Potential customers shouldn’t feel put off by the curriculum, she said. The only stripping one would be likely to see during class would be if someone gets too hot while exercising and needs to doff her sweatshirt.
As class sizes declined after a year in Frederick, Frazier se decided to look for a new location. She chose Urbana, and classes began at the studio Saturday.
Frazier has been a dance instructor for 15 years, and said that the market for traditional dance instruction is saturated in Frederick, and it was time for her to do something new.
One of her students in traditional dance had been interested in ‘‘strip aerobics” – which does not involve actually stripping, but imitates the movements seen at gentlemen’s clubs for an intense workout.
She said there is still a stigma associated with pole dancing as an exercise, but id it should be viewed as a legitimate exercise for women of all ages. The classes are not training grounds for professional exotic dancers.
‘‘We have to strip that association,” she said.
Frazier said initially she found it difficult to discuss exotic dance fitness openly, but after researching it, she became more comfortable.
‘‘It’s a growing trend in the U.S., Canada and Australia,” she said.
Classes range from short ‘‘teasers” that can be scheduled individually to give a prospective student a sense of the basics of pole dancing, to more advanced ‘‘fit for pole” classes that are intense workout sessions using the pole.
Early classes are called Conceptions I and II and students learn the basic approach and build up self-confidence and upper body strength. Intermediate classes, called Taking Flight, contain more advanced movements. Students do not learn any inverted movements on the pole until advanced classes, called Flying High, Frazier said.
The space that she currently rents from Urbana Dance Studio will accommodate six dance poles, Frazier said. While some of the less advanced classes allow for students to take turns with the poles, for more fitness-oriented classes, she will only allow six students. The upper limit of her classes is 10.
The poles are completely collapsible but will support an adult’s weight, she said. They can be transported to residences for bachelorette parties, during which Frazier and her instructors teach the basics of pole exercises, she said. ‘‘We did about 20 parties last year,” she said. She also sells the poles, which retail for about $507, for students to practice at home.
Frazier’s business partner, Lisa Shimahara, has been training to be a pole-dancing exercise instructor since October. She said she enjoyed classes so much that she bought her own pole to work out with in her basement. Pole-dancing works her abdominal and core muscles as well as her arms in ways other exercises do not.
‘‘It’s tough,” she said.
Shimahara, who is also a personal trainer, said not only is pole dancing a fantastic upper-body workout, but gives her a confidence boost. ‘‘It brings out the woman in you,” she said.
Frazier has said that she has taught women from a wide range of ages and backgrounds, from 18-year-olds to women in their mid-60s.
‘‘I’ve had grandmothers come in and take classes,” she said.
While she said that there was nothing obscene about pole-dancing for fitness, she has made it a rule to only accept women 18 or older. ‘‘We understand it is still an adult subject, and we want a mature clientele,” she said.
Lindsey Pallansch, who joined classes last year while they were still being held in Frederick, said she had previously been a student in Frazier’s hip-hop dance class.
When she turned 18, Frazier asked Lindsey if she would be interested in starting pole-dancing classes. She said that after the end of her first class, she was hooked.
‘‘It’s like they say – it’s about releasing your inner diva and finding that confidence,” she said.
