~guest post by Judit Gueth. www.juditgueth.com

When most people hear about pole dancing, they automatically think of smoky night clubs, alcohol and dubious entertainment. I never really gave it a lot of thought until…

Last weekend I received an invitation from a friend to attend a pole dancing class she’d won at a silent auction for herself and a small group of friends.

The class was amazing, but the fun started even before that, when I told my friends about it. The comments were priceless. Of course there were a couple of (male) friends teasing me about taking up a new profession or a part-time job.

The class was held downtown Toronto at Aradia Fitness – a studio specializing in teaching the art of pole dancing. We started by practicing our sexy walk, body waves, and walking around the pole, and as the class progressed we were also introduced to some floor work and basic spins around the pole.

Our instructor put together a simple routine that started off with some sensuous hip circles facing the studio wall. Using our sexy walk spiced up with hair tosses we made our way to the pole. While holding on to the pole, we did a few slow body waves, leading with our upper bodies as we slowly stood up, walked around the pole and hooked our legs on it as we did another body wave. For highlights we did a few pole spins forward, and one backward and some leg kicks. It looked great with our hair flying as we moved!

With a lot of dance background I found this teaser class very manageable. I’ve always loved to hang from monkey bars and to do dance tricks, but even if you don’t have that experience, pole dancing at a beginner level is a moderate workout. We didn’t warm up as part of the class, but I think it’s a good idea to do some stretches beforehand, as the routine involves leg lifts and bending backwards.

We also got to see a demonstration of more advanced moves that rather resembled gymnastics. You definitely have to build up to that, so don’t worry; you won’t have to hang upside down on your first class. Overall, pole dancing looked like an amazing way to keep your arms and abs strong and your body toned and flexible.

To watch a video example of pole dancing by a professional instructor, see below.

Judit Gueth (shown at left) is a designer based in Toronto. Her colourful rug, wallpaper and decorative pillow designs are inspired by nature, fashion, folk and fine art.

Visit Judit’s website at www.juditgueth.com.
GGS note: Judit created the wonderful graphic art of the Get Strong Girls on our bio pages. If you need graphic art, we highly recommend her.  Check them out!

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Photo of poledancers at top: courtesy of katielips/flickr