The Thrill of the Pole

The Thrill of the Pole

I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical about the idea that New Burlesque—or any other form of public striptease-- could be empowering for women. But my daughter is a passionate proponent of this art form, so when she suggested we catch a show at Ivan Kane’s Forty Deuce in Los Angeles, I was curious to see what she found so fascinating.

My image of burlesque was beautiful young women doing dance routines while removing gorgeous sequined costumes. So when a lovely young woman came out on stage in a royal blue long-sleeved sequined top and matching ankle-length skirt, slit up the front to reveal a provocative bit of gold fringe, my expectations were met. What surprised me was the playfulness of her routine and the fact that even after she’d stripped down, she was still as covered up as if she were on a local beach.

At first, I was impressed simply because she could prance around the narrow bar in 6-inch heels. But as the show continued, I was even more taken with her agility and strength, especially when she hung upside down from the ropes. By this point, she was in a glittery pastie bra and white bikini bottom with a fringe “tail,” which bobbed up and down as she moved to the beat of the drum. I could never have done that, not even when I was 18 years old. The audience was entranced, but most importantly, the dancer herself seemed to be having a very good time.

The next day, I had the opportunity to delve a little deeper into the art of the striptease with an introductory class at the S-Factor in Los Angeles. That’s “S” as in stripper. As it happened, I was one of the oldest women in this class, and probably the least fit. To my relief, the room was dimly lit with no mirrors. The instructor explained that the absence of mirrors was meant to encourage us to focus on feeling good in our own skin, rather than on how we might look to others.

We arranged our mats on the floor in an oval around the three shiny poles in the center of the room and introduced ourselves. As we followed the teacher and her assistant through the strenuous workout targeting hips, buttocks, legs and abs, they encouraged us to play with our own hair, touch our faces, stroke our legs. Some of the exercises were variations on yoga postures, like hip circles combined with the bridge pose or cat and cow with a circling torso motion, but rather than holding the position, we moved through it in slow-motion, which added to the challenge.

The 45-minute or so workout ended with learning the S-Walk, a languid movement of crossed legs and dragging toes, perfect for approaching the pole. For our first pole trick, we held on with both hands, hooked one ankle around it, picked up the other foot and spun down. “No firemen!,” the instructor admonished, explaining that we were not to hug the pole tightly but to maintain a certain distance. It looked simple, but while the other women seemed to catch on quickly, I could not get my back foot off the floor, which meant that I was painfully pulling my wrists down the pole on each attempt. Finally, near the end of the class, my persistence paid off and I was able to mount and spin around the pole. My classmates applauded. Once I figured out how to spin, I didn’t want to stop. Even as the class drew to a close, I was sneaking in a couple of extra spins and wondering where I could get a pole of my own.

Although I learned how to mount the pole, spin down it, and dismount with cocked-hip first, I didn’t particularly feel like a stripper-in-training. Instead, I felt like a thrilled 10-year-old who has finally learned to do a cartwheel and can’t wait to show it off, which I did as soon as my daughter arrived to pick me up at the end of class.

Empowerment takes many forms.