There are over 60 women and one man, dressed in black athleisure of every kind, warming up on a Sunday afternoon at The Pole Camp’s ECR studio. Anusha Swamy, pole artiste and founder, is checking to see if the poles fitted across the studio floor and ceiling are in alignment. “There might be nerves, so let us dance it out,” says Mridula Joseph, and everyone breaks into a dance as Shakira’s ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ plays over the speakers.
Then, a rehearsal begins. All of them move with ease, graceful on the floor and fluid on the poles. For every breathtaking spin, every move that has some performers suspended upside-down, the others applaud.
The Chennai-based pole dancing school is gearing up for its first public showcase, Becoming, at the Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall on August 16. Envisioned as an elaborate production and not as a pole show alone, Becoming will be based on the navarasa or the nine emotions, and will have 64 students present thematic, choreographed pieces with the pole, take the stage.
Anusha, who founded the studio nearly five years ago, says that when things started, she expected pole to thrive in Chennai as a fitness activity. “It did. But given how I am a dancer myself, I realised that the dance is what makes this so interesting. I slowly began to introduce choreography lessons and saw how much my students enjoyed it even though many of them haven’t danced before,” she says.
Choosing to base Becoming on the navarasa, Anusha says, was the result of a roller-coaster of emotions she felt after a dental surgery. “In our 30s, somehow everyday feels like a complex mix of these multiple emotions. We go through this not just with life, but with pole as well. There is the initial fear to try it out, the happiness and exhilaration of getting it right, the courage to experiment and do better…” she says.
(In frame) Mridula Joseph. For Becoming, 64 performers will take the stage, and present thematic pieces based on the navarasa
| Photo Credit:
Kunal Daswani
Her background as a film choreographer and a classical dancer, Anusha says, helped her find meaning in each piece she set out to choreograph. “Pole might be extremely physical, but there are certain movements that lend themselves to each emotion… you feel a sense of happiness, sadness or even love,” the artiste says.
Choreographed over eight weeks by Anusha and her team, the performers are a mixed group; there are students, doctors, entrepreneurs, artists, corporate employees and more, with the youngest performer being seven and the oldest, in their mid-to-late-40s.
“For me, it has been about building a community, a safe space for women to be confident in their bodies. Many of them begin wondering if they are strong enough for this, but soon discover the joy that it brings to them, and in the process, fall in love with learning. The Pole Camp is a space now where one does not need to be worried, or feel conscious about who is watching them or if they are being judged,” Anusha says.
While pole dancing might have taken off as something women turn to for fitness, and to find joy in movement and community, Anusha also emphasises on the history of how it evolved.
Anusha Swamy, who has been a pole artiste for over seven years now, founded The Pole Camp in Chennai nearly five years ago
| Photo Credit:
Kunal Daswani
“One cannot erase history. Pole dancing exists today because strippers were the first to do it, and that allowed women around the world to take it up and make it their own. It’s evolved into many different forms, but that history remains,” she says. “I do not like when ‘stripping’ is used as a derogatory term and find this implication that one form of pole is better than the other, problematic.”
At present, The Pole Camp is functioning out of studios in Harrington Road and ECR, and a bigger studio in ECR is now in the offing. Anusha points to how Chennai has been very welcoming of all kinds of dance; be it pole, heels or a host of different forms.
“I have barely seen negative comments online on our videos, and have probably only seen a couple of negative comments about myself. This feels like a good sign,” she adds.
Becoming, will be staged at Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall on August 16. at 6.30pm. Tickets available on www.thepolecamp.com
Published – July 08, 2026 01:09 pm IST
