COMING TO ORANGE: An example of Pole Dancing at the Newcastle Pole dancing Championships.
IT’S like gymnastics on a stick and it has arrived in Orange.
Pole dancing, which has taken the metropolitan areas by storm over the last few years, has finally come to Orange.
It challenges those who want to try and take their fitness to another level.
Former gymnast Samantha Burton, who is a relative newcomer to Orange, said she was drawn to pole dancing from the first time she saw it.
“I was living in London at the time when I first heard about pole dancing on the TV show Charlie’s Angels,” she said.
“I know that sounds a bit random but it sparked my interest and I went along to learn it and went in to teaching,” she said.
For Ms Burton the transition seemed natural as she had already trained to Olympic standards in gymnastics.
“I started gymnastics when I was five and was asked to join a national training centre.
“Instead I was selected to be part of a small team training to Olympic standards,” she said.
Nicole Rigby, who recently moved to Orange from Newcastle, is a fan of pole dancing for fitness.
“I did it for about 12 months in Newcastle so it’s great to get back in to it,” she said.
Ms Rigby said when she first started learning her whole body ached.
“I was sore all over for a couple of days but the more I got into it the fitter I became,” she said.
Jasmine McKinnon is a beginner just starting out and building her repertoire by starting with low spins on the pole with one leg.
“It is just something I wanted to try,” she said.
Ms Burton said she heard Orange was a conservative city.
“I have had some strange reactions when I say I’m a pole dancer,” she said.
“Some people mis-interpret coming to lessons as coming to a strip club.
However, she’s keen to see it take off in Orange.
“I would really like to organise competitions between Orange, Dubbo and Bathurst,” she said.