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Cao Nuo （曹诺） stretches on the hardwood floor， arching， cracking and straining her dragontattooed back inside her tight， red tank top， a perfect triangle becoming clear on her inflated deltoid muscles. Her left shoulder sports a heart-shaped “Mom” tattoo and her abdomen， built of three perfectly shaped rows of chiseled abs， swoop down into her light blue， form-fitting spandex shorts， quickly giving way to rock solid thighs. The head coach gives the command， and she violently slaps chalk on her hands before leaping at the pole. One-handed， she propels herself vertically， executing three complex moves in a matter of seconds with maximum momentum but an elegant flow. In the quiet setting， the sound of metal on flesh screeches through the air as Cao switches limbs， propelling gracefully around the pole. Her body curls like a cat licking its back. She spins faster and faster. As her momentum slows， she puts on the brakes， turns upside down， spreads her legs wide and holds the pose. It’s called the “Batman”. She ends with inverted splits （“Flag Back Roll”） and hops off the pole with a playful， girlish giggle， flicking back her hair. The impressed look on her teammates’ faces and her coach’s solemn glare betray the gravity of the training. Her grace， musculature and flawless technique aren’t meant for getting grown men sweaty in some smoky club. She lives for the love of the game.
The China Pole Dance Sports & Training Center（CPDSTC） located in the heart of Tianjin is where China trains its premier pole dancers. The sport is getting a lot of attention and not just because of the opportunity for lechery. When standing in a room full of beautiful， scantily clad women， it should be made clear that it is actually a room full of beautiful， scantily-clad champions.
Cao placed third at the China Pole Dance Championship in 2011， topped by CPDSTC’s other rising star， Song Yao （宋瑶）. Male dancer Yan Shaoxuan （闫少轩） took home the eighth spot at the World Pole Dance Sport & Fitness Championship， and China fielded its first pole-dancing team ever at the 2012 World Pole Dance Sport & Fitness Championships in Zurich. So far， China’s international performance in the sport has been underwhelming， but hopes are high for 2013.
Though pole dancing has a reputation as more of a striptease than a sport， it is taken very seriously by a select few. Everything from the height of the pole to the duration of the song is taken into account， and points are deducted mercilessly； a minor slip or a bent leg could cost you an entire point out of 30. In the past decade， pole dancing has evolved into doubles， singles， men， and women competing for cash and glory. Coaches and athletes are keen to get their athletes into major international competitions such as The British World Pole Dancing Championship， Pole Art from （you guessed it） Poland， and the International Pole Dancing Championship. While Chinese pole dancers want representation at all three， the World Pole Dance Sport Fitness & Championship is the most prestigious and has competitors from over 30 countries. To much state media fanfare， China fielded its first team last year， and despite not getting top marks， still made an impressive first showing
Of course， every army needs its general. Enter， Meng Yifan （孟依繁）， the team captain. She is statuesque with the regal air of a prima ballerina. From a young age， she was schooled extensively in folk， ballet， modern， and jazz dance.
With their latest foray at the Tianjin Grand Theater， art is the last pin to fall. In the 90-minute dance drama entitled “Fairies on the Pole”， 26 glamorous dancers from CPDSTC and across the country stage a dazzling three-act performance aimed to charm and educate the general public about this new art form. The performance began with each dancer executing their signature pose. The athletic aspect of pole dancing soon gave way to its soft side in the second act， with a doubles dance routine inspired by “Butterfly Lovers”（《梁祝》 Li1ngzh&） in which dancers move gracefully and imitate two butterflies fluttering in the air， swirling up and down， entwining and stretching on the poles.“The dance drama was a huge success！” Yuan declared.
“It’s so intense that I don’t think any of our viewers got any restroom time，” he joked. “Many of them just couldn’t get enough of it， and they got tickets to see it again the very next day.” Lead dancer Yifan was cheered by enthusiastic fans， some of whom had put together scrapbooks to sign and made calligraphy to compliment her work. While dancers and organizers left the theater feeling proud of their sweat and effort for the past two years.
The performance ended with a realistic depiction of the widespread misunderstanding the dancers struggle against.
Online reactions varied， but some didn’t like the idea of pole dancing as an art. “The obscene performance in Western strip clubs has gone so far as to raise itself to an art form in China. What kind of ‘cultural confidence’is this？ Such spectacle has completely made a fool of the Chinese people in front of the world！” claimed one offended Weibo blogger. Also， a heated discussion started on Tencent News under the news entry of the debut where opinion is split between “low-class and erotic”， and“innovative and artful”. Despite the divisive reviews， Yuan still felt confident about promoting pole dancing as a performing art. “Because of the dance element， I think pole dance is quite suitable for stage performances， besides being a competitive sport.”
But， there is also the big picture to consider： “We need a business model for pole dancing to flourish and dance drama might be our answer.” The next step， according to Yuan， is to expand and enrich the performance and tour the country.
That said， the main future for pole dance lies in competitive sports， and the endgame for all pole dancers is to get the ultimate recognition： a spot in the Olympic Games. As of now， pole dancing in China gets little to no government support， but a place in the Olympics would change all of that， an opportunity to grab some money from the public coffers. When asked if she thought there was hope for pole dancing at the largest sporting event in the world， hopeful newcomer Cao says， “Yes， but probably not this year. However， we are working very hard on it.”
These dedicated Chinese dancers aren’t the only ones hoping to get pole dancing into the Games. The International Pole Sports Federation has been lobbying the committee for years to get some recognition and hopes are high for 2016. In 2010， the International Pole Sports Federation managed to round up 6，000 signatures to make the 2012 Games （under the title“vertical dance”）. Sadly， they fell short of what it took to impress the committee then. For that， the Olympic Committee has taken a few hits， with many fans poking fun at the some of the Games’ more eccentric sports， like “racewalking”.
Team captain， Yifan， has devoted her entire life to the sport and is pretty optimistic. “It will take time for them to change the categories right now. There aren’t yet enough studios around the world now. It would be a big change for China. The aspects are different from gymnastics and much less boring.”
Yuan even thinks that pole dancing has more of a right to be there than some other sports， citing creativity. He believes the sport is superior to gymnastics because it has a wider variety of possible moves and that the athletes have only begun to explore the vast permutations of skills that can be displayed on the pole
There are， of course， those who disagree. Pole dancing has a lot working against it： it is a newcomer to the dance world， scoring lacks complete standardization， each region has different moves， and some believe pole dancing should stay in the realm of art. But， for now， professional pole dancers are content to lose their “stripper” image and make a bigger splash in the world of sport.
The China Pole Dance Sports & Training Center（CPDSTC） located in the heart of Tianjin is where China trains its premier pole dancers. The sport is getting a lot of attention and not just because of the opportunity for lechery. When standing in a room full of beautiful， scantily clad women， it should be made clear that it is actually a room full of beautiful， scantily-clad champions.
Cao placed third at the China Pole Dance Championship in 2011， topped by CPDSTC’s other rising star， Song Yao （宋瑶）. Male dancer Yan Shaoxuan （闫少轩） took home the eighth spot at the World Pole Dance Sport & Fitness Championship， and China fielded its first pole-dancing team ever at the 2012 World Pole Dance Sport & Fitness Championships in Zurich. So far， China’s international performance in the sport has been underwhelming， but hopes are high for 2013.
Though pole dancing has a reputation as more of a striptease than a sport， it is taken very seriously by a select few. Everything from the height of the pole to the duration of the song is taken into account， and points are deducted mercilessly； a minor slip or a bent leg could cost you an entire point out of 30. In the past decade， pole dancing has evolved into doubles， singles， men， and women competing for cash and glory. Coaches and athletes are keen to get their athletes into major international competitions such as The British World Pole Dancing Championship， Pole Art from （you guessed it） Poland， and the International Pole Dancing Championship. While Chinese pole dancers want representation at all three， the World Pole Dance Sport Fitness & Championship is the most prestigious and has competitors from over 30 countries. To much state media fanfare， China fielded its first team last year， and despite not getting top marks， still made an impressive first showing
Of course， every army needs its general. Enter， Meng Yifan （孟依繁）， the team captain. She is statuesque with the regal air of a prima ballerina. From a young age， she was schooled extensively in folk， ballet， modern， and jazz dance.
With their latest foray at the Tianjin Grand Theater， art is the last pin to fall. In the 90-minute dance drama entitled “Fairies on the Pole”， 26 glamorous dancers from CPDSTC and across the country stage a dazzling three-act performance aimed to charm and educate the general public about this new art form. The performance began with each dancer executing their signature pose. The athletic aspect of pole dancing soon gave way to its soft side in the second act， with a doubles dance routine inspired by “Butterfly Lovers”（《梁祝》 Li1ngzh&） in which dancers move gracefully and imitate two butterflies fluttering in the air， swirling up and down， entwining and stretching on the poles.“The dance drama was a huge success！” Yuan declared.
“It’s so intense that I don’t think any of our viewers got any restroom time，” he joked. “Many of them just couldn’t get enough of it， and they got tickets to see it again the very next day.” Lead dancer Yifan was cheered by enthusiastic fans， some of whom had put together scrapbooks to sign and made calligraphy to compliment her work. While dancers and organizers left the theater feeling proud of their sweat and effort for the past two years.
The performance ended with a realistic depiction of the widespread misunderstanding the dancers struggle against.
Online reactions varied， but some didn’t like the idea of pole dancing as an art. “The obscene performance in Western strip clubs has gone so far as to raise itself to an art form in China. What kind of ‘cultural confidence’is this？ Such spectacle has completely made a fool of the Chinese people in front of the world！” claimed one offended Weibo blogger. Also， a heated discussion started on Tencent News under the news entry of the debut where opinion is split between “low-class and erotic”， and“innovative and artful”. Despite the divisive reviews， Yuan still felt confident about promoting pole dancing as a performing art. “Because of the dance element， I think pole dance is quite suitable for stage performances， besides being a competitive sport.”
But， there is also the big picture to consider： “We need a business model for pole dancing to flourish and dance drama might be our answer.” The next step， according to Yuan， is to expand and enrich the performance and tour the country.
That said， the main future for pole dance lies in competitive sports， and the endgame for all pole dancers is to get the ultimate recognition： a spot in the Olympic Games. As of now， pole dancing in China gets little to no government support， but a place in the Olympics would change all of that， an opportunity to grab some money from the public coffers. When asked if she thought there was hope for pole dancing at the largest sporting event in the world， hopeful newcomer Cao says， “Yes， but probably not this year. However， we are working very hard on it.”
These dedicated Chinese dancers aren’t the only ones hoping to get pole dancing into the Games. The International Pole Sports Federation has been lobbying the committee for years to get some recognition and hopes are high for 2016. In 2010， the International Pole Sports Federation managed to round up 6，000 signatures to make the 2012 Games （under the title“vertical dance”）. Sadly， they fell short of what it took to impress the committee then. For that， the Olympic Committee has taken a few hits， with many fans poking fun at the some of the Games’ more eccentric sports， like “racewalking”.
Team captain， Yifan， has devoted her entire life to the sport and is pretty optimistic. “It will take time for them to change the categories right now. There aren’t yet enough studios around the world now. It would be a big change for China. The aspects are different from gymnastics and much less boring.”
Yuan even thinks that pole dancing has more of a right to be there than some other sports， citing creativity. He believes the sport is superior to gymnastics because it has a wider variety of possible moves and that the athletes have only begun to explore the vast permutations of skills that can be displayed on the pole
There are， of course， those who disagree. Pole dancing has a lot working against it： it is a newcomer to the dance world， scoring lacks complete standardization， each region has different moves， and some believe pole dancing should stay in the realm of art. But， for now， professional pole dancers are content to lose their “stripper” image and make a bigger splash in the world of sport.