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Pole Dance History – any thorough or scientific literature out there?
Hi everyone!
I am studying European history and am wondering if I could write my thesis on the history of pole dance.
Am I doing something wrong, or is there simply few literature and sources?It would be really great if someone could suggest any books or internet sources, authors or anything on pole dance, Chinese and Indian Pole; any hints on how it made its way from Asia to the western red light districts and where pole dance, as we know it , first surfaced.
Are there any books on that in the US? Maybe Germany is a bit late on that.
Thank you very much!! 🙂
Chrissie
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11 Replies
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Correct me anyone if I’m wrong, but it wasn’t really that Asian pole art made it’s way to the west into clubs, was it?
The pole which we use, that comes from the clubs, was originally a tent pole used by some kind of circus groups which travelled around holding performances. That’s what I’ve heard.
Pole sport has however become very influenced by for example Chinese pole, so in that sense it’s related of course.
Unfortunately I have not litterature to suggest 🙁
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I should add that those travelling performing groups to my understanding did not use the tent pole for acrobatics, only as a dance/stripper poles.
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I’ve heard that parts of pole began in India as a men’s game, mainly consisting of fast climbs. But really I think there are so many bits and pieces that came together.
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On Wikipedia it mentioned that girls dancing around poles goes all the way back to Pagan rituals of dancing around the maypole. I couldn’t find out more about that. It sounded more like a theory than absolute fact, but still interesting. I have also read that it was Playboy Clubs that started having a pole for girls to hang on to. If I can find these articles again, I will post a link to them for you. It is interesting isn’t it?! 🙂
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So I don’t know where I got this from….and may not even be true…but it may point your research in a new direction, so here goes: Chinese pole or Indian pole were forms of training. One of which or both were appropriated by the circus. Like a lot of successful circus acts, pole was turned into a burlesque act, and the exotic dance/red light district style we see today is descendent of the burlesque form of pole. Please keep us updated on anything you find! I’ve always been curious about this subject as well.
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It’s like we are trying to discover our heritage lol!
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Everything I’ve read is pretty much what Flighter said. Indian and Chinese pole were practiced primarily by men as a form of training. Then they moved to the circus, then to traveling burlesque acts (which often traveled with the circus and used the same tents – and hence the poles). And then moved to clubs as the traveling shows went away.
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http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pole_dance
You’ve probably seen wiki…
You could also look at hootchy cootchy dance popularised at 1898 Chicago World Fair: this was more belly dance style but influenced early pole performers…. -
It doesn’t seem like it was the Chinese and Indian circus pole acts that inspired the burlesque tent performances. The latter ones started in America, didn’t they?
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Oh wow, one day and so many replies – you’re all awesome!!
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