Discovering yourself on a pole

The image of pole dancing is changing, moving from stripclubs to dance studios and fitness centres.

Actress Lindsay Lohan practices it every day. Oprah Winfrey tried to do it on her show. Kate Hudson says she owes her luscious curves to this new fitness routine. Experts say it is a great cardio-vascular workout, that it increases flexibility and improves the posture.

However, for pole dancing enthusiasts the world over, this is not the end of the story. When they sensuously circle the pole (you can choose from a wide and wicked range online), undulating their hips and arching their backs, the workout becomes secondary.

For that one hour, they transform into wild, untamed creatures perfectly in tune with their feminine needs and feminine bodies "" they become goddesses with poles.

Which is why, across the world, pole dancing is trading its former image of strippers in seedy dark nightclubs for the respectability of dance studios, fitness centres and kitchens (yes even kitchens). London newspapers recently reported that a doctor there even prescribed pole dancing lessons to a patient suffering from depression.

"Pole dancing involves a lot of touching and caressing of one's own body," says Bangalore-based Lourd Vijay, who's planning to start organised classes in pole dancing in the Garden City in July, "so it allows you to express your sensuality and makes you feel very good!"

Two years ago, Lourd Vijay went to Singapore and found that exotic dance workouts (which include pole dance, lap dance and, hold your breath, striptease) were the rage there.

Best known for being one of the first to introduce salsa in India, he got interested in these dance forms too. "So I attended a course, but was quite sure that Indians were way too conservative for similar classes to take off here," says he.

But he was wrong. "When I performed a pole dance at a friend's party in Delhi as a joke, all the women who saw me went wow!" he exclaims. At their behest, he did a seven-day workshop on pole dancing and was pleasantly surprised at the interest it generated.

"There were 32 participants and so many more were interested," he says, "everybody had a lot of fun!" Since then, he's been giving private lessons to ladies interested in learning as well as training women teachers in his dance studio to teach pole dance.

Next on his agenda are regular women's-only pole dance classes in Bangalore from July onwards, and regular workshops in Delhi and Mumbai as well (the next one in Delhi is slated for September).

"Most of the women I've taught in workshops and privately are between 25e and 35 "" some come for the exercise but most come just to feel good about themselves. And if they can spice up their relationships in the process, it's a bonus!"

But it's not easy, risking life and limb around a slippery metal pole. Pole dancing exercises every part of the body "" sliding up and down the pole works the quadriceps and glutes; holding oneself against the pole works the biceps while the continuous hip movement works wonders for the waist.

However, unlike other more rigorous dance forms, pole dancing can be learnt and practised even by people who are not in top condition. "The dance is low on impact, but high on intensity," says Lourd Vijay, "and the beauty of it is that it can be tailored to a person's requirements." It isn't, though, something that you can pick up easily at home. You need to warm up properly for starters.

"At the beginning of every class, I make my students warm up neck downwards," says Vijay. "In fact, I'd definitely recommend classes with a trained instructor to anyone interested in learning pole dancing "" for it can be pretty damaging if not done the right way, or without warming up properly," he adds.

The results, within weeks of pole dancing, are there for everyone to see. There's increased muscle definition and toning all over, especially in the arms, thighs, and buttocks. Each session with the pole can burn between 250-350 calories and boost one's confidence and self-image as well.

Take a look at some posts from members on the Striptease and Pole dancing website www.sfactor.com "" "It's fun, it's not like I'm exercising, I could see myself doing this everyday after work just to unwind. I'm hooked!!" says one. Another new member says, "I never felt beautiful working out at the gym. After just taking one (pole dance) class I started to walk differently and I became more aware of my body..."

The one thing that shines through most of the posts is confidence in their own femininity: one member says she was drawn to pole dancing because of "...the idea of releasing my inner sexpot and getting to know my erotic creature".

Interestingly, hardly any members say that they're learning to pole dance to please their partners or to spice up otherwise boring evenings. In fact, one of them actually writes, "If hubby is lucky, I may dance for him someday..."

Whether poor hubby gets lucky or not, there's little doubt that fitness and exercise regimens have never been (and certainly never looked) more erotic.

Move over, boring gyms and aerobics lessons "" and welcome to the world of adult fitness, or as a pole dance fan said, "to the world of the grown and the sexy..."