Amazing Indian Pole Dance and Acrobatics

The history of pole dancing can be traced back more than two thousand years, in a chronicle that includes an Indian sport called Mallakhamb, Chinese Pole, traveling circus sideshows and traditional dances for women, by women – all long before the age of the “Gentlemen’s Club.” In her book The S Factor, Shelia Kelley wrote: “Though the exact date is not known, it is well documented that rolling, undulating hip movements were not originally intended as titillation for men but rather as expressions of the female body’s power to promote fertility in the land. In ancient matriarchal cultures, dance was performed by women and for women exclusively.” The long and versatile history of pole dancing has led to the version that we practice at Straight Up — a combination of athletics, performing art, male sports and circus performance.