Welsh council offers pole-dancing classes to under-16s

[delphyne]

When will this crap end?

http://www.express .co.uk/posts/view/20954/Pole-dance-class-for-11-year-olds

"POLE DANCE CLASS FOR 11-YEAR-OLDS

Daily Express
Thursday October 4,2007
By Mark Blacklock

POLE dancing classes for children as young as 11 were condemned by outraged parents and child- welfare groups yesterday.

A local council started the workshops as an alternative fitness class for adults – but it is also being marketed at a discount to under-16s.

An advertisement for the dance form – overwhelmingly associated with the sex industry – proclaims: “Try pole dancing, women and under-16s.”

The adverts feature a photograph of a scantily clad woman twirling around a dance pole with the tag line: “Something you’ve always wanted to have a go at.” A

nd they add that the two-hour sessions are a great introduction to “vertical dance” and are “suitable for participants of 11 years and upwards”. The classes run at the St David’s Hall arts centre in Cardiff.

The NSPCC said care should be taken to ensure that activities for youngsters were “appropriate for their age”.

And Norman Wells, of the campaign group Family and Youth Concern, said: “It is completely inappropriate to use public money to promote lessons of such a dubious association.”

Parents were outraged yesterday. Mother-of-two Sue Lloyd, of Roath, Cardiff, said: “I’m shocked – this is not the sort of thing that our children should be involved in. “My daughter is 12 and there’s no way that I would let her go – you don’t know what it might lead to.”

Another mother, who did not want to be named, said: “Surely pole dancing is not something for children who have just come out of junior school?”

Dancer Kerrie Grove, 24, who runs her own company, Vanity Pole Dance, said: “Even though they probably have good intentions, some men might think of it in the traditional sense – young girls pole dancing. I don’t think this can ever be a good idea.”

She said she never taught under-16s and always asked for parental consent from anyone aged 16 to 18. “I know some people teach it as if it’s like gymnastics, so I can see why they would think it’s OK.”

The sessions are split into two, with mornings for women and under-16s, and afternoons for adults only. Of 30 places available, 26 have been taken, but none by anyone aged under 16.

The city council claimed the workshops have “captured people’s imaginations” and “proved popular with families”.

A spokeswoman confirmed that no children have yet signed up for the two-hourly sessions – reduced from £6 to £4.

She added: “Pole dancing is a unique dance form – it combines strength, co-ordination, cardiovascular, elegance, posture and flexibility in a dynamic, fun way “It is never boring and doesn’t feel like a fitness class.”"

[delphyne]

A year ago the scandal would have been that a council was offering pole-dancing lessons, full-stop.

[bluecoat28]

unbelievable and ing. I shouldn't be surprised anymore at the sexualization of girls.