Tricks of the Trade:

Pole Dancing - The New Fitness

By Fawnia Mondey-Dietrich

Straight from the adult showrooms, women worldwide are learning how to striptease, for more then the reason of impressing their partner with a dance.   Pole dancing and Striptease is the new Pilates and Yoga.   As one of the worlds first pole dancing instructors I have seen the worlds view on exotic dancing change from negative to positive. In fact, women especially are being inspired by the bodies that flaunt, and for good reason. A good striptease artist will showcase her confidence, flexibility, strength, and cardio, all while exuding beauty.

American striptease nurtured its roots in carnivals and Burlesque theatres. As the United States economy grew out of the depression from 1932 to the fifties, the striptease art and business flourished. There was a change however, during the sixties and seventies, with changing cultural expressions of sexuality, it degraded into a less profitable, more depressing status. During the eighties and the technology boom of the nineties, those working as exotic dancers enjoyed a more widespread acceptance and better working conditions .

What is striptease?

A performance, as in a burlesque act, in which a person slowly removes clothing, usually to musical accompaniment.

Or is it:

A modern form of exercise designed to enhance sex appeal and boost confi­dence while improving muscle tone, flexibility, and cardio efficiency.

The definition of striptease has certainly evolved, and the act was featured on Oprah, on more then one occasion. The sexy walk, the pole dance, and striptease and lap dance now has a place in every American woman's workout regime. In 1998 I produced the world's first instructioNude Ambition l pole dancing DVD. 'Pole Work' volume 1 reached the hands of many influential women that saw the big picture. Today in Holland you can find pole dancing classes as a regular curriculum choice in the country's top fitness facilities.   With Europe being approximately three years ahead, is this a sign of things to come in the United States? If you are laughing at the thought, take a moment and realize that you are in a time and place that pole fitness classes are coming to fitness facilities around you. In fact by 2007 you may want to do a search for locations in your area. The USA is catching on - fast, with Los Angeles, New York, Florida, and Las Vegas, being pioneering areas. Canada however was the true birth location of the world's first exotic dance school:   Skyline Services, located specifically in Victoria and Vancouver, BC.

In 1994 when I began my career as an exotic dancer, and opened Skyline Services, my vision was to inspire exotic dancers to be talented performers on stage, using the stage poles within their dance to showcase the beauty of the female form in movement. With my personal l experience of losing 30lbs from exotic dancing I achieved what many women are looking for. Pole dancing, combined with striptease is the ideal workout as it leaves the participant feeling exhilarated, and sexy, and that extends into other areas of their lives. You won't find this in your every day fitness class, until the every day fitness class is pole dancing!