When Jodie's friends discover the pole dance bar set in the middle of the living room, they roll their envious eyes at her boyfriend.
The 31-year-old Parisian laughs: “there is nothing less sexy than the pole”.
At least at the beginning.
To believe the American Sheila Kelley, on the poster of the documentary "Pole dance: haut les corps!"
"Available on Netflix since Friday, it is even" a warrior sport ".
Decryption of a phenomenon that is exploding in France.
Long relegated to the obscurity of striptease rooms, pole dancing is emerging from the shadows and seducing more and more women (and a few men).
The French Dance Federation lists 25,000 students, but estimates that they are in fact much more numerous, membership not being compulsory.
All of them highlight the benevolence that reigns around this fascinating pole dance bar.
Too big, not enough breasts, knuckle knees, too soft arms… Stop!
In overheated pole dance studios, girls stop hiding.
Impossible to practice jogging: it is with the skin that we hang the bar.
"Madam Everybody"
“When I arrived at my first class, in London, I thought I was going to find myself in front of very well-rounded girls, with 3-meter-long legs, like Crazy Horse dancers”, recalls France Grieco, 40, founder of Pole Dance Academy, in Marseille, the 2nd school to have opened in France.
Surprise: in front of her, "Madame Tout-le-monde", mothers, women of all sizes.
Camille, a 32-year-old Parisian, has been pole dancing for 2 years.
“Everyone is in the same boat.
Your neighbor also has cellulite.
Your neighbor too, she is badly shaved.
»What uninhibited those who find it difficult to let go of the towel when diving into the deep end.
When Camille, a former anorexic, assures us: "today, I find myself too beautiful in the mirror", her smile is audible.
In Poissy, Audrey, 26, experiences the same thing.
Harassed because of her physique when she was in college, she says she feels stronger, more attractive, since she does pole dance.
“Even in my job, I am able to do things that scared me.
"
A victory for Laurence Hilsum, founder of Pole & Dance, in Paris, which welcomes, apart from Covid, 850 students per week: “We spend our time pushing our limits, obviously that has an impact in our lives.
The girls arrive all shy, all sheepish and, after 3 or 4 months, they have the niac!
"Vice-world champion in 2011 and 2012," Lolo "repeated to her students:" You know that, thanks to me, you will give birth without an epidural?
"
"If you let go of the bar, you explode"
To "fit a figure", no secret: strength, technique, flexibility.
You have to surpass yourself and ignore the pain.
Because if the progression curve is exponential at the beginning, burns also happen very quickly.
“On my first videos, I scream at death,” laughs Coralie, 36, who is about to undergo training to become a pole dance teacher.
The Lyonnaise assumes her side "drama queen" but insists: "behind the knees, under the armpit, in the bend of the elbow", the bar hurts like hell.
Jodie confirms: “the pole makes splendid bodies… and eternal blues!
Discipline requires absolute concentration.
"If you let go of the bar, you explode yourself", prosaically summarizes the young woman.
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This bar, object of all fantasies, is also a way to assume your femininity.
François Beretta, 45, professional dancer and pole dance teacher, believes that “exotic dance” lessons - including “in heels” - are a precious space of freedom where “girls can let go”.
Less obvious than it seems.
"The first time I did a class in heels, I went back to the locker room to cry," recalls Camille.
She then started again, at her own pace.
And found "a sensuality lost for years".
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Forget your shots on pole dance
Thanks to shows like "France has an incredible talent" or the film "Forte", with Melha Bedia and Valérie Lemercier, available on Amazon, people are gradually taking another look at pole dance.
Laurence Hilsum, vice-world champion in 2011 and 2012, remembers that it was much different when she started.
"When you say pole, some can already see themselves slipping tickets into the thong".
Pay back your dollars, guys.
"Do all the guys who play soccer or tennis do shows for their wives?"
Jokes France Grieco.