Working the Pole: A Disappearing Art?

11/29/2010 6:21:46 PM

Sophie is one of my favorite dancers. To be honest, she's not nearly the prettiest girl in the room and she's not the most engaging dancer to talk to. Now don't misunderstand me.....she is pretty and she is nice, but those aren't the areas where she outshines the others. The first time I saw her I was at a local club with two of my friends. We were sitting at the rail after having watched 3 or 4 average dancers give average performances. They would come up, move around, take off their clothes and then collect their tips at the end. Not one of them really appeared to be too interested in being up there, and I actually don't blame them. In today's strip club we all know that the real money is made giving personal dances. The money they make on stage is usually a small percentage of their overall take.
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When Sophie came walked on the stage, she struck me as yet another average dancer..... until she walked over to the pole. The pole. Every club has one. They're golden and shiny, sturdy and inviting, and yet they often get ignored. What Sophie did next can only be described as living art. As if becoming one with the pole, she sensually climbed up to the very top and wrapped her legs over it's golden surface. I wish I had the words to describe her movements as she slowly twirled down the pole holding on with only her legs. Her curves were accentuated by her taught grasp and her breasts hung perfectly in the air as she slowly descended down to the floor. Again she went to the top of the pole, using surprising strength that you wouldn't think would come from such a lithesome body. She slowly worked her way down, the gold glow from the pole reflecting off of her skin. She spent some time away from the pole too, making sure all the rail-sitters got some attention. I think I'd have been just as happy if she had spent all her time on the pole. Her body moved in perfect rhythm with the music and I can remember not wanting the song to end.
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The ability to work the pole is the talent I appreciate most in a dancer. Sure, lap dances are a great part of the strip club experience, but a naked woman who knows how to slink down a pole is pure virtuosity. Sophie is by no means unique. On an average Saturday night you will usually find at least one dancer who can really deliver an acrobatic performance, but it seems like in the past you could find three or four. I guess the trend has gone more and more towards focusing on lap dances, with the floor show suffering for it. I always make sure to tip Sophie well for her floor show, and I notice that other customers do as well.

15 comments

Latest

runnoft

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14 years ago

While dancing on stage is not where the girls make their money, the smart ones see it as an "advertisement" to let the customers know what is to come if they take them back to the VIP room.

dw.buck

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14 years ago

yupp i agree runnoft 100% the pole is advertisement for future dances adn money. i love it when the strippers can put on a show on the pole.

edepsiz

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14 years ago

Dancing on the stage and using the pole is becoming a lost art for sure. Most dancers just slowly strip and show off their goodies without really dancing at all. I love it when I see a dancer who knows how to use the poll!

jackslash

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14 years ago

Several dancers I know have told me they fell while doing pole acrobatics. So now they only twirl around the pole and don't climb it.

Digitech

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14 years ago

I think this is an emerging art, not disappearing.

Pole dancing is starting to go mainstream. You can find classes and lessons on it all over the place now, it's getting very popular.

Dudester

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14 years ago

Being a onetime dance instructor, I prefer girls who can actually dance. For me, it's not about the pole, but the girl (not wearing those ridiculous platforms) who can match Julianne Hough in dancing ability.

xxxnycexecparty

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14 years ago

Many of the newer clubs built in last few years are no longer installing poles. So dancers are adapting accordingly. So when they visit a club that has a pole on stage, which may be an older club without remodel, the girl is used to not using the pole and therefore ignores it. I seem to notice many patrons complain that they miss the poles.
http://www.centerfoldstrips.com

Tucker40

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14 years ago

Agree that pole dancing is going mainstream. Several women's fitness clubs feature pole dancing and instructors who cut their teeth stripping can tour the fitness clubs and make money performing/dancing.

MondoGoGo

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14 years ago

I can't help but observe that when a dancer is really good at working the pole, that is to say that she appears to be worshiping it as she strokes it and caresses it while slowly circling it, that she is demonstrating her "skills" with that other more important pole and, as others have already offered up, advertising that skill set. I my self love it when a dancer is skilled at worshiping the pole and have seldom been disappointed by tipping those girls handsomely.

MondoGoGo

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14 years ago

bmoreshowgirl

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14 years ago

I definitely enjoy spending a lot of time on the pole at work. The unfortunate thing, from my perspective, is that a good majority of our guests are unaware of proper tipping etiquette. Dancers are much more motivated to actually put on a better show when those sitting at the tip rail are actually tipping. I've even seen girls sit down in the middle of the stage for the duration of their sets because their logic says, "why bother?". It's a vicious cycle. Pole work (and floor work, to a lesser extent) can be rather physically taxing. A lot of girls get lazy when they don't feel that their dancing is appreciated.

Personally, I see my stage set as a reflection of how much I've improved as a dancer since I started out. I take pride in it... So, I can see how a lot of strippers don't even bother if they're not being tipped. If they ARE being tipped and they're not trying to impress guests on stage, they're either lazy or they simply can't dance. :)

Moose42

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14 years ago

Natalia at the Hustler Club in Baltimore is the best pole dancer I have seen yet. She will climb to the top and slowly slide down. Everyone else just grabs it with their hands and bend over or lean against it. Natalia is the model of pole work.

Knightline

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14 years ago

Yes, I'm another fan of talented pole dancers. But I'd kill to see Julianne Hough dance in a strip club - with or without the damn pole!!

inno123

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14 years ago

First of all polie dancing is hardly dying. It is in fact going mainstream and international.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/13…

As to why it seems to be becoming something of a lost art in strip clubs I have several theories.

1. Clubs installing video screens showing sports or porno. If a girl is putting out a lot of energy and half the audience is staring off at something else, who wouldn't quickly figure why bother?

2. Fear of injury. It might be a personal fear or a club rule.

3. Other girls working the audience. This is kind of like the video screen problem. If the dancer is putting out a lot of effort and every guy in the audience is looking at the girl sitting next to him and touching him the 'why bother' factor gets quite high.

4. The fact that it has gone mainstream. It isn't a performance form only restricted to clubs. If you want to see an example of really amazing pole dancing YouTube has plenty.

joker44

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14 years ago

Reading this blog reminded me of an amazing pole dancer at a local KCMO club . Hands down, it's the best pole work I've ever seen.

She was so good that the DJ gave her a special intro, guys lined the tip rail and crowded close to the stage, waitresses and dancers stopped to watch, and LD activity slowed down. She usually did three different sets during the night each to her specifically chosen music -- sometimes fast and frenetic, sometimes slow and moody. After each performance she received a loud round of applause from patrons AND staff, often a standing ovation. And lots of tips. This at a club where patrons rarely clapped for stage dancers. Other strippers voiced genuine admiration for her skills.

What made her performance memorable? Well, first it was more than pole dancing -- it was sheer athleticism, a combo of Olympic gymnastics and ballet. Such as holding the pole with both hands and stretching her body away from the pole at a ninety degree angle, like a pennant waving in a stiff breeze. She'd then rotate 360 degrees around the pole and twist and position her body into unbelievable positions -- all in time with the music. She had many moves and positions just like a ballet dancer and would often string them together in a different sequence for later sets.

Yeah, she got naked during the set but even those routines that weren't high on sexual explicitness were entertaining just for their athleticism and inventiveness. If she'd have kept on her skimpy costume she could have performed the same pole dance routine in more public venues.

And yes, she gave very good LDs, some of those pole dance skills made her laps very pleasurable.

Sadly, for us, she moved out of state to another SC to make more money.

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