Local Dance Studio Offers Pole Dancing For Fitness

Most fitness instructors frown upon working out in high-heeled shoes, but not Brittany Rohr. Then again, Brittany Rohr is not exactly a typical fitness instructor.

“Well, you certainly don’t have to wear heels if you don’t want to,” said the owner of Inspired By Dance, Bradenton’s only pole fitness center. “But they are strength building, not to mention fun. Believe it or not, the taller they are, the easier they are to walk in – and when you’re only five feet tall like I am, it’s nice to get some extra height!”

Inspired By Dance, formerly known as Vertical Vita, is a fitness center geared predominantly toward women that offers workshops in pole fitness, chair dancing, strip tease cardio, belly dancing, contortion, amateur kickboxing and more.

“Going to the gym and doing the same thing every day can get boring, but this is always interesting and different,” said Rohr. “For the most part, this is a women’s only studio. We do have classes for men, but they have to be with other men, unless they’re married couples. We do it that way because the separation makes women feel safe and comfortable, and that’s what this studio is all about. I wanted to give women a safe place where they could feel sexy, get a good workout and have fun. ”

Rohr, who holds the bragging rights to the first ever Miss Pole Florida title, has been practicing pole fitness for less than three years. However, when she’s gracefully contorting her body around the spinning pole, she makes it look as if she’s been doing it her entire life. (Watch of Rohr in action.)

“I wish I could say I’ve been a lifelong dancer,” the 24-year-old said, “but that’s definitely not the case. I took gymnastics for about 6 months when I was 5 years old, but then I broke my tail bone and that was the end of that. I took a dance class or two in high school, too, but it wasn’t until I took an interest in pole dancing and installed a pole in my house a couple years ago that I really got serious about it. I just taught myself from there on out.”

Now she makes her living teaching other women the art of pole fitness. And she may get a chance to show off her skills to a national TV audience — she's sent in audition tapes and spoken to the producers of NBC's "America's Got Talent" reality show and said they loved them. There's no word yet on whether Rohr will appear when the show's next season starts in April.

Fellow Inspired By Dance instructor Turiya Spriggs also began practicing the art of pole dancing relatively recently – about a year and a half ago. Spriggs, 48, said she likes to emphasize to her students and peers that pole fitness can be an excellent and therapeutic workout at any age.

“Most of the students are younger, so when I started out, being my age, I had to work with my own body. I had to go slower and build my own endurance,” Spriggs said. “It’s something that every individual has to do with their own body. Over time you can get to the same place that anyone else is.”

Watching Spriggs’ fluid movements on the pole now, it’s hard to imagine that there was ever a time when she felt uncomfortable on it.

Inspired By Dance’s third and final instructor, Trevor Vecilla, serves as a living, spinning testament that pole fitness can be a great workout for men as well.

“It’s an all-body workout," Rohr said as Vecilla lifted his agile, muscular body onto the pole and began his routine. "Literally. Arms, core, abs, legs, everything. It transforms your body – it really does. You see results. It’s a lot more difficult than people think.

“Really, it’s like a mixture between ballet and gymnastics. It’s a dance style, but gymnastics really brings in the power aspect of it – you see that?” Rohr nodded approvingly as Vecilla dismounted the pole with dexterous ease.

While the instructors at Inspired By Dance encourage their students to feel sexy, they make a point to separate the idea of pole fitness from the strip club stereotype.

“It is a whole different world,” said Spriggs. “Pole performances are entirely different from strip teases. You’re using your body to perform rather than just taking your clothes off. But you gain this whole new appreciation. The people who are good at it make it look easy.”

Rohr chimed in, saying “The fun part about all of it is that you really get to express yourself, period. If you want to wear the heels, you can; if you want to look sexy, you can – but you don’t have to. It’s all about how you interpret it.”

She laughed before continuing. “Honestly, Turiya is the sexy one. When I started dancing, I didn’t have a sexy side – I danced to songs from Disney movies when I did competitions. I mean, I used to actively try to take the sexy out of it, but I’m working on it now. It’s part of my own learning experience.”

 “Sexy comes from within,” added Spriggs, who generally doesn’t allow mirrors in the room when she teaches her chair dancing workshops. “Every woman has inner beauty and an inner goddess. If you feel it from within, you don’t have to worry about looking in a mirror or comparing yourself to anyone else.”

Inspired By Dance encourages women of all shapes, sizes, ages, and backgrounds to give pole fitness a shot. They offer introductory “Pole Curious” sessions for as little as $10, as well as reasonably priced group sessions geared toward bachelorette parties, birthday parties, corporate team-building outings and more. Although the workshops are generally geared toward women, they do also offer “Power Pole” classes for men as well as couple’s workshops.

“You never really know how it can transform you until you try it,” said Spriggs. “The fun thing about it is that no two people are alike when they’re on the pole. It’s like you and the pole are working together in rhythm. It’s just you – just your heartbeat – and the pole.”

For more information, visit the Inspired By Dance website or contact them at 1-801-SEXY-FIT.