Don't knock pole dancing until you've tried or seen it

This is one of my favorite quotes, "Not all pole dancers strip and not all strippers pole dance". It is so true. Just because you've seen a stripper doesn't mean you've seen a fitness pole dancer. The two are not the same and for some people, it is just too hard to comprehend. Maybe it's because they don't really want to understand why millions of people are fascinated with this dance/gymnastics style. Most assume that the women who participate in fitness pole dancing are uneducated, drug abuser, low IQ, sexual deviants.

Let me tell you the facts about some of the 20 competitors in this weekends pole competition: We have 6 school teachers. Six! Two ladies with masters degrees, four with bachelors degrees, a scientist, a martial arts instructor, fitness instructors, mothers, wives, gymnasts, a military wife, a life coach, a film director, an author, equestrian competitor, and five women who own their own business. These women are not mindless or senseless. If these types of women are embracing pole fitness, there is no reason why any woman regarless of religion, background, or marital status shouldn't be able to get in shape with a vertical pole or at least accept it and those who practice it.I genuinly ache inside when a woman snubs her nose at the pole. You have no idea how it will change your life if you just give it the opportunity. Your body will transform, your mind will evolve, and your relationships will thrive with your new found confidence and self worth. Don't knock it until you've tried or seen it. I will put my pole against the treadmill any day!

Meagan Burroughs

Gifted with amazing dancing skills and blessed with the talent to teach since 1998, Yesenia has had the opportunity to perform and teach in many venues throughout the world including Italy, Curacao, Canada, Israel, Brazil, Zurich, Germany, Bermuda, Brussels, Singapore and many more.  She has worked as a lead dancer in music videos, movies, and the hit soap opera “All My Children.”  She has also worked with David Melendez at The Starlite Dance Studio in the Bronx, where she taught kids between the ages of 9 and 19. Her choreography has been performed at Great Adventure, Disney World, and Los Angeles, to name a few.

Yesenia has also acted in movies such as Empire, written and direct by Frank Reyes and an Internet mini series “We Deliver” written and directed by Seth Rosenberg (Rose Perez’s husband).

In April 2005, along with other dancers, Yesenia was named ambassador of Goodwill for Israel. In May 2005 she was honored at the West Coast Congress held in Los Angeles in appreciation for her contributions as a dancer and instructor in the World of Music and Dance. Yesenia was also on the cover of  La Diva Latina magazine’s fall issue witch was sold nationwide and has also been featured in two calendars. Yesenia is looked to as one of salsa’s foremost and most sought-after female dancer, choreographer and instructor. She has various videos on  you tube and all over myspace. www.myspace.com/yeseniap