The Pole Dancing Shop

The 2011 Asia Pacific Pole Dance Championships will be held on Saturday 25 June, at Luna Park, Sydney, Australia.

The Pole Dancing Shop is proud to be a sponsor of this highly recognised event.

Situated within all the fun and excitement of Luna Park, The Big Top is located just meters from the Sydney Harbour Bridge on the shores of Sydney Harbour.

A beautiful landscape of Australian icons plays host to the fun and excitement of the Asia Pacific's only pole dance championships for men, women and doubles teams. Australian Pole Dance brings you a weekend of pole dance activites and networking amongs ourtick pole dance community!

Finalists announced!

Congratulations on great efforts from all our entrants. Again the competition was tough and only a select few could make it through to the finals. We welcome our international finalists from Japan and New Zealand! Introducing the lineup for this year...

• Freestyle Women's - Amber, Daisy, Carlie, Chelle, Fontaine, Lisa, Nadia
• Freestyle Men's - Bundarr, Callan, Chris, David, Dunk-One
• Classic Pole - Gemma, Luxe, Viva
• Open Pairs - Bella & Samira, Bonnie Black & Amanda, Enchanted, Masayo & Kazuya, Matty & Shimmy, Scarlett Lace & Tigerlilly

Book a seat to witness the pole dance spectacular as these pole athletes fight for the championship titles.

Program of events

As part of the APDC weekend, you can attend the World Class Workshops featuring USA's Becca Butcher and Cirque du Soleil and NICA casting partner & head coach, Mat Daniels. Bookings are now open for workshops with these world class stars of pole and circus arts!

Tickets to the pole dance championships are on sale through:

About Australian Pole Dance

2010 opened the door to dancers from the Asia Pacific, inviting them to take part in the Asia Pacific Pole Dance Championships™. This competition is unique in the way that it recognises the fitness and circus styles of pole dance that have previously been overlooked in competitions. The Asia Pacific Pole Dance Championships™ promotes pole dancing for fitness and aims to highlight the athletes of this sport in the same light as other professional sporting competitions.

Australian Pole Dance Pty Ltd is a representing body which aims to improve industry standards, provide professional judging and competition criteria, support/training, and information to the pole dance industry. Australian Pole Dance will interface between Australian pole dancers and industry bodies, such as the International Pole Federation.

Pole dancing in Australia has seen exponential growth over the past decade. Originating in two very different genres (circus vs. strip clubs), has meant the evolution of many types of pole dancing during this time. It’s no longer just ‘stripper’ pole. Both males and females have recognised the exercise benefits of training their upper body, and the gymnastic challenge pole offers keeps them hooked.

It’s not really possible to say all the forms of pole dancing are the same. It’s like saying all forms of football are the same.

There are four main ‘styles’ of pole that have evolved:

1. Strictly fitness – no high heels, no costumes & more like a circuit gym class.
2. Circus – highly acrobatic, on purpose built poles, as seen in Cirque du Soleil & internationally in acrobatics circuts eg Chinese pole & Indian pole (Mallakhamb) .
3. Dance based pole – acrobatic moves combined with ‘conventional dance’ moves such as Latin, jazz, hip-hop etc.
4. Sensual pole – utilising more of the ‘traditional’ pole moves & generally involves girls dressed in a provocative way.

Australian Pole Dance is united through key opinion leaders, elite dancers, along with many dance school owners from all states and other industry associations.

Read more about the people and experience behind Australian Pole Dance.

This is a competition run for, and supported by, elite dancers. The competition has also been endorsed by the International Pole Federation.

Do you want to become a guest blogger? The Pole Dancing Shop now offers $20 store credit for approved post, articles and stories!