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Lauren Long (she/her/hers), Low Entropy Volunteer Writer

William Shakespeare said “All the world’s a stage” in As You Like It. The world is indeed a stage, but it means different things to different people. 

For me as a pole dancer, it means a form of dance that I love and am really good at after trying different kinds as a teenager that I didn’t enjoy the way I do pole dancing. 

A stage is nothing without people to share it with. More than that, a stage is meaningless if you don’t have a group of people by your side who not only love this art form the same way you do, but also share every step of your training journey with you, from your wins to those days where you totally tank a move that you have done a hundred times before. 

I have been pole dancing for five years now, and I have met some of the most amazing human beings in the pole community in that time. The more firmly entrenched I’ve become in the world of pole dancing, the more people I meet and the more I spread my message about The Empowered Pole Dance Project. I have had a few people say no to being a part of the project for various reasons, but the majority have said yes.  

I do follow people that I know on Instagram, but the lion’s share are pole dancers who I have met through the project or whose routines I have seen, or people who have heard about me through a mutual acquaintance. I find myself constantly in awe of their tricks and choreographies! 

Pole dancers need a lot of strength, not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well. We need the physical strength of our bodies to be able to lift ourselves and hang onto the pole, the mental strength that concentration requires, and the emotional strength to shut out the words of the naysayers and those who don’t understand what it is we do and that there’s more to it than what they think. Additionally, we need that emotional strength to tap into the emotions that guide our choreographies and our bodies through dance. 

I’m 33 years old, and I know there is still so much more for me to accomplish in my pole dancing career. Every training session brings a new challenge, and I have learned to love the sweat and burn of my muscles before and after training, even when the sweat affects my grip and I slide down the pole like the squirrels used to slide down the post of our bird feeder after my parents put Vaseline on it to keep them out! 

Prior to writing this article, I had a dream that I was back in high school and teaching pole dance to my classmates. I know, without a doubt, that had pole dancing and other aerial arts been a thing in my town when I was pre-teen and then a teenager, I would have done it all through my school years and into university. I wish with all my heart that there had been something like this here when I was growing up, because pole dancing has given me body confidence as well as the self-esteem and assertiveness that I didn’t have as a teenager. 

Pole dancing has helped me grow more comfortable with saying no and setting boundaries, whereas before I would let people walk all over me and bend over backwards to please them. Pole dancing isn’t just an art form, it offers great clarity and you can see things in your life and things that have happened to you in a different light that you might have before. 

One thing that I still really struggle with, even after five years of pole dancing and hearing other people’s stories, is how people treat pole dancers. It doesn’t matter if it’s complete strangers or family members, I’ve heard some pretty nasty comments and I’ve had the people I’ve interviewed tell me about things that have been said to them. 

And yet, despite all the bigotry, hate and shaming we receive, we keep dancing. We have learned to be strong in every sense and we’re not going to let some small-minded people take away the enjoyment that comes from what we do or let them mold us into some cookie-cutter image that they want instead of being our authentic selves. 

I’ve already tried to be someone I’m not, and you know something? Looking back now, I hated every minute of it. I hated being so desperately unhappy and seeing that my unhappiness was making people who wanted me to be miserable happy. 

Pole dancing has taught me to be my authentic self, and I may have lost people because of that, but I’ve gained people who love and accept all parts of me. 

The pole dancing community is growing, and this stage we’re on? It’s open to anyone who wants to join. 

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Born and raised in Quesnel, BC, Lauren Long is a strong advocate for mental health and well-being, as well as being a major Swiftie and a role model for positive body image. She believes in the value of truth, and that truth matters. When she’s not writing, you can find her on the pole, on the training mats or curled up with a good book.