PHOTO - JoAnn Sworan, 50, performs during an advanced pole dancing class held recently at a Frankfort studio by Mary Ellyn Weissman, who runs Empowerment Through Exotic Dance in Chicago Heights. Later this month, the Great Midwest Pole Dance Competition and Convention will be held at the Tinley Park Convention Center Aug. 23-25
Hundreds of pole dancers are expected to attend the Great Midwest Pole Dance Competition and Convention in Tinley Park later this month, contest officials said. The event, held at the Tinley Park Convention Center Aug. 23-25, will feature a vendor fair, workshops on stretching and flexibility, and, of course, pole dancing, along with seminars on how to run your own business and choreography, according to organizer Mary Ellyn Weissman. Weissman, who runs Empowerment Through Exotic Dance in Chicago Heights, said this is the event's third year in Tinley Park. The convention center was chosen to host the venue after it was remodeled by village officials in 2011.
Aside from hosting guests from as far away as Canada, Mexico and Australia, the convention will feature the North American Championships competition in pole dancing, Weissman said. Pole dancers will be competing in different categories, including one for amateurs, professionals, and folks over 40, Weissman said. The oldest competitor expected to be at the contest is 62 years old, Weissman said. Tickets are available online at
MidwestPoleDancing.com, she said, ranging from $125 for a VIP Weekend Pass to $50 for Sunday admission. Pole dancing has gone mainstream in the past five years, with television programs like Oprah's featuring it as a new way for women to release stress, have fun and get more exercise. Weissman, 53, began pole dancing when she was 42, she said, partly as a way to fight back against early menopause. She became interested in pole dancing during a trip to Jamaica with her husband, when they noticed that a local disco had a dance pole. She was a quick learner and began teaching other women how to pole dance two years later, Weissman said. People assume that the women who take Weissman's pole classes are strippers, but that's not the case since "probably 90 percent" of her students work in other professions, according to Weissman.
Many women looking to sign up for class often call her beforehand with similar concerns about, for example, their weight, athleticism ("I'm kind of clumsy") and background ("Am I going to be the only woman who's not a stripper?"). On a recent evening, Weissman held an advanced class at a Frankfort studio with three of her students, including Gina Hensley, 42, and Brandy Derkacy, 26, both of whom praised Weissman's teaching.
JoAnn Sworan, a 50-year old mother of two, said she began pole dancing two years ago, having followed her sister into the hobby. During a family gathering on Memorial Day weekend 2011, Sworan noticed that her sister, who was playing on the ground with the children, had "a sexy way of getting up" as she flipped her hair at the end. "And I'm like, 'show me that,'" Sworan said. Just from that action, Sworan recalled thinking, "God, I feel so good to be a woman." Pole dancing has helped bring other improvements to her life, she said:
Her golf game is stronger and she has "Tina Turner legs" for the first time in her life, she said. There's another plus, Sworan said. "To be able to hang upside down is an amazing feeling."
Thursday 8 August 2013
Attention True News USA's M.I.L.F.s - Pole dance competition, convention coming to Tinley Park
Posted on 17:16 by Unknown
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