Pole dance combines dance and acrobatics centered around a vertical pole. This performance art form takes place not only in gentleman's clubs as a form of erotic dance, but also as a mainstream form of fitness, practiced in gyms and dedicated dance studios. Amateur and professional pole dancing competitions are held in countries around the world and the discipline has evolved in different styles, such as pole sport, pole art, exotic pole or pole theatre. Nowadays, while the sensual part of pole can still be expressed by the practicants, especially in the exotic pole category, other forms have appeared and increasingly attract not only women, but also men and children while the sport is getting increasingly professionalized.
Pole dance requires significant muscular endurance, coordination, strength, flexibility, upper body and core stability, as well as artistry. As such, proper instruction and rigorous training are necessary to attain proficiency. Today, pole performances by exotic dancers range from basic spins and striptease in more intimate clubs to athletic moves such as climbs and body inversions in the "stage heavy" clubs of Las Vegas and Miami. Dancer Remy Redd at the King of Diamonds, for example, is famous for flipping herself upside down into a split and hanging from the ceiling. Since the mid-2000s, promoters of pole dance fitness competitions have tried to change peoples' perception of pole dance to include pole fitness as a non-sexual form of dance and acrobatics and are trying to move pole into the Olympics as pole sports.
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