Sexy.

Right, I know, I know. Pole dancing isn't stripping. As a community we have spent so much time, especially in the past three years, trying to distance what we do with a pole from what strippers do. I think Natasha Wang winning the USPDF championship is a marker of how much progress we have made, and where we are headed. She is an artist. Jenyne, our first champion, amazed us with her acrobatics and strength. Alethea reminded us that it's okay to be sexy and fluid. That sensual floorwork still has a place. Now Natasha will will bring pole into the art world, elevate it to the level of ballet and modern dance. But I feel like we might be sterilizing pole a little too much as we introduce classes for kids and push for inclusion in the Olympics.

Pole dance is still sexy for me. It's impossible to separate the art from the dance and the dance from the sensuality of the female form twisting and swirling around the pole. Dancers like Alethea still make an important point. Pole, like salsa, like tango, is passionate. It doesn't have to be about platforms and tiny bikinis either, or hair tosses and shimmying.

A good pole dance is like a good drive on a beautiful road. Stay with me here - I'll explain.
In the moment, everything should be a blur, your pulse quickened, feeling the roar of the engine or your own breath in your lungs. It is a fluid, strong dance with your metallic partner, be it pole or chassis. Feeling the pleasure of a perfect, seamless transition like a seamless downshift. The g forces are the same sweet tingle, carving circles around the corner or around the pole. Controlled, collected, deliberate movements. On the good days, it feels like flying.



Sexy is control. Sexy is skill and passion and power and sensuality. Sexy doesn't need to be flashy. It can be beautiful bare feet, an arched back and a slow smile. Pole dancers need not be strippers to be sexy, but conversely, need not be asexual fitness-focused acrobats to gain an audience's respect. Some dancers are arguing we need to "bring the sexy back" to pole. I think we just need to slow down and feel the passion in our own movements.