9:38 PM
Päivi S.
IPDFA's International Pole Championship 2012 in Hong Kong are only a week away. Now we all know that Oona Kivelä is competing there, certainly about to make us Finns proud once again, like she did in Rio. But since it's International Women's Day, let's take a look at the male contestants first.
The seven male contestants in random order are David Helmen and Chris Measday from Australia, Job Bautista from the Philippines, Colombian Wilson Alexander, Adam Tan from Malaysia, Polish Patryk Rybarski and French Saulo Sarmiento.
| It's International Women's Day. Here's a picture of Saulo Sarmiento for you that has nothing to do with pole dancing. |
David Helmen originates from Israel, where he studied classical ballet from the tender age of six. He moved to a yoga ashram in New York at sixteen and became a yoga instructor. David has been training aerial acrobatics in Australia for six years. Ballet, yoga and aerial acrobatics - Talk about a perfect background for the pole! David placed third in Asia Pacific Pole Championships in 2011, after only a year of pole dancing. You can see in this video that his pole tricks were still not perfect back then, but he has had over six months to hone his skills. Ballet dancer or not, I'm hoping he'll go for something less tacky than Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake this time.
Chris Measday has been pole dancing for five years and made it to the Asia Pacific PC final three times, but apparently he still won't take his pants off. The result is impressive but not very original tricks that rely solely on his upper body strength. Unfortunately you can also see that he doesn't have much of a dance background, and the choice of song (Linkin Park from the Twilight soundtrack) makes Tchaikovsky seem like a brilliant idea. See his entry here.
Job, a.k.a. AJ Bautista won the Singapore Pole Challenge in 2011. Not a major event judging by the
ambience, and the choreography looks more like a freestyle, but you couldn't tell that he first started dancing as an adult. But guys, lose the pants, it's really good for grip.
Looking at Wilson Alexander's entry video I'm willing to take back my comment on the pants. At least, if you could find something else than Speedos, please. Wilson, an artistic gymnast, has learned pole dancing impressively in only ten months, but all the jades and allegras and what not leave me wanting for some masculinity. Even though you're pole dancing, you can still be a man!
Adam Tan has been training for three years: dancing, mostly hip hop, and pole dancing as well. He does look cool, but in his trainers (!) and jeans he might prefer a Chinese pole. If you watch his entry video, take a look at his Iron-X:s. Me too, Adam, I'm still struggling to hold them myself.
Patryk Rybarski is a Dancer with a capital D. Watching his video I find myself hoping that he wouldn't head straight back to the pole but keep on dancing instead. He's not bad on the pole, it's just that he is not extraordinary either. And his choice of song, Adam Lambert, makes the Twilight soundtrack seen like a classy choice...
Saulo Sarmiento, originally from the Canary Islands, started training gymnastics and dance 11 years ago and is my vote for the winner of IPC's male category this year. Check out his video and judge for yourselves. Last year he won the Compétition Francaise de Pole Dance. It's a shame Edouard Doyé wasn't in that competition, though, and it's a shame he's not in this one, either.
I have to say that I'm a tad disappointed with the male contestants in Hong Kong. They are obviously talented, it just seems that it's too early for some of them to be in a major international competition. The hilarious and über-talented Steven Retchless and the superb Edouard Doyé where both here in Helsinki, competing in PoleArt last October. None of the guys above reach their level. It just goes to show: Hong Kong, Shmong Kong, Helsinki IS the pole dancing capital of the world!
Tankotanssin maailmanlaajuiset IPC 2012 -kisat pidetään viikon päästä Hong Kongissa. Naistenpäivän kunniaksi pieni katsaus miesten sarjan kisailijoihin, joiden taso ei mielestäni kuitenkaan ole yhtä hyvä kuin Helsingissä pidetyssä PoleArtissa lokakuussa 2011.
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