After Controversy, Pole Fitness Competition Makes Debut… with a Few Ground Rules

LAYTON, UTAH – It’s like gymnastics, said pole fitness competitor Becca Butcher.

But instead of a balancing beam or parallel bars, there’s a pole.

And it was that last feature that stirred a slight controversy over whether Saturday’s Pole Fetish 2009 competition should be canceled.

Davis County owns the Davis Conference Center, where the event was held, and several weeks ago, county commissioners were concerned the performances might be closer to “adult entertainment.”

But the private contractor that manages and books events at the center met with Pole Fetish 2009 promoters and the event continued.

“They felt comfortable in allowing it to go forward,” said Commissioner Bret Millburn. “Hopefully, it is what it is.”

And that’s an amazing way to tone your body, said Butcher, a mother of two who has also studied martial arts for about 20 years.

“Hopefully, tonight will break a lot of misconceptions,” she said .

Her family is very religious, she said, and her father, mother, brother and sister-in-law came to the event because they support her and “see it for what it is.”

Ogden’s Adult Dance & Fitness, along with Studio Soiree in Salt Lake City, sponsored the event — the first of its kind in Utah, said Meagan Burroughs, owner of the Ogden studio. She hopes pole fitness will become an Olympic sport.

Burroughs teaches pole fitness along with ballroom, hip-hop and other dancing.

“They always come back,” she said of people who take the pole workouts. “I’ve never had someone go into a program and think they were stripping.”

And there were a few ground rules for Pole Fetish 2009:

“We don’t want any catcalling. We don’t want any tips,” the night’s hostess, Debra White, told the audience. “Let’s keep this clean and have fun.”

Performers were required to keep on the same clothes from start to finish, as well as wear something that covered breasts and buttocks. Most performers wore shorts and sports bras. Footwear varied from nothing to ballet slippers and even plastic platforms.

West Jordan resident Susan Hintze had associated poles with more exotic activities, but changed her perspective after taking pole fitness classes. She came to Pole Fetish 2009 to cheer on her instructor.

“I’ve gained such a respect for the beauty of movement and self-expression.”

Courtesy The Salt Lake Tribune

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