8
Jun
Dancing to a Different Beat: The Art of Pole Dancing
by Nalea J. Ko
1 Comment | Posted by thatgirl in Amuse Me, Get Creative, Making Waves
Twenty-five-year-old Amber Tarcha has become accustomed to explaining her unconventional living room decorations to her guests. But she says the two poles she uses for dancing have given her an incredible amount of confidence, and are well worth the explanations.
“There are always a few comments from people coming into my house for the first time, but it’s not a big deal,” Tarcha said. “It’s almost like we [woman] are a threat if we harness sexuality and athleticism together.
That’s something men don’t have, and I think people have a hard time accepting that in their minds.”
Tarcha started teaching pole dancing from her Texas home in December 2008, after installing two poles in her living room. The native Texan describes her pole dancing classes as “elegant, graceful and sensual.” And her students agree, saying they gained a whole new perspective after taking Tarcha’s classes.
“There’s nothing like that [pole dancing]. It’s awesome. You go in there and you’re kind of fumbling around,” said Lorie Young, who was Tarcha’s student. “I was really surprised how quickly I picked it up.”
“I like to think after pole dancing you leave wanting to strut down the street, smile and wink at people because you feel so energized and confident … Something very powerful, and sometimes emotional, comes out when you can express yourself through … dance.”
Poles come in many different forms. There are spinning, stationary, stainless steel, chrome and titanium gold poles, to name a few. Regardless of the plethora of poles to choose from, there are mainly two types of pole dancing, said Tarcha.
Artistic pole, or Chinese pole dancing, differs from exotic dancing, said Tarcha. She likes to incorporate ballet, tango and other dance moves into her pole dancing routine and classes. Tarcha compares her routines more toward acrobatic and Chinese pole dancing. She is also a cloth performer with the Blue Lapis Light Company, which performs site-specific aerial work.
“The challenge I face is that there are a lot of other women who do pole dancing and choose to use it more sexually.” Tarcha continued, “I love that pole dancing is very empowering and brings out the sensuality of women.” Early this year Tarcha attended the Pole Competition in New York. She applied as a contestant, but was denied.
Just telling people she “pole dances” often elicits a certain image and puts her into a “sexually charged” category, said Tarcha. But she and her students said women should be free to embrace their sexuality however they deem appropriate—even if it involves a pole.
“For now it’s such a limited perspective of what pole dancing is. I learned how difficult of a sport it is. To do the positions Amber [Tarcha] does is really, really difficult.” Young added, “It’s really heightened my respect for anyone doing pole dancing.”
More challenging than breaking the stigma of pole dancing is Tarcha’s search for a dance studio large enough to hold the increasing amount of women interesting in pole dancing. The 25-year-old is writing a business plan and seeking to open her own dance studio.
“I would love to ultimately share and serve others in experiencing body awareness, empowerment … that pole dancing and the aerial arts has provided me,” Tarcha said.
“I also want to be an example and leader in having pole and aerial dancing taken more seriously as a professional sport and continue to expose it to others.”