Dark blue circulating lights dance across every surface of the small dim room, reflecting off the mirror-lined walls and glinting from the six silver, floor-to-ceiling poles.
From a small stereo in the corner, a cover of “Toxic” by Britney Spears begins to fill the room. As the slow, sensuous music starts, the six barefoot dancers slowly begin to walk around their poles to the rhythm of the music.
As the singer starts, the girls match their movements to the steady beat of the song, leaping, twisting and spinning on their poles.
They hoist themselves from the ground and circle the poles with the grace of a ballet dancer, each following the rhythm but doing their own combination of spins and movements.
Anita DeCastro, the instructor of the aerial fitness class, walks through the room praising her students on their work with a sharp “Ow, ow!” and a smile.
She crosses the room once more to turn out the lights for the last dance of the night as she tells her students, “Just dance it out and have fun!”
DeCastro is the owner and founder of Wild Orchid, an aerial fitness studio that focuses on achieving a total body workout through pole dancing and aerial fitness.
After trying the idea on the Bloomington community in September 2015 in a small, one-pole studio above Roots, a vegetarian restaurant, she started Wild Orchid.
DeCastro expanded to the space where the studio now sits, nestled under an apartment complex.
Although the classes are open to men, DeCastro started her business with women in mind.
“I love working with women, and I used to run a dance company for six years that was centered around women,” DeCastro said. “It inspired me to open a studio and have a space that was geared toward a community of women where they could be inspired to pursue an active lifestyle that is creative and fun.”
Besides the exercises done on a pole, the unique, non-physical benefits are what really set aerial fitness apart.
Lauren Martin is a senior at IU and regularly attends classes at Wild Orchid. Yoga no longer challenged her physically, so she tried an aerial fitness class. She discovered a combination of the yoga she loved and the dance she did when she was younger in the Wild Orchid classes.
“It incorporates this very creative element, so it’s not just these incredible strength, arduous moves where you’re pulling your body upside down, but it’s also figuring out how to make that look delicate and how to make that into a dance,” she said.
In addition to growing stronger, Martin said the classes changed the way she looks at herself.
Before taking the classes, Martin felt self conscious of her thighs, believing they were too big to wear short shorts and instead choosing longer biker shorts. Now, however, she proudly shows off her shorts which end far up on her thigh, knowing that she has nothing to feel self conscious about.
Through her aerial fitness classes, Martin also found a new sense of confidence.
Previously, when Martin told others about her pole dancing class, many had had negative and sometimes derogatory remarks.
“When I start talking to guys and I tell them ‘Oh I’m just going to pole dance,’ they’re like ‘Want to ride on my pole?’ or like ‘I’ve got a pole to ride,’” Martin said. “And so I’ve learned to be really assertive in the way I talk about things and I call people out when they’re being sexist.”
Sammy Frazier, another one of Anita’s students, also enjoys the mental and emotional benefits of aerial fitness.
“I have really bad anxiety and I’ve tried weightlifting, swimming, running, everything,” Frazier said. “And then I found this and it’s just such a great community. You do one small thing and they cheer for you, so you actually get out of that anxiety.”
Where Frazier’s anxiety had made it difficult for her to approach new people, she now enjoys it. She also gained confidence in her body image.
“I never thought that I could feel sexy about myself,” Frazier said.
DeCastro hopes her students develop a sense of empowerment through their workouts at the studio.
DeCastro experienced this herself by realizing how strong the exercises made her and also enjoys watching her students find this strength in themselves.
“Lots of times people come in and say ‘Oh I could never do that,’ so what I like to show people is that they absolutely can with proper instruction and dedication and overcoming fear,” DeCastro said. “That’s one of the first things we preach: we don’t say ‘we can’t.’”
Gwen Ash, who graduated from IU in 2014, first began aerial fitness after the end of an unsupportive relationship. In the period after her breakup, Ash decided to try aerial fitness because she finally had the chance to “do whatever (she) wanted.”
Going into the class, Ash was skeptical at first about her ability to perform the physically-intense moves.
A year later, she is still a regular student at the Wild Orchid studio.
“Even though it’s considered slightly taboo, it’s definitely something that I still kind of brag about because I’m super proud of it,” Ash said.
Despite Ash’s pride in her progress, some members of her family were uncertain of her decision to enroll in pole dancing classes.
“I finally told my dad months after (starting the classes) and his first response was, ‘What’s the end game with this class?’, and when I finally told my grandpa months later after that, I’ve never seen him speechless his entire life, but he was speechless then,” she said.
Ash participates in a variety of other activities including fencing and rock climbing. However, she said aerial fitness is the one exercise that puts her in a positive state of mind and gives her focus during the day.
“With (aerial fitness), the only competition is you,” Ash said.
Aerial fitness is not only a growing trend in the United States, but is also gaining attention overseas.
Organizations such as the International Pole Dance Fitness Association advocate for pole fitness to become an official Olympic sport. With its rising popularity, pole dancing classes are more accessible for the public.
“The aerial arts are becoming a lot more accessible though studios like Wild Orchid,” DeCastro said. “It’s not just something you see on Cirque du Soleil anymore. Now we can show people it’s acceptable and that you can do this too.”
