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Contestant Tracey Simmonds, performing at last year’s Pole Dancing UK competition at Scala where she came second |
So, what kind of licence do you need for this?
After a battle with burlesque troops, council chiefs review ‘pole-dancing championships’...
SPARE a thought for Camden’s licensing officers. With the nipple tassels of burlesque protesters still flashing before their eyes and a row over whether the Town Hall should class them as a striptease act, council officials are now facing their next scantily-clad nemeses: the pole dancers.
Hot on the heels of the July demonstration outside Town Hall which forced licensing chiefs to back down over their classification of burlesque as “adult entertainment”, the finals of the UK Pole Dance Championships gyrates into King’s Cross nightclub Scala next month.
Contestants aged 18 and over will perform athletic five minute routines to music in either the glamour or fitness categories at Miss Pole Dance UK 2009 – just a hundred yards from the council’s Judd Street headquarters.
Licensing officials say they are still “determining the nature of the event”, but according to the competition’s founder, Kay Penney, the night is about “education”, not titillation.
She said: “People are attracted to the pole because it empowers them. But it has been an uphill battle for us. At first, people thought we were all strippers, some even labelled us prostitutes. It is a form of fitness and an art form with a real mixture of participants. Teachers, police – you name it, we’ve had them.”
She added: “We don’t bleach it up too much and get into our tracksuits, but there is a strict no nudity rule in the competition. If a costume even moves, the performer will be disqualified. I cut off the music and make an example of them.”
Last night (Wedneday), feminist campaigner and journalist Julie Bindel was among those who failed to be won over by that argument.
“There seems to be some fresh hell every day,” she said. “Whether the women are talented or not, their skills are not on display. It’s a shame King’s Cross is hosting this event when we were promised the sex industry, which was rife in the area, had been pretty much eliminated. These events normalise the sex industry.”
Ms Bindel said: “These twee arguments about pole dancing being a bit of ironic fun that makes you healthy are nonsense. Jogging makes you healthy. Dressing in next to nothing and sliding down a pole should not be seen as anything other than provoking sexual desire in men.”
Ms Penney, 43, a retired health and beauty expert who took up pole dancing to get back into shape after her third child, said Camden’s controversial – and failed – attempts to place burlesque in the same category as strip clubs showed officials were “confused”.
She added: “I think they’re confusing pole dancing and burlesque with gentleman’s clubs and prostitutes, which is not what we’re about. I fully emphasise with people that don’t understand because it’s something very new. Unless you’ve been to a show you’re not going to understand. Incredible power and endurance is required to do pole.”
Licensing officers will make their decision later this month.
A council spokeswoman said: “We cannot comment on the specific licence the Scala would need for this event until we have more information.”
The event is scheduled for October 25. |
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Your comments:
I AM infuriated by Ms Bindel's comment. I have been learning pole dance/fitness for over 3 and half years and in that time I have toned up, lost weight and feel much healthier than I did pre-pole dancing. It has also given me the confidence to teach pole dance/fitness to others and to pass my exercise to music qualification. I have achieved much more from pole dancing than I have from going to the gym or jogging. I would love to know if Ms Bindel has ever been to a pole dance lesson. I pole dance for me, not my husband. All the pole moves I know are from pole schools not strip clubs.Pole dance is the best and hardest form of exercise I have ever had. It's about time people started accepting that. There are more important things to worry about in the world than a group of pole fitness professionals doing what they love and want to do.
Mrs Bond
WHAT an ignorant view, especially from a female. please take 5 mins to visit youtube and see some of the skill for yourself. pole is just like gymnastics, only on a vertical bar not horizontal, and requires the same clothing and makeup as competitive gymnastics. please dont comment on something you havent experienced. however if you do visit a health club offering this and you consider it to be sleazy, the pole community would want to know and would welcome you view. i think this is unlikely to happen because you didnt even take the time to do this before writing such a misjudged article.
K. Sands
IT is a shame that we have to put up with this negativity from a woman, who obviously has serious issues over her own self asteem, as she is unable to even be proud of her Miss or Mrs status, using the ever neutral Ms. Get an education MS Bindel before you judge...
S. Calvert
I HAVE been teaching poledancing or pole fitness for 5 years now and would love to explain to my older students (50+ years old) and my male students (all of which are hetrosexual men) that they are classed as a point of sexual desire by men (who are not allowed in my class unless they are training) I think the older ladies would positivly split there sides laughing. Also in my class we dont 'slide down the pole' as the aim is to work at height so everything is moving up the pole so how Ms Bland feels this is not going to get anyone fit or improve their core stability is beyond me (does she have the same view of rock climbing). Maybe she forgets that alot of women and recently men actualy enjoy pole not only for the strength aspect but for a word Ms Blind does not seem to comprehend and that is 'FUN'. I envisage the only place she has seen pole dancing has been on TV with the portrayal of strip clubs as opposed to in a dance studio where the students are dressed in shorts, tshirts and barefeet or trainers with also a covering of bumps and bruises from the moves.Maybe Ms Bindels view is so femanist to the point of being the male perspective as obviously no woman could ever want to enjoy a sport like pole dancing/fitness for her self out of her own choice!!. Of course its all about the men isnt it Ms Bindle? Thank you Kay for hosting the competiton open to all and promoting a fabulous sport and thank you the wonderful Ms Bindle who has provide myself and my class with the largest laugh of the day.
G. Findlay
MS Bindle.. instead of being so narrow minded..and living in the dark ages and ignorant towards a very healthy sport that involves a pole.. you will soon realise that its more knackering to do than jogging around a block.. get over it .
S. Korver
I THINK that the composition of the front row in your photograph demonstrates that this is a celebration of women's talent primarily celebrated by women. Pole dancing is not justified as 'ironic fun' but is a sport pursued and loved by many dedicated women who are prepared to work hard to master their chosen art. Competitions like this are a source of inspiration and aspiration for those who love to pole dance, which tests their strength, stamina, flexibility and nerve. It takes some courage to hang upside down by your ankles. Anything that encourages such self-confidence and self-trust, promotes such a healthy attitude to one's body - and creates a supportive female community cannot be challenged as unfeminist. As a feminist academic who has studied historical attitudes to sexual display and an avid pole dancer I can confidently assert that pole dancing is not necessarily about titillation to those who practice it. How it is received is unfortunately not always within the control of feminists irrespective of their commitment to the cause. If Julie Bindel wishes to argue that competitions like this need to be curtailed because some men may attend to become sexually stimulated isn't the logical conclusion that women should avoid any activity or dress which may stimulate men, and that if they don't they will be seen to wish to attract sexual attentions. Isn't this the sort of thinking that Susan Brownmiller and Andrea Dworkin campaigned so hard to change?
Dr J. Osborn
I PITY Ms Bindel and her narrow minded opinion. I would of thought journalists kept with the times, clearly she is a bit behind in todays world. It is obvious to me she knows nothing about exercise. To have an opinion, a respected opinion may I add, she should at least know what she is talking about. I feel sorry for such a negative woman, trying to run down others and what they have acheived, all it is childish jealousy. The outfits worn for competition are no more provoking than a swimmer, a runner, a gymnast.Unlike Ms Bindel, I have done my research and find her rather miserable opinions make me really appreciate the diversity in todays world. Her comments are merely attention seeking hot air and she will no doubt enjoy reading the responses from everyone. Well isn't she big and isn't she clever!
R. Green
I BOTH practice and teach pole dancing and I have to say that for me, the experience has been positive, healthy and allowed me to make some of the closest female friends I have had in a long time.I feel for my students the effect has also been positive. The women I teach have in some cases gone from being shy with little self confidence and hampered by body issues to feeling confident and happy and with a strong and muscular body in exceptional condition. Pole has helped both their physical and mental wellbeing. None of my students have gone on to work in the adult entertainment or the sex industry, or even dance for partners - pole is something for them and only for them, a private treat to themselves to be savoured alone or in the company of same sex friends in much the way of a favourite film or delicious bar of chocolate. I hope the residents of Camden (and their advocates) are able to take stock of the warmth and welcome that the pole dance community can provide and will be able to be entranced not by our appearance or allure, but by our strength, honour, friendship and grace.
C. Denning
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