We often hang labels on places, events, and people's actions. At the same time, not every one of us has an objective right to do this. After all, if you have never tried something, or were not somewhere to experience it, how you can be the judge? The other side of this coin lies in the fact when we have a negative bias, we rarely allow ourselves to destroy the stereotypes, even when our views differed from the conventional. This happened to me recently and I want to correct it.

In society, and in my mind, pole dance seems somewhat perverse, on the verge of indecency. It is believed that this type of activity is directly related to the striptease only. I can say with confidence it is nothing like this!

Pole dance is a colossal exercise for all groups of muscle. This is a complex set of gymnastic elements, acrobatics, body flexibility, stretching and tenacity despite the pain. Everyone who wants to have a good body shape is choosing the most effective way of training. I am lucky with my genes and constitution of my body, so I am never particularly fond of regular exercise. Despite this, every girl wants to have a tight belly, impressive-looking biceps and triceps, and slender legs. I started going to a fitness group training and periodically engaged in City Park outside gym. It is obvious that I quickly lose interest from repetitive activities with not too obvious result.

A couple of months ago, I came to the Body Motion studio (in Metairie) for pole dance class. At first sight, I was charmed by my instructor Stix. His body is one big muscle, and everything he does on the pole is a magical art. It's amazing how easy pole dance looks, when a professional does it, and how much it is impossible to repeat by yourself. I had had had no physical training when I began to attend these lessons. My first attempts were completely unsuccessful. I could not even climb on the pole, while in my middle school I had climbed great on the rope. Then I was very surprised when after the second class I started to do some simple elements. After the fifth lesson, I could make a number of more complex elements. It makes me happy, but looking at my coach I certainly understand that there is no limit to improvement.

For me, the attractiveness of this sport lies on the surface: it is a hard workout for the whole body and the results are observable, which makes you continue. You can raise the bar, do abs or push-ups over and over again, while I hang upside down on a metal stick fight my fear, vestibular apparatus and the pain of constant bruises. You can say that it is my choice and I would agree with that! My stereotype of pole dancing was not just shattered, but turned into a fascinating hobby and complex physical and mental challenge. Moreover, to achieve the technical performance of an element is only a small piece of cake, but to combine the elements together with movement and to make a musical composition or even a dance this is the level of skill I will strive for!