This needs to be said: I believe pole dance is a means for self love, self discovery, manifestation of goals, worshipping the earth, and engaging in rebellion.
The type of pole dancing I’m talking about is improvisational, personally expressive and meditative. It is like this: breathe. Let the emotions locked up in your body run through you like water. Breathe. Feel the sound waves of the music spiraling through the air molecules around you, flow through you as waves of feeling. Allow the vibrations of the music you hear to speak for you, speak to you, and speak through you. Allow them to heal you and help you express.
In the upcoming series of writings, I will be breaking down several aspects of pole dancing that are not often discussed by mainstream thought. I will mention them here in no particular order. I know firsthand there’s a significant journey of learning self love and self appreciation. There’s also a sexual revolution and a “dancing for yourself” aspect. There is of course a feminine movement pillar to this dance form that makes it oh-so-delectable. Who could forget the sensual movement and the pleasure exploration element at the very core. For goddess sakes ~ there’s a RITUAL component that is powerful beyond words. In all due respect and yumminess, very few have experienced the permission to be circular and move sideways and linger in the present moment in such an authentic, curious way. When you pole dance with this intention, you experience a meditative breathing and embodiment of the present that is very unique to pole dance and sensual movement. In this, you are engaging in an act of rebellion. Rebellion against the “go go go” and “no time for feelings” mode of Western life.
I’ll be delving into each of these ideas soon. Yes of course there’s a raunchy piece, and although this is the old school category for pole dance, it is such a small facet of the whole when considering these other elements I oftentimes forget about the common place association with overt porn and toothsome visuals. I don’t think it’s a gross overstatement to say we’re all sexual beings, and raunchiness is our right. But is that all we have to say with our bodies? Hardly. Brace for it: there’s the full range of emotions and the full range of attraction from “fuck off” to “give me more”. We all, each one of us, man or woman, have this within our bodies and ourselves. From stop to go and from green to red on a moment by moment basis.
With this permission to feel and be fully expressed, we are no longer willing to accept a repression of ourselves, our desires, our cravings, dreams or goals. We’re not interested in anarchy – we believe in the laws of nature and the laws of mankind. We are not aiming to break these laws, or develop an addiction to self indulgence (oh yes, the mere idea of self love and expression was treated as heresy, satanism, or witchcraft in centuries past……very dangerous stuff indeed). But we DO aim for self mastery over the process from seed spark to manifestation, from urge to action, from impulse to embodiment. Of course we are pole dancers. We are human beings who want to be fully present in the moment we are in, fully taking in a sound-vibrational snapshot, and fully moving as our authentic selves with curiosity, respect, and self love. We choose to dance and spin and revolve around a central axis. We engage in confidence of a childlike quality – confidence that who we are and what we desire is ours for the taking. Whether in the dance space or in the bedroom (with consent of course), as well as in LIFE. Our aim is to own our feelings and contain them in our dancing limbs, hearts and souls. Pole dance is a form of ecstatic dance ~ which has been celebrated for thousands of years by cultures around the globe.
And now the crux. This internal universe is of course a reflection of the universe around us. With each dance we become more in tune with the world. With each song we connect to the subtle vibrations of nature in all its wisdom. Spinning like the earth on a central axis, a pole dancer awakens. Every temple that was built, every pyramid, every May Pole and every tree are representations of a pole of awakening connecting “heaven”, earth, and the “underworld”. Ascending the pole like healers in centuries past on a spiritual quest, pole dancers connect what we find there to the world around us. Communicating our new found perspective to our loved ones, we share this awakening with them. We encourage them to feel it too. This is the main idea: the pole dancers of today are carrying forward a tradition of ritual, symbolism and knowledge that has been with us since pre-history. Every time we dance around and on the pole, we are communing with that earthly power. Ancient traditions have celebrated this for centuries. By honoring our bodies, we also honor the earth, nature, and the Universe. When we honor the earth, we choose to protect the earth.