'I am a pole dancer - here is why I love my job'

Arlene Caffrey is the owner of the Irish Pole Dance Academy in Dublin

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13:41, 23 JUN 2022

Pole dance instructor Arlene Caffrey dancing on a pole in her Dublin studio — Pole dance instructor Arlene Caffrey (Image: Deirdre McGing)

Pole dancing is something that is slowly but surely gaining momentum in Dublin and Arlene Caffrey's classes at the Irish Pole Dance Academy in Dublin are a sure way to work on your fitness and confidence.

Pop culture tends to define pole dancing as something wholly sexual.

While this isn't the all-encompassing element that makes this art/fitness activity what it is, it's a part of it that Arlene does not shy away from. In fact, it is the very thing that drew her to pole dancing.

Speaking to Dublin Live, Arlene revealed that she first started pole dancing during the recession in the 2000s which eventually lead her to turning it into a full-time job.

She explained: "I started pole dancing sixteen years ago. I studied Graphic Design at DIT back in the day. I finished that right when the recession was kicking off. There were just no jobs at all.

"I had been doing pole for a couple of years as a hobby. I thought, I can't just stay on the dole forever, so I decided to started teaching classes."

Arlene Caffrey dancing against a pole in her pole dancing studio in Dublin — Arlene Caffrey

Pole dancing was a trend that gained popularity during the Celtic Tiger as many celebs were seen doing it. Back then, as Arlene explains, it was rather "cheesy" and focused a lot on weight loss.

She said: "These things come and go. It went underground a year or two after that. Since around 2011, it's been growing steadily with people who aren't into it for the fad element.

"They're doing it because they want to have fun and find a sense of community. It's more than just a fitness thing."

Women taking part in a Pole dancing class at the Irish Pole Dance Academy by swinging on pole in front of floor to ceiling mirrors — Pole dancing class at the Irish Pole Dance Academy (Image: Deirdre McGing)

Pole dancing is a unique hobby that incorporates art and fitness. Arlene explains that because it's so physical, you get quite strong as a result.

The initial draw to pole dancing for Arlene was the desire to gain the sort of confidence and prowess shown by pole dancers in pop culture, something she says she didn't feel like she had.

Little did she know, pole dancing acted as a tool to unlock a side of herself that was always there.

She revealed: "I knew straight away that I wanted to do it because I really liked the sense that pole dancing is something that strippers do.

Women lying on a wooden floor beside poles at a Class at the Irish Pole Dance Academy — Class at the Irish Pole Dance Academy (Image: Deirdre McGing)

"If there's ever a pole dancer in a film it's always really majestic and they're wearing something really sparkly and blowing their hair around. It's magnetic and enthralling.

"I didn't have a great relationship with my own sexual identity. For me, pole dancing helped me have a better relationship with that side of myself and to just know that I had that power within me all along."

She added: "Pole dancing is a really useful tool for self discovery or reconciling all of the different parts that exist within ourselves.

"As a female growing up in Ireland, there was this idea that you had to be anything other than a sl*t. It helped me reconcile those parts of myself that I suppressed.

"If it feels outside of your comfort zone, maybe that's a sign that you need to try be bold and brave."

Classes at the Irish Pole Dance Academy can be booked at irishpoledanceacademy.com.

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