Poledance
“When you’re hanging upside down in your knee pit or balancing your own bodyweight with just one arm, it’s obvious that all those things you thought were impossible are not so distant after all..”
Background
Poledance is a beautiful and physically demanding sport. Relatively young, in an exciting phase of development and change, it uses many elements from gymnastics and acrobatics, especially the aerial discipline Chinese pole. The Indian sport “mallakhamb” show striking similarities to poledance as well. As late as the 90’s, what we consider to be modern poledance began to be taught in a fitness context. However, it was not until the beginning of the 21st century that the sport got its true impact, after which it has spread to countless numbers of gyms and dance studios around the world.
Today, pole is undoubtedly in an explosive growth phase. Worldwide competitions are organized and performances fill large theaters. In particular, the bar has been raised enormously in recent years. The sport is progressing in furious speed, and what was considered impressive a few years ago is considered beginners level today.
Exercise
To truly master poledance requires persistent training with the aim of acquiring the necessary strength, agility, discipline, stamina and balance. Not to mention creativity and a lot of courage! But unlike traditional aerial acrobatics, poledance is unique in its accessibility: it can be easily practiced at home and requires no prior knowledge or special abilities. Therefore, do not let the acrobatic aspect scare you. The reason that poledance has been recognized as such a rewarding form of training is just because it can be practiced on many different levels.
A lot of people testify that they perceive exercise as something unpleasant and painful. They suffer through two spinning classes a week and hope it will be a long time before next time. But that’s not because exercise itself is boring or difficult, but because they have not found their own training form yet!
With poledance, beginners often express their overwhelming enthusiasm: it’s easy to get stuck. Suddenly there is a certain pride in aching muscles, and you carry your bruises like medals. There is no time for “boring” – you concentrate too hard to keep your arms and legs in check, to nail the new trick, to get the flow and transitions. You wont notice that your arms feel like spaghetti is first notice until the class is over.