Not the same old grind
When was the last time you wore sky-high, bubblegum pink stilettos to work?
Wendy Traskos could respond, “Every day.”
As the owner of White Plains and Manhattan-based New York Pole Dancing studios, Traskos says that it”™s truly about the exercise and maybe even a little empowerment.
The fun, flirty outfits don”™t hurt, either.
On a chilly weekday afternoon at her downtown White Plains studio, the former fitness champion separated fact from fiction in regard to what some may categorize as a rather risqué career choice.
“It”™s a great way to introduce women to the art of pole dancing in a tasteful, controlled, safe environment,” Traskos said. “In our first year, we did just under 200 bachelorette parties and now, we”™re averaging about 350 a year. It”™s a huge business. A lot of people want to try this, but they”™re hiding behind things like, ”˜My bride friend is insisting I go”™ until they come and find something in themselves that they may not have found before.”
Traskos launched New York Pole Dancing in 2005 after her final fitness competition in 1998; she competed regularly in Fitness America pageants on ESPN.
She worked as a personal trainer both independently and in house gyms before deciding to delve into a more lucrative job prospect.
After securing commercial space in midtown Manhattan and opening the White Plains and Kalamazoo, Mich., studios, Traskos in 2008 co-launched the U.S. Pole Dance Federation, which “puts on competitions for women who are trying to take pole dancing to a very athletic level.”
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Other such existing entities include the International Pole Dance Fitness Association, which connects instructors and students worldwide.
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“There is a progressive level of training with any sport you do, so I didn”™t see why pole dancing should be any different,” Traskos said of her structured dance program. “The foundation of my business comes from how you teach. It allows women to build up strength, coordination, balance and confidence as they pole dance.”
Traskos”™ students range from lawyers and doctors to schoolteachers, Broadway performers and models from “Germany”™s Next Topmodel” with Heidi Klum.
Though her classes are now only open to women, Traskos said that men have pole danced in the United Kingdom and Australia since the early 1990s.
There were approximately 300 solo pole dancing studios in the U.S. last year, Traskos said.
“As far as I”™m concerned, anything that encourages people to move and exercise is a positive,” said Karen Reznik Dolins, a Mamaroneck and White Plains nutritionist and Columbia University Athletics registered dietician. “I don”™t stick my nose up at anything. If it increases your level of activity and you feel good, that”™s a positive thing ”¦ the more people get together in groups and get that kind of communal support, the more likely they”™ll stick with it.”
Traskos said business at her midtown Manhattan studio has been strong “and we can”™t keep people away.”
In White Plains, “it”™s not as busy as I”™d like it to be,” she said. “We opened up August 2008 right before the economy took a dive and people ceased spending. But, things are slowly progressing.”
Another midtown studio will open this spring.
Prices vary, but 20 classes two days per week cost $420.