Why pole dance is for everyone

Discover the rising trend of pole dancing for fitness, strength, and self-expression, embraced by all ages and genders.

It is six in the morning. Chennai is just waking up. But the spacious, well-lit studio called The Pole Camp on Harrington Road is already abuzz with activity. Students of all ages, from 12 to late 40s, are hovering about the studio to start class. After the stretches, warm up routines and conditioning, they learn new tricks and dance with their “partner” —  the pole. The day begins by defying gravity, walking, dancing and flying around the pole. For an hour they become illusionists, contorting themselves, spinning and becoming one with it.

For Nikita S Ganesh, a student of class VIII who learns the art form at dancer and pole artiste Anusha Swamy’s studio The Pole Camp, it all started with a workshop for children. “I had immense fun that day. That got me hooked,” she says. That was two years ago, when she was 10. “I have been doing pole dancing for two years now. It makes me feel stronger and more confident. My mom and sister also learn this art form ,” smiles the 12-year-old.

Pole dance is the new kid on the block in the fitness realm. It has something for everyone.

Years ago, when Anusha enrolled for a pole dance class while on a vacation in Melbourne, little did she realise that she would be starting a whole new movement in Chennai.

“I was in Melbourne, on vacation. I wanted to see if I could be a student once again and saw that a pole dance class was happening nearby. I wanted to see how much I could observe and absorb,” says Anusha who started learning classical dance when she was six. It was in her late 20s that pole art entered her life. “The class was so liberating and I felt peace,” she recalls. And even after she came back to India, the thought never left her. “I was still thinking about pole dance,” she says. And then her best friend gifted her a pole and the rest, shall we say, has been history. So far, Anusha has taught over 500 students. Around 80 students regularly attend her classes.

Nupur Chaudhuri, a pole artiste and coach based in Pune got introduced to pole when she went to Australia to study for a Master’s in Journalism and Mass Communication at Griffith University, Gold Coast. Fascinated by the acrobatics, at a club, she decided to learn pole someday.

“I was awestruck, seeing them hanging upside down etc. The pole artistes made it look so beautiful but there was so much work behind it. I said to myself that one day I will learn it,” she says. She was 21 then. And several years later, post her stint in journalism, and marriage, she took up pole, and set up her own studio, The Pole School India (formerly called 4Poles Pune) in Pune in December 2019. “I still remember my first spin and how I fell in love with my body, myself and pole. I immersed myself in learning and attended pole camps abroad,” she says.