Every year I attend a regional pole dancing competition, as an audience member, I learn something new.
The first year I attended, the biggest takeaway was that I didn’t need to lose 20 pounds to pole dance. I witnessed women who were much larger than me defying gravity, doing one pole trick after another.
The second year, I witnessed a woman nearly 10 years older than me taking first place in the artistic category because she’d practiced her storytelling pole dance routine for a year and had executed it flawlessly.
This year, once again, I witnessed another flawless routine in the artistic category. I’m not sure how the dancer placed, but her costuming wowed the entire audience. Especially me.
She entered the stage in iconic Little Red Ridinghood attire complete with a basket. At the first dramatic flair, she lost the cape, revealing a red wolf tail. Then, after completing a sensational pole trick, the wolf ears popped up.
At the end of the engaging routine, she crawled over to the basket, which sat between the spin and static poles, pulled out a crocheted heart, and with a flourish, did this…
The audience went nuts.
Her entire performance exemplified the artistic pole category. Within the limited time, her choreography and costume contributed to the narrative of Little Red’s transformation into Little Red Wolf.
As a storyteller myself, I especially admire how anyone can tell a story without saying a word. Moreover, she performed an incredible dance routine, including both static and spin poles.
I’ve been pole dancing for nearly four years and have finally developed my calluses. Who knows how many years I’ll take to be a fluid dancer.
One growing challenge is inflammation. As another older woman lamented, “They never told us when we were younger about all the aches when we got older.”
While I ride the supplement carousel, chasing after the moving target of declining estrogen levels, I’ll continue to dance, swim and do yoga. After all, regular movement is the key to being able to move.
I don’t envision competing in a pole competition, but there’s so much freedom and joy in the ability to move, especially creatively.