From burlesque to flutter: How dances with a “bad reputation” have become an occupation for everyone
Let's be honest - The pylon is used to be considered the main attribute of strip bars, and they call it in the local latitudes, as a rule, not as a pylon, but as a good old pole. The reputation of the vulgar dance was fixed to the hard one, and the queen of burlesque Dita von Teese is still viewed as a strange object with a mixture of delight and condemnation. However, in a society that suffers from all shades of everyday xenophobia, dances with a pronounced "sexual" subtext are gradually turning from a reason for slating to the rapidly growing sector of the world fitness industry.
Russia has registered the Russian Federation of Sport on a Pylon and Workout, the Federation of Pointed Acrobatics of Russia, the Interregional Public Organization of pole dance and fitness. The finalists of the all-Russian pylon sport competitions compete in world championships, fans of strip and strip plastics hold championships throughout the country and go to show themselves abroad, and burlesque has become a full-fledged type of performance that requires not heavy physical training. While professionals collect awards, for those who like this, classes are not only an exciting way to keep the body fit, but also a new opportunity for socialization and emancipation.
The popularity of areas of choreography that have developed from stigmatized, previously socially "unacceptable" activities is obviously related to the fact that they provide powerful physical and moral empowerment - the ability to make an independent choice and be proud of who you are. By signing up for a go-go or hard-up studio, you can learn to "be friends" with your own body and find out what it can do, get rid of the conventions about what is possible and what is impossible, and finally relax yourself. The conditions for this create solidarity, inclusion and mutual motivation within the group, friendliness and support in teaching.
For the removal of all accusations from the "sexually colored" types of choreography, feminists are exploring the topics of sexuality and embodyment. In the book "Pole Dancing, Empowerment and Embodiment" (2010) Samantha Holland notes that for women the experience of dancing on the pylon becomes a way to revive self-confidence, "to feel desirable and sensual, being free from the pressure exerted by male views." Some radical theorists of the struggle for women's rights claim that practitioners such as strip plastics or pole sports are not feminist, since practitioners themselves are allegedly not aware of their emancipative content and define themselves as part of heteronormative sexuality.
I would like to remind you that feminist practice can and should be called everything that is based on conscious choice, everything that helps a woman to feel free and accept her body. Certainly, not least because of the strong voice of feminism, Rihanna, shaking her ass in the “Work” clip with dignity, has 160 million views on YouTube, but this is not a reason to miss any passion of modern women through a radical meat grinder. The right to enjoy yourself and your own body in an atmosphere of female solidarity and acceptance, without being subjected to sexual objectification, is this not one of the first points of the feminist agenda?
By the way, the pop stars also had a hand (and other parts of the body) to free the "depraved" dances from sanctimonious oppression - someone is contradictory, but still successful (like the same Rihanna or Nicky Minaj), and someone, gently saying not very much. Regardless of the degree of awareness and motives, due to the efforts of pop feminism attention is drawn to the question, and this is important, because the taboo is removed, and the stigma is slowly resolved only when we talk about it.
In the gyms, entertainment centers and even on university campuses around the world, women practice pole dancing. Remarkably, they are mentioned in historical chronicles from the 12th century, when circus performers, mostly men, were engaged in Chinese acrobatics on the pylon. Today, pole dance remains a kind of acrobatics, which does not save him from established sexual connotations, where he does not smell of equality: a man is a subject, a woman is an object, a man pays, a woman dances. The same fate befell the go-go dance that began in the 60s when women in a disco in the Peppermint Lounge in New York stood on the tables and began to twist. Over time, the owners of the bars began to hire go-go dancers to attract men to the number of regulars of institutions, and then go-go boys also appeared in gay clubs.
The fitness direction is gradually winning a place in the mainstream for itself in the sexual commercialization of similar types of choreography, but the stigma is alive even inside the party of the enthusiastic. For example, pole dancers, both amateurs and professional women, do their best to separate themselves and their occupation from the stripper industry. American dancer and choreographer Buffy McLusky, among other things engaged in dancing on a pole, managed to say: "As you see, I am not a stripper, I am just an ordinary person." “Unusual” people, namely strippers, successfully resist such statements: at one time, in response to the hashtag-action of #NotAStripper pylon fans, strippers launched an #YesAStripper flash mob in defense of their profession.
Anyway, acrobatic choreography is a serious thing. Pylon training requires good coordination, flexibility and endurance. Without strong arms, a strong torso, well-developed muscles of the thigh and lower leg, it is unlikely to go further than a spectacular walk around the pole. Skill and dexterity come with time, so it’s worth being prepared for the fact that the beginning of training in pole-fitness and the so-called exotic pole dance marks a series of falls and a lot of bruises. But then - only a lot of pleasure and a flexible toned body. Strip plastic, which combines classical, jazz and modern choreography with stretching and plastic, will make all muscle groups work, and strip fitness is even more intense in terms of physical activity.
However, fans of these activities are attracted not only by the feeling of their own strength and endurance, but also by the opportunity to show grace and acting skills. After all, in the same pole dance, in addition to the fitness direction and pole acrobatics, there is another that deals more with plasticity, eroticism and theatricality than with tricks: high heels and bright outfits make such dances with burlesque, which, by the way, not a sport, but a special theatrical performance, also obliges to keep yourself in good physical shape, develops dexterity and endurance.
On the one hand, the opportunity to show artistry, sexuality and femininity attracts girls who are not ready for the "non-female", in their opinion, classes in the gym, but who are looking for something not so deadly boring as step aerobics. On the other hand, it is important that the practices like pole-fitness or twinkling are far from the mainstream and not always healthy idea of sports. Opposite choreographic practices oppose training under the guise of entertainment in a relaxed atmosphere to the omnipresent competitive spirit and the need to train to the limit of opportunities. Samantha Holland's surveys showed that for many women, pole training was the first positive experience in sports in their entire lives.
Such reviews often sound with respect to the piece that came into the mainstream a few years ago on the wave of colonial replication of black culture. In essence, tvork is an element of traditional West African dances and originally served not for sexual provocation, but as one of the cultural expressions of joy and fun, which the parishioners of West African churches in the USA do not disdain to this day. Active sexualization of the twinkle began in the 90s - it was then that he got into the American hip-hop industry and securely settled in the rappers' video clips.
The next wave of appropriation of black heritage has allowed twinkling to the mainstream, where the liberated movements of the hips and buttocks caused a sensation among those starved for natural physicality and freedom of expression. Now tvork dancing not only in New York or London, and even in Orenburg and Novorossiysk. This is not only a reason to relax, trying on another sexuality, unusual in its directness and naturalness. Tvork studios are a great option for the sports section, because to learn seemingly simple movements will require more than one lesson, and then you may not be able to stop. In any case, before starting, it is necessary to study not only where the legs grow from the tweeter itself (it’s pretty clear where it comes from), but also the difficult sociopolitical subtext of shaking backwards.
Tvork, dance at the pole, strip-plastic, go-go - all these are areas in which women unconditionally dominate, while giving each other constant support. Most likely, after a few lessons on the pylon, even the most categorical will diminish condemnation towards other girls, in their opinion, insufficiently or too emancipated. In 1969, the Vatican was forced to remove the stigma of a penitential whore from the character of Mary Magdalene, recognizing her as a spiritual teacher, and in 1991 the network of American strip clubs Deja Vu organized the first pole dance competitions. Now is the year 2016, and we, it seems, are finally beginning to understand that we have the right to do whatever we want, as long as it does not restrict the freedom of other people. Someone shakes his ass for pleasure and enhances its (ass) tone, someone for the sake of money, and someone does not shake at all, but he writes about scientific research. The main thing is that at least sometimes everyone is good.
Photo: cover photo via Instagram Studio Air
