A REAL WORKOUT—Caterina Gennaro demonstrates a strength move called the “Iron X” during a class on Monday in her Westlake studio. IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers With her toes pointed down and her body perfectly straight, Caterina Gennaro spins carefully around a vertical pole with grace and precision.

The Thousand Oaks resident considers pole dancing a performance art, a sport, a legitimate form of fitness and the perfect way for a woman to build selfconfidence.

Gennaro, 45, who owns Poleates in Westlake Village—the only dedicated pole-dancing studio in Ventura County—says pole dancing is her creative passion and a fun way for her to stay fit.

“It’s not a stripper pole,” she said. “It’s a pole. It’s an adult monkey bar that spins, and you just learn to control it.”

A filmmaker and photographer in addition to being a business owner, Gennaro was recently named pole athlete of the year and national champion of the United States Pole Dancing Federation.

TRANSFORMATION—Caterina Gennaro helps an unidentified student perform a complicated move in a class at Gennaro’s Poleates studio. IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers Next month she will begin a world tour—a yearlong endeavor to showcase her talent and promote pole dancing as a legitimate sport and art. The tour will also help her spread the word about “poleates,” the program she established that combines pole dancing with the fundamentals of pilates fitness.

“Pole dancing has become mainstream, and it’s only considered a striptease if the pole is used that way intentionally,” she said.

“Some people are still (in the) dark about this beautiful and graceful movement. . . . My intention is to enlighten those who are curious, confused, skeptical or oblivious to the positive benefits of pole fitness.”

A pole-dancing shark diver

Gennaro grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., where she played lacrosse and other sports as a young girl. She received her master’s degree in finance from New York University, but her love of nature quickly drew her away from the office toward more tropical climates.

After graduating from NYU, Gennaro moved to Hawaii, where she lived for nine years, working on a boat and pursuing a second master’s degree in marine biology.

Before she knew it, she was underwater, filming and photographing sea turtles, sharks and other sea life.

In hopes of advancing her film career, Gennaro moved to the Los Angeles area in 2000, where she was soon offered a job with the Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week.”

“ That’s my other career,” Gennaro said. “So now I’ll go to Australia to dive and then go somewhere else right after for a pole dancing competition. It’s great.”

The single mother of 6-yearold twins, Gennaro started pole dancing after giving birth to Austin and Taylor. She was already a certified pilates instructor and was searching for a fun way to get back in shape after her pregnancy.

A friend of hers had taken up pole dancing, and Gennaro was amazed by her physical transformation. Eventually, she decided to open up her own pole-dancing studio in Westlake Village.

“When I first opened up, a lot of people were skeptical,” Gennaro said. “But when they see me, I’m not a 22-year-old girl stripping in a club. I have a master’s degree. I’m a credible filmmaker. And I’m a mother.”

Breaking judgments

Gennaro said she’s proud of what she’s created at Poleates—a “sisterhood” of women, many of whom are moms in their 40s, who are turning to the pole to get in shape and help break the stigma surrounding the sport.

“It really is just dancing,” she said. “Just because the girls are wearing little clothes and dancing in a very sensual way, it doesn’t make it a taboo or dirty thing at all. The skin adheres to the pole, which is why certain areas need to be exposed while you do different moves.”

A beginner’s pole class at the studio consists of 45 minutes of “extreme stretching”—a combination of yoga poses, pilates moves and relaxation and flexibility techniques. Then the students spend another 45 minutes working with the poles, Gennaro said.

Students can come to the classes dressed in whatever they choose—many come in sweat pants and T-shirts. Gennaro said that if a certain move requires skin contact, she might ask the students to roll up their pant legs.

Jamie Novak, 36, of Agoura Hills has been attending poledancing classes at Poleates for more than two years.

“This is my posse,” she said. “These are my girls. You don’t even feel like you’re working out. I rush my kids to school every day so I can come. I come to (the studio) five days a week.”

The studio offers beginning, intermediate and advanced pole dancing classes. Gennaro also teaches a training academy on Sundays designed for dancers who want to compete or perform.

Mary Lechman, 44, of Agoura has been a member of Poleates for three years. She said that pole dancing is more like a hobby than an actual workout.

“ It’s changed my body,” Lechman said. “And everyone is so wonderful and very supportive. It’s just really fun.”

Gennaro said she’s seen many positive transformations in her students, both physically and emotionally. Some women who come into the studio for the first time might be intimidated, she said, but that feeling vanishes quickly. Since opening the studio more than five years ago, she added, not one of her students has ever failed to do the beginning moves.

“It’s a place for mothers, career women and all women to be feminine and get away from society’s pressures,” Gennaro said. “It works every muscle of your body, and you don’t sweat, which is my favorite part. And when you leave, you’re in a whole different frame of mind—you just feel good.”

Poleates is at 31125 Via Colinas, Ste. 903, Westlake Village.

For more information call (818) 706-POLE or visit www.poleates.net.