Pole dancing an Olympic sport, mom insists
Vertical thinking
By BRIAN GRAY, SUN MEDIA
The Toronto Sun
Barbara Almond, 47, certainly raised the bar when she took up pole dancing five years ago. (Sun Media/Dave Thomas)
TORONTO -- Pole dancing deserves a gold medal.
Barbara Almond, who took up pole dancing five years ago, said the activity deserves consideration for the 2012 Olympics.
"If you look at the parallel bars or any gymnastic sport -- the flexibility, the movement, the co-ordination, the strength -- all of that has to be done on this bar that's vertical," said Almond.
The 47-year-old mother of two said she's never been in better shape since taking up the activity that strengthens the arms, legs and the muscles in the core of the body.
And anybody can do it -- even if men are a little timid to take on the challenge.
"My husband won't even go near the bar," she said laughing. "But if the goal is a corporate team-building exercise, then there's nothing better than to convince someone, man or woman, to come out of their shell and give it a try."
Almond now has her own business -- Sensually Active -- and teaches pole dancing.
Classes are taught in a fitness studio in Thornhill although the mobile nature of the activity makes it ideal for house parties and business events, she said.
There are women of all ages participating in her classes, she said. And all fitness levels.
"You can always modify the moves depending on what kind of shape a person is in," Almond said. "But the great thing is that you get all these women into the studio and nobody judges, everyone is just having a great time."
And if someone is looking for a little something more -- nudge, nudge, wink, wink -- Almond said it's as simple as changing the tempo of the music and putting on heels.
But it's the stigma of pole dancing as a form of expression best left to gentlemen's clubs that will likely hamper any chance of someone someday winning Olympic glory, she said.
"I haven't pushed it too hard but it's got everything needed to qualify as a world-class athletic event."
