School for Strippers: Children to compete in pole dance event

23 Aug, 2012 11:28 / Updated 12 years ago

Children as young as seven are to be allowed to take part in pole dancing championships to be held in St. Petersburg.

The Northern Capital of Russia will host the fifth Miss & Mister Pole Dance Russia event this year. It will be the first time youngsters in two age categories of 7-9 and 10-13 years old, will be seen on the pole.Over a 1000 dancers from all around the country are expected to take part in the tournament, which is scheduled to be held on September 7-9.According to the organizers, “the event is aimed at popularizing and developing pole acrobatics in Russia and around the world as well as promoting a healthy lifestyle through sporting activities on the pylon.”Kyrgyzstan and Brazil are the two countries where pole dancing is officially acknowledged as a sport. Before the mid-2000s, the only place where it was commonly seen was strip clubs.