Pole dance club raises funds for charity

A group of pole dancers based in Chicago Heights helped raise money for charity Sunday and also hoped to be included in a future Guinness Book of World Records.

Both are admirable goals. And there's a rarity: One of the dancers was a man.

Nineteen dancing students and instructors from Empowerment Through Exotic Dance Ltd. and two other Chicago area clubs, Pole Velocity and Position Red, were at the Drake Hotel in Chicago. They danced for 10 minutes Sunday morning, club owner Mary Ellyn Weissman said.

Members of pole dancing clubs worldwide were dancing at precisely the same time Sunday as they tried to qualify for the famed Guinness Book of World Records under the category of most pole dancers dancing at once.

Last year, eight members of the club were part of 206 worldwide, Weissman said. This year, the worldwide total was expected to be around 500, she said.

"There will be dancers in Australia, Japan, Holland, Germany, Ireland, Italy and around the U.S.," she said.

The worldwide event has been organized by Katie Coates, of Vertical Dance, U.K., which last year raised more than $13,000 around the world for the benefit of cancer research.

This year, the group has decided to support children's charities and here in the U.S., groups will be donating the proceeds to the March of Dimes. The group's goal is to raise $20,000 worldwide. One school in Ireland raised more than $10,000 with dancers on poles, Weissman said.

Here in Chicago, they hope to raise $2,000 for the March of Dimes. Donations will be accepted until Wednesday.

About 100 dancers around the country were expected to be participating Sunday.

Included from the Chicago Heights club is Aaron Treble, 36, of Valparaiso, Ind., who dances at the insistence of his girlfriend and club member Cindy Weist, 41, of Lansing.

"She was trying a new technique one day and asked me to spot her. It looked easy, and I learned it wasn't. Pole work requires the agility and strength of a gymnast. The next day, I ached all over, and had a new respect for what she does," Treble said.

Calling himself "a rarity," Treble was the only man pole dancing at the Drake Hotel Sunday.

"Well, Cindy asked me to do it. I support her and its a charitable cause. And, it makes me a hero a room full of graceful women. I'm only doing the beginner stuff. That advanced stuff, upside down stuff, that definitely does take a lot of strength," he said.

Weist still called Treble "a brave, brave man."

"We've all been doing this longer than him, but he picked up pretty quick. It's a great workout for women. I think men may have an advantage because of their upper body strength being greater. But this helps develop that strength in women," said Weist, who is in advanced classes and can suspend herself upside down high on the pole.

She acknowledged that most people, when they hear the term "pole dancer," may think about gentlemen's clubs, but there's more to it than that.

"It's such a good workout because you use strength and dance. And, it's just a lot of fun, too. I'd gotten to the point where I didn't want to do another aerobics or pilates class," Weist said. "This has been fantastic."

Treble agreed, saying he's felt in better physical shape since he's been dancing.

"He's doing pretty good. I've been impressed," she said of her boyfriend.

Treble said he gets a kick of out seeing other men try the pole dancing when Weissman brings it to local taverns as a promotion for the club.

"I'm always amazed at how many biker guys will get up and try their hand at it after their girlfriends have tried," Treble said.

Weissman started Empowerment Through Exotic Dance Ltd., the first pole dancing school in the Chicago area, in 2005. She has taught hundreds pole dancing for fitness and fun and has appeared on television, radio and danced in London and Las Vegas. Weissman, 47, and a retired nurse, is the mother of two. Her husband, Jim, owns a financial and accounting business in Chicago Heights.

Donations for the March of Dimes should be sent in care of: Empowerment Through Exotic Dance Ltd., 445 S. Halsted St., Chicago Heights, IL 60411. Make checks payable to the March of Dimes.

Steve Metsch may be contacted at (708) 633-5996 or smetsch@southtownstar.com