Public performances are still unthinkable, but there are women in Saudi Arabia who have dedicated themselves to pole dancing – in small, secretive studios.
When the door of the small gym in Riyadh has closed behind her, Nada has completely disappeared into another world. The 28-year-old, who prefers not to reveal her last name, has a hobby in the strictly conservative Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that requires a great deal of courage to practice in her home country: pole dancing.
“Pole dancing makes you happy“
Once exclusively established as a lascivious pole dance in bars and nightclubs, pole dancing has long since become a recognized competitive sport in the western world. That is unthinkable in the Muslim world. Nada knows very well that she can only pursue her passion in secret.
And so she regularly practices only for herself and her own well-being. “I’m not ashamed to embrace my sensuality and femininity as long as I don’t hurt anyone’s feelings“, Nada told the French news agency AFP.
As a personality, the trained yoga teacher continues, she has developed enormously through the new sporting challenge: “Pole dance makes you happy, strengthens your body and self-confidence. For me, the most important thing is that a woman is confident.”
Obstacles to women’s sports in Saudi Arabia
The fact that Nada’s actions are at least tolerated by the authorities is part of an image campaign by Saudi Arabia, which is still a country that has been criticized worldwide for massive human rights violations. For this reason, relaxation has recently been introduced in sports for women. There is now a national football team, and a national league is being planned.
May al-Youssef, in whose gym Nada trains, observes such small steps forward with cautious optimism: “Five to ten years ago I would have never thought that I would offer pole dance. But it’s nice to see now that women are loving their bodies more over time.”
But there are still only three contact points for pole dance enthusiasts in the seven million metropolis of Riyadh. For comparison: almost 200 studios are currently registered in Germany, since 2015 there has been the umbrella organization Deutsche Pole Sports eV
Haug as a pole dance pioneer in Germany
Yvonne Haug is a personified example of the fact that gymnastics on a vertical bar can actually lead to a competitive sport. The now 56-year-old was the best German gymnast from 1981 to 1983, and since 2014 the Berliner has won six world championship titles in various age groups.
“Pole dancing is my life now. My dream is that this sport will one day become an Olympic sport“, says Haug. But the chances are slim: Pole dance, to put it mildly, is still very far from achieving the gender balance that the IOC calls for in new disciplines.