Belly Dance Toledo

Women tone up with dancing

Not everyone understands the fitness routine Karen Everage of Studio Fitness practices and teaches other women.

Three times a week, she and dozens of other women meet at the South Toledo studio to climb poles, whip their hair back and forth, and swing their hips, but it’s not what it looks like.

"We’re not entertainers or exotic dancers. That’s not what we’re about." said Ms. Everage, a pole fitness instructor and co-owner of Studio Fitness. "We’re about the fitness aspect of it. The bonus is we get to dance."

In Sylvania, about 130 women show up every week at Aegela Centers for Middle Eastern Dance, where they spend more than an hour hip-rolling and shimmying across the dance floor, but it’s more than just belly dancing.

Pole and belly dancing are by no means new, but their introduction as mediums for fitness has local women lining up at studios and fitness clubs to learn the intricacies of these dances and get in better shape.

"It’s way more fun than lifting weights or stepping up and down on a box," said Sara Thierry, a Bedford High School teacher and a pole fitness student. "It’s fun and it’s great exercise."

Pole dancing has gained popularity as an exercise form, moving from strip clubs to fitness clubs, as women learned of the physical benefits of the dance. Through conditioning and strengthening, the workout increases core and general body strength by using the body itself as resistance.

Before taking their places on the poles, the women at Studio Fitness warm up with a series of exercises and stretches. Exercises involving the pole rely heavily on upper-body strength, as women use their arms and shoulders to pull themselves up the poles.

"When they start, a lot of the ladies can’t pull their body weight up the pole," Ms. Everage said. "By the second week they can do it."

Like pole fitness, belly dancing focuses heavily on the core, with emphasis being placed on movement and muscle control.

219TimeMachine: Art, Steampunk, Belly Dance 2/19 Toledo, OH ...

Evening Escapades: Many anomalous, gilded dissipations including but not limited to: Steampunk Virtuosos & Musicians, Fusion Belly Dansahs, Poi, Contact Juggling & other Performances in the historic theatre. After-party following the stage show to be held in the “parlors” of the attached “Gerber House” built 1872. Cash bar, psychic readings and digital portrait stations. After party is open to show guests only.

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