—Urbanly wishes all the wonderful women a very happy Women’s Day’22. We bring to you exclusive stories of inspiring stories of women who chose a different path and are leading a new path of careers for women!—
A gentle swirl, angling the body into a flight mode, arms, hands stretched out as far to balance the body, right before Nupur Choudhuri drops down the pole, bringing her routine to an end with aplomb. Nupur is one of the few pole artists or pole dancers in Pune who has made this exotic stainless steel pole look a thing of beauty.
“Pole dancing is closer to Mallakhamb, India’s oldest sport, but today it is recognized and diversified as a sport, art and part of a fitness regime besides being used in erotic dancing. In India, pole dancing has been known as erotic dancing thanks to western movie influences,” said Nupur (35) who was a participant in reality show India’s Got Talent, where she managed to absolve the concept of eroticism of the pole into that of a fitness and artistic sport.
Nupur loves to experiment and has tried her hand at a lot of things, be it salsa, Bollywood, hip-hop, belly dance, kick-boxing, martial arts but she was intrigued with pole dancing since a teenager. She also wears many hats like a shoe designer, restaurateur and a journalist before pole dancing took over her life.
Despite her father’s stern warning but with her mother’s backing and mother in law’s support, Nupur found a teacher in Mumbai in 2017. “In 2017, I googled for classes and found a teacher in Malad, Mumbai, who asked me to come the following Sunday for a class,” Thus with her own hard earned money and with her mother driving her to Mumbai, Nupur finally found her calling.
“My style of pole dancing is more artistic but in reality what inspired me to take it up full time was the first pole class. I realized that it’s all about fitness, skill and strength training. I met people in the pole community, athletes and dancers and I wanted to be like them, with their level of fitness,” said Nupur.
Her journey to conquer the pole took her to learn with pole dance experts in Dubai and even to Thailand. “I have learnt from a Dutch national champion, a French instructor with 11 years of experience. I’ve travelled to Dubai and done group and personal training with the fabulous instructors. Pole dancing is a sport, like any other, requires discipline and dedicated practice. I’ve done research on spotting techniques and closely observed and learnt the same from my instructors,” she added.
Since 2019, Nupur has begun teaching her own batch of students and the first thing she tells them is to love their body and treat it well. It is what holds you to the vertical pole. “I use the vertical pole and your body to make shapes, do tricks, move round it and on it. It is important to wear shorts and a sports bra to grip the pole with your skin, for it is a skin contact sport. There is a thrill once you get the sense of defying gravity,” said Nupur.
“Anyone can pole as long as you are injury-free and have a go-ahead from your physiotherapist or a doctor. What you also need is fitness, dedication, hours of practice, sincerity.
Her studio, 4 Poles Pune in Baner takes group batches through the week. Classes are for 1 hour-15 minutes each and include warm up, pole conditioning, pole spins, and static and spin pole routines.
Email: nupur.chaudhuri@gmail.com
