For Amy Guion, it began as a joke. A goofy birthday present. “A ‘ha-ha, this could be fun to do with my girlfriends,’ sort of thing,” she said. Growing up, she was a ballet dancer; then, after a back injury put her out of action, she was the coxswain for Loyola Marymount’s crew team — serious athletics.
But after one class, she was hooked. “It was dance, it was sexy, it was acrobatic, it was challenging,” she said.
It was pole dancing. And she was all in.
Formerly found only in cinnamon-scented, neon-lit clubs, pole dancing has moved from strip joint to strip mall, becoming a fitness craze in its own right — like Crossfit, with blacklights.
This year, Redondo Beach plays home to the United States National Pole Championships, a celebration of the sport and athleticism of pole dancing that takes place Friday through Sunday at the Performing Arts Center. Parented by the Pole Sport Organization, which Guion c0-founded four years ago alongside B.J. Pettigrew, the Pole Championships celebrate dancers of all experience levels, from green amateurs to seasoned pros — and there are plenty of both, Guion said.
“It’s hit us huge. We’ve gone from having a couple competitions here and there to having a ten-event series that’s taken over my life. There’s been an explosion over the past few years,” she said.
The biggest change in that time has been in the perception, she said — that it’s not titillation, but athletics.
“I used to be shy about it, telling people that I did ‘dance competitions,’ that I was a ‘professional dancer.’ Now, I’m upfront about it, and most of the reaction that I get is ‘Geez, you must be really strong,’” Guion said.
Now, Pole Sport competitions are growing in number and in size — from two its first year to five the second, and now ten competitions each in its third and fourth years promoting pole dancing.
“We founded this organization to give everybody the opportunity to compete — not just guys and girls at the highest level, but anybody,” Guion said. “Giving people a platform to have their moment onstage, to feel special and see their skill translate into a piece of art is really rewarding, for them and for me.”
The U.S. National Pole Championships take place at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, 1935 Manhattan Beach Blvd., on Aug. 14 – 16. Tickets range from $25 to $149. For more information, visit polesportorganization.org.
