Imagine it must feel like rewriting the law of gravity instead of obeying it. The pole, I imagine, as an anchor and as an axis around which the entire world would come to turn when one spins. The spinning, I think, must also feel like stepping into the eye of a storm where everything outside blurs into lines of light. The music playing in the background would pull every muscle into action, as though each beat was guiding the body through soundwaves. I imagine that hanging upside down from the pole would replace the fear of falling with the certainty that the body knows exactly what it needs to do.
Every ascent carries the quiet triumph of overcoming weight, every release a thrill, and every graceful descent, the satisfaction of returning to earth on one’s own terms. I imagine it as a conversation without words, a dance where strength disguises in elegance and one’s calloused grip tells stories of strain.
All of this, embodied by more than 60 dancers across a single stage of 13 poles, is how I imagine the upcoming pole dance show — ‘Becoming’ by The Pole Camp, Chennai. Its founder, Anusha Swamy, believes that the show, a first of its kind, is a stepping stone for her students, some of whom have been learning the performance art from her for more than two or three years.
Recalling where it all began, five years ago, the former film choreographer says, “Nothing was planned. In fact, I didn’t even plan on teaching pole in the first place. I was supposed to go to Los Angeles to do a dance course, which didn’t happen. During Covid, I was stuck at home with a pole and I was just posting more and more videos of me practising with Tamil music playing in the background. People then began asking me if I would teach. I thought ‘maybe’ it could be my side quest. So, I posted about six workshops set to happen over a weekend, and they sold out within 20 minutes. This is our fifth year and everything happened organically.”
From acceptance online to seeing the art claim its rightful stage in Chennai, in itself, feels like an act of transformation. And when the dancers tested the show with an audience recently in the city, it became evident to Anusha that the performance had moved people. The emotion it evoked is evidence that the performance was defined by the discipline it demands, instead of being weighed down by assumptions. “There were a lot of tears,” Anusha reinforces.
While choreographing and teaching are her strongest suits, bringing a new performance discipline to Chennai’s stages, which are infrastructurally ill-equipped for the performance itself, has posed great challenges. “If somebody had done it before me, it would have been a lot easier, because the infrastructure and the blueprint would be there. I had to break my head over how I was going to put up poles in Lady Andal’s auditorium. But my biggest support system was X-Pole India, the manufacturers. We figured out some amazing solutions to stage the performers,” she explains.
Hoping that more people turn to learn pole, The Pole Camp is soon moving to a bigger studio in ECR. “Beyond just accommodating new students, I wanted higher poles for some of my students who have been with me for over a couple years. It will help them perform more tricks, and get better,” she concludes.
‘Becoming’ will be staged on August 16, at 6.30 pm in Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall. Tickets are priced at Rs 999.