Paulette is boundless. From Ballroom to Tango to Cirque de Soleil-inspired aerial, the sundry assortment of dance techniques that Paulette can teach is dizzying. She performed for two years alongside live lions and tigers in the Siegfried and Roy show in Las Vegas. Her dream then led her through a revolving door of auditions and gigs in Los Angeles before she returned home, and opened her eponymous studio in Toledo. In its current location on Monroe Street near the Franklin Park Mall, Paulette weekly offers sixteen classes to the public and up to forty private sessions. I spent a week at her studio, in a crash course of rhythm and endurance.
Tuesday: Pole Dancing
Nine aluminum poles stood vaulted to the ceiling, all encircled with confident women dressed in high shorts and bedazzled footies. Kid Rock sounds pumped onto the wood dance floor as the women climbed the poles and spun, performing a choreographed routine that they had learned through four months of practice. It was a mesmerizing display of energy, strength, and coordination. As only the second male guest of Intermediate Pole Fitness, my viewing was as special and rare as Chik-fil-A on a Sunday.
My body has an honest disposition, a figure formed as much by funnel cakes as fitness. It is not designed for pole-dancing. The inverted spins that the women were practicing, using their thighs to cling to the poles as they suspended without concern, were beyond my physical reach. “It is the best workout I’ve ever had.” said CJ, a former competitive, co-ed football player in her thirties. Climbing and extending from the pole were physically challenging, which I expected, but so much added effort was involved making the strength look graceful. It is easy to spin around a pole, but try doing an upside-down “helicopter” in rhythm.
“I [get] to be sexy…I get to be a little bit outside myself.” said Tracy Guthrie, a fit mom in her early 50’s. The women that have found pole dancing were looking for a creative outlet as much as a physical release. At Paulette’s, they found both.
Saturday: Children’s Hip-Hop
“You’re not a girl, you have a mustache!” said Katherine, one of the 9-year-old regulars at the children’s hip-hop dance class. The jig was up, but I pressed on and, with five pre-teens, learned a dance routine choreographed to Katy Perry’s “Roar.” We also practiced the Moonwalk, and shook our shoulders to “The Bernie.” We pantomimed in unison as we “brushed the dirt off our shoulders” a la Jay-Z before taking a water break.
“Dancing is such a healthy workout and energy outlet for kids.” said the class instructor, Dawn Petersen, who also teaches pre-school. She finds kid-friendly versions of popular radio hits, and designs hip-hop and lyrical dances in sync with the beats. Her kids took to the moves instinctively as they danced to popular songs, already knowing the words. Petersen offers a laid-back approach to dance that still teaches kids rhythm in a controlled environment. Even on the wrong side of puberty, I could see how much fun it could be to dance to songs you love as a kid.
Sunday: The Party
Once a month, Paulette brings a 16-piece big band into the studio to perform for a dance party. Students pack the studio to drink wine, mingle, and strut their new moves. Couples—both spontaneous and preexisting—danced the Foxtrot, Tango and Swing. “I want people to have an experience unlike any other,” said Paulette.
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“Dancing is liberating…it feels good to move around the floor.” Paulette said. This is true, whether you are spinning around a pole or spinning your partner, dangling from the ceiling while wrapped in a silk sheet or tangoing with a finely-aged fox named Janet. Paulette’s students range from age 7 to 84, all of whom have found a place in her studio to feel comfortable in their movements, to embrace their own rhythms: to dance.
Dorian Slaybod is 27, a local attorneyand happily living in Toledo.
