Bloomberg: Crime Stat Manipulations are "Tiny"
Palin: "Absurd" Not To Consider 2012 Run
School Already Canceled Tomorrow for Snowpocalypse!
Wall Street Throwing More Money at Republicans
More Bald Eagles Spotted In Harlem!
Drum roll, please! The finals of the first annual US Pole Dance Championship were held yesterday at the Bleecker Street theater, where eleven female dancers competed for the coveted top crown. (It seems that not one man was able to shatter the glass heel ceiling to make the finals.) According to Time Out, there were originally 12 women chosen from more than 100 video submissions, but finalist Michula Renee Nunez of California tragically dislocated her elbow while rehearsing.
The winner, who will proudly represent the United States at the elite Miss Pole Dance Australia 2009 competition, was Jenyne Butterfly (pictured), a petite blond who's a three-time winner at the annual Pole-a-palooza in Las Vegas. Besides the Australia trip, Butterfly receives another trip to Jamaica to participate in the World Pole and Fitness Championship, and will appear on the cover of next month's Pole2Pole Magazine, to which she's also been given a three month subscription!
As you may have noticed, there appears to be a growing subculture of people who take pole dancing very seriously as an acrobatic art form, and according to Sports Illustrated, many of the dancers repeatedly emphasized that pole dancing is not stripping. Truth! The dress code from the USPDF rulebook states, "No nudity, no G-strings or thongs. Violation of this requirement leads to immediate disqualification." The Village Voice also has a report on the competition, which begs the question: Why weren't we assigned to cover this? Anyway, the video below, depicting Butterfly's breathtaking work at a previous competition, is probably not safe for work, unless your boss is Dov Charney (in which case he's probably already made you watch it).
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
While I'm a tad disappointed that her name isn't Alize or Cristal, Jenyne Butterfly will do I suppose.
These pole dancers are incredibly athletic.
They sure are. At least Jenyne is. Now she is buff, not like that flabby Britney the Post called "buff" a few days ago. Most guys and girls couldn't even climb up one of those poles without sliding back down to the bottom, never mind hanging upside down hands only and whatnot.
How come I'm not surprise by this.
Oh man, I know one of those girls! That's crazy...
Those women are freakin' cut. Yowza!
Pole dancing to Shake That Ass Bitch — Nice!
My favorite stories on Gothamist have lots of T and A. Keep up the good work!
Can Olympic pole dance be far behind?
Seriously, it was suggested as an Olympic sport. Beach volley is dumb, but it made it. Why not pole dancing then?
I expect our future national team to be comprised of many of Brighton Beach residents. Battling some other Eastern Europeans for Olympic gold.
Finally, a reason for ESPN2 to exist!
You mean besides lumberjack competitions and bass fishing?
YES THESE CHICKS ARE PRETTY AMAZING! THEY SHOULD HAVE A COMPETITION WITH CHICKS THAT STARTED FROM SCRATCH NO MUSCLES, NO GYMNASTICS BACKGROUND, AND NO DANCE BACKGROUND. THAT'S HOW I STARTED JUST PLANE JANE AND I GOT PRETTY GOOD! I PROBABLY WOULDN'T MAKE THIS COMPETITION.... THAT WOULD BE FREAKIN AWESOME TO COMPETE WITH CHICKS AT MY LEVEL! CHECK OUT ALENA DOWNS ON YOU TUBE!! I LEARNED BY WATCHING HER. BUY A POLE YOU CAN DO ONLINE CLASSES!