[Leonardo Angelucci | iAfrica]
“I wanted to share my mad love for this amazing sport, and create a space where I could teach others the passion and spirit of pole dance…”
“They’re incredible”, says the woman sitting next to me in a half-whisper over her shoulder, “They’ve got to be so strong!”. She speaks softly so as not to disturb the choreography of acrobatic feats that have the two of us and a hall full of people glued to our spots.
The performers – although you could call them athletes just the same – execute each move effortlessly. Hours of training lending to twists, turns and stand-still poses performed all whilst suspending their own body-weight a good few metres in the air over a small High School theatre stage in the heart of Newlands, Cape Town, that has surely never seen anything quite like this.
As if their raw physicality wasn’t enough, they exude confidence and grace while doing so.
Some are full-time professionals, others are newcomers, but all of them are part of a relatively new reincarnation of a very well-known activity…pole dancing.
The dancers are part of The Pole Project and The Scar-Lit Box. Both Cape Town based studios, the former established by head instructor and creative force behind the show, Kathy Lee.
At first glance Lee, 34, doesn’t look like the office-job type. Yet, before donning colourful brassieres, form fitting one-pieces and at times high-heels to spin on a pole, the former London lawyer was, by her own words, “very much part of the rat race”.
Based in Gardens, The Pole Project is a product of Lee’s passion running away with her.
“I wanted to share my mad love for this amazing sport, and create a space where I could teach others the passion and spirit of pole dance”, says Lee.
A spirit which has seen quite a few similar spaces pop up in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town with both recreational and competitive ambitions.
“The competitive structure in the country is very well established, with a large number of local competitions happening throughout the year”, she says. “However, many people start off as beginners and work their way up to more advanced levels at their own pace for their own goals”.