I mean, I don’t even know where to start. The LA Pole Show was divine. And just
so we are clear, the definition of divine is: relating to, or proceeding directly from God, that is to say, supremely good. So I’m going to say it again: The LA Pole show was divine.
The show was hosted by none other than Fawnia Dietrich, one of the pioneers of the Pole Dance Movement. Fawnia was dressed most elegantly and did a lovely job introducing the show as well as discussing the art of pole fitness. Sponsors included X-Pole, Bad Kitty Exoticwear, Pole Physics and ITac2. There were 13 performances and about thirty dancers. Dancers included Estee Zakar, Karol Helms, Alethea Austin, Anjel Dust, Mina Mortezaie, Natasha Wang, “Flying" Laura Martin, Leigh Ann Reilly, Annemarie Davies, Marlo and Jenyne Butterfly. In between performances a solo dancer would come slithering out and do a mini show while the poles got cleaned. These little interludes were by far the sexiest dances of the show. The movement felt beautifully unchoreographed and the dancers were uninhibited, sensual and raw. The costumes (provided mostly by Bad Kitty) were gorgeous, creative and stayed put. Karol Helms was even sporting BK’s body art.
What struck me the most about the LA Pole Show (aside from how smoothly it ran) was how much sensuality and creativity there was in every performance. Alethea Austin actually did a wall dance in her performance – unheard of in most pole shows. There was 
sexiness 
oozing out of every six (and eight)-inch stiletto on that stage. When I mentioned this to Leigh Ann Riley (owner of Be Spun and the woman behind the LA Pole Show) she said, “Well we always try to incorporate the sexy into it.” Still, it got me thinking, is it possible that as pole dancing becomes more popular and more widely accepted in the mainstream, that the need to differentiate pole from stripping by eradicating the sexiness of the movement is shrinking a bit? Because in my opinion, that would be amazing. Take floor work, for example. At last year’s pole convention Alethea Austin was the only performer to do any sort of extensive floor work in her performance. At this year’s LA pole show, nearly every performance incorporated the floor and some dancers even focused on it.
While these women (and men) undoubtedly demonstrated incredible athleticism and
artistic presence on the pole, the added element of sexiness made the performances that much more interesting to watch. And, each dancer had their own version of sexiness. For Natasha Wang and Laura Martin, sexy was a jazzy flapper pole dance to a song from the musical Chicago. For Marlo and Steven, it was a sassy and amazingly timed pole duet where BOTH parties wore heels, lashes and removed clothing. And for the ladies dancing to Strict Machine, it was a gorgeous stripping out of men’s suits, some serious grabbing of parts, and sequined pasties to finish. In addition, there were witches and clowns, nerds and cool girls, LA babes and Angels and of course, the ever-classy, ever-understated, ever-beautiful Jenyne Butterfly. Quite a show. SO, if you missed it this year, look at the pictures by Sam Green, watch the video (click on the link below) below and then do yourself a favor: Plan on being there next year.
