyway.
Sorry…I forgot to bring this point up.
I reference Maypole dancing in my history of the pole ONLY because most people today think it’s about little girls in frilly dresses hanging onto ribbons and circling the Maypole but actuall have no idea of what the original Maypole dance was all about and that the pole was a phallic symbol – yet they don’t get upset to see children doing a Maypole dance.
OK…I’m going to bit the bullet here and slightly take on the other side.
I see no harm in looking at the history of the pole in various forms of fitness and dance and making COMPARISONS. I find it quite interesting! I’ve seen many tricks and transitions in Chinese pole, and even in Mallakhamb, that are the same as we use in our style of pole dancing and I often wonder…who did it first and did someone else learn from them? Or did we all come to the same move independently at different times?
I refer to the “history of pole” in dance on my own website. While I do not claim that what we do today originated in Mallakhamb, I point out that much of what we do IS similar to it and Chinese and other dance forms which use “a pole”.
I don’t deny that pole dancing is sexy…heck, look at the name of my business. I’m just as supportive of the sexy side of pole dancing and anyone who knows me knows I’m very supportive of open sensuality as a person chooses.
I don’t deny that pole dancing as we know it today is strongly affiliated with the clubs, I see nothing wrong with that, but I also believe that what we do on the pole is about as far from most strip club acts as it is from Mallakhamb.
Yes, we all got into pole dancing because we were inspired by the use of it in strip clubs. Years ago, I was first impressed by pole dancing at a strip club myself and that was how I became interested in it. However, years ago, what you saw in strip clubs barely resembled what I found being done by Fawnia and the other leaders of the industry when I checked it out. Nowadays, with pole becoming mainstream, you can often see more extensive pole work in the clubs, but it wasn’t that way in the early part of this century when I began pole dancing!
I happen to believe that all forms of dance can be sensual…even folk dancing. Dancing isn’t done to draw the attention to the performers eyes…it’s all about “look at my body and enjoy watching how it moves” but then I may be an oddity because I’ve found many Chinese pole acts to be sensual as well.
I do not claim that what I teach in class originated in Mallakhamb, but I also do not claim that what we do in class is what you will see in a strip club either…not unless you’re lucky enough to find a club with a good pole dancer! So I don’t deny other “uses” of the pole in dance and fitness and I don’t see why one would be opposed to doing so for the fun of it.
I have no problem saying that what I do is highly sensual, often sexual, and f*ck off if you don’t approve! However, I don’t claim to do what strippers do either. My pole can be an aerobics pole, a gynmast pole, a dance pole…but it’s only a stripper pole if I take my clothes off.
And sometimes I enjoy doing that too!
@Jamie – tango is from Argentina and was originally a sexy, working class dance that was very frowned upon. I’ve heard different things about its connection with brothels, so I’m not really sure about that.
@Lia – Glad to hear someone is exploring this. The bit about it being related to pole vaulting is too funny!
I presented an academic paper at Glasgow University on the misuse of historical claim on this very subject. However, there IS a slightly less tenuous link to travelling fairs where there was a tent where girls would dance (an early fore-runner to the strip club) and girls would use the tent pole, apparently in a very similar way to basic pole dance (although one presumes hardcore spins on wooden poles would be unlikely). In addition, in the 1960′s, Gogo dancers similarly used bars of cages to bump n grind. In fact, Mallakamb and Chinese pole, rather than being the origins of pole dancing in strip clubs, have been reflected upon by dancers trying to explore new tricks and have become inspirational for many. The whole Maypole thing is just laughable, as is the claim that pole dancing is somehow related to pole vaulting. Yes, I really did find that on someone’s website.
I think I read somewhere that the Tango originated from the brothels in Russia, thats how the working girls used to entertain the…….soldiers I think they were, while they waited.
Well said. There’s a pole school near to me that says: “Pole dance as we teach it originates not from exotic dancing but from Chinese Pole performance which is performed by both men and women! It involves strength, determination and agility to master and when combined with dance creates a fluid, sensual performance which has been taken advantage of by many exotic dance clubs around the world.”
WTF!? Since when does Chinese pole include fireman spins and floorwork?
I say:
Come and strap your high heels on and let’s have FUN and be SEXY
Grasping at straws – the justification for ‘pole doesn’t have sexual orgins at all!!!’ gets sillier and sillier.
It’s not anything to be ashamed of!
I couldn’t agree with you more!
I love the sensual og sexual part of pole dance. Without it I would simply NOT pole dance. It’s as easy as that.
LOL!! I completely agree. I think it is so funny when I hear pole dancers and instructors say,”It’s not about sex” then they bust out in a bra top, touchin themselves, makin sexy faces, and spreading their legs. It ain’t ballet honey. I love it! You go girl!
@Kira – Yea, I am given to a bit of hyperbole.
Although I don’t believe “all dancing is sexual” I completely agree that pole dancing is a beautifully sensual (& even sexual) art-form. Ain’t no shame in that! I don’t think we positively celebrate or own our sensuality enough. I love that pole dancing has evolved from strip clubs and into gyms and fitness studios and mainstream TV around the world.