Brazil News
RIO DE JANEIRO – Pole dancers from around the world, professional and amateur, have gathered in Rio for this weekend’s 2nd Pole World Cup 2012, reported Brazilian online media. The competition brings together around 100 athletes to pole dance in the Casa de Espanha, in Botafogo.
Rio Hosts 2nd Pole World Cup 2012
The event has Amateur and Professional as well as National and International divisions. The top prize for a Brazilian is $1,000 (R$2,000). The international competition happens Saturday, where the winner will receive a $2,000 (R$4,000) prize. Last year, about 800 people attended the inaugural event.
“The athletes must select 15 movements, divided into levels of difficulty ranging from A to F, which they have to do. They [the judges] will need to use technical and aesthetic criteria to judge a combination of acrobatics on the pole, and rhythm as they dance,” explained Vanessa Costa, president of Brazilian Pole Dance Federation and organizer of the competition, to G1.
Each participant has five minutes to prove skill, agility and rhythm on the pole in risky maneuvers, always with a music track playing in the background – the songs ranging from traditional bossa nova to Beatles hits.
One of the favorites in the international division of the 2nd Pole World Cup is 2012 French pole dance champion Marion Crampe. The 29-year-old travels the world performing the sport, of which she says she is passionate. “I am a serious dancer, but one day I decided to take a pole dance lesson. I was hooked immediately. I thought: ‘This sport is for me,’” she told G1.
Considered the favorite in the National Professional division, Bianca Santhany, 19, from Goias, tells of prejudice surrounding the sport.
“Even last year, when I said I pole danced, people told me: ‘Wow! So young and already working in a nightclub?’ This made me angry because I trained like crazy. Now they see it differently, they have another opinion. I speak today with pride and without fear of prejudice,” says Bianca, who teaches the sport in addition to competing.
For more information, visit the event website: Pole World Cup 2012
