Utah studio wants pole dancing in Olympics
'This is not stripping at all. I don't take my clothes off at all,' owner says
 | Pole dancing instructor Luo Lan, center, demonstrates a move during a pole dancing exercise class in a converted apartment in Beijing on Feb. 7, 2007. |
Greg Baker / AP |
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A pole dancing studio in Salt Lake City has become part of a worldwide movement to get pole dancing considered as an Olympic sport for the 2012 Games in London, KUTV reported Friday.
"It's automatically assumed it has something to do with stripping," said Lizz Schofield, owner of Studio Soiree in Sugar House, which is filled with floor-to-ceiling poles. "But it's not stripping at all."
"I don't take my clothes off at all. I just come for a great workout," Andrea Bower, a mother of four, told KUTV.
Kim Walters, also a mom and another Studio Soiree member, said, "I'm an LDS house wife. It's not a typical thing for LDS women to do."
Proponents of "pole fitness," as it is referred to by some, has caught on in the U.S., Australia and the United Kingdom, Schofield told KUTV.
"This takes grace, fluidity and strength. It's on par with ice skating and everything else in the Olympics," said Lorinda Coombs, co-owner of Studio Soiree.
"We are some of the safest, most skilled athletes. I liken it a lot to rock climbing," said Schofield.
Schofield told KUTV that pole fitness is becoming a permanent fixture in the fitness scene. "Everybody's coming here. There's no way to ignore it. It just keeps getting better and better".
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