Dimitry Politov, 34, has been doing pole movement since 2012. He was born in Russia and lived in the country till 2011. The pole dancer moved to Ukraine in 2012 and was there till 2021. He now lives in Turkey. He won world pole dance and pole sport championships 9 times from 2015 to 2021. His idea is to use the pole as an instrument to share the skill experience (like parkour, krump, break dance etc.) combined with emotional aspects and feelings.
Dimitry speaks to Sunday Oyinloye, Publisher Green Savannah Diplomatic Cable
Excerpts:
How did you get into pole dance?
I just watched a video of Chinese pole artist doing flips on the pole and thought that it would perfectly fit to what i love doing – flips and performances.
How was it like at the beginning?
There was no pole studio, no pole teacher, no equipment, so i trained on street lamps, trees and street signs, which i still do.
When pole dance is mentioned what comes to the mind of many is stripping, what are the similarities?
When people say pole dancing it is a stripping, I say that it can be anything you want. Pole is just a vertical bar and you can do yoga on it, you can dance, you can work out, do acrobatics, breakdance, and, of course, you can do stripping, but I prefer doing my thing.
What are the associated risks with pole dance?
Any sport or dance is a risk. You might injure yourself; it is normal.
You won pole dance championship 9 times from 2015 to 2021, how were you able to do that?
I had a great honor to win world championships 9 times, it took me a lot of dedication, training and mental work. I’m still ready to compete every year, but missed two years
Tell us the most memorable moments of your life?
The most memorable moments of my life are when my kids were born.
What are you doing to encourage the younger generation of pole dancers?
I’m not really doing anything to encourage young generation on purpose, I’m just being myself and they follow, copy or get inspired.
There must be some things that the world does not know about you?
There are many things, but the most interesting would be that I brush my teeth with each leg lifted for 10 counts pointing to 3 different directions and switching the brushing hand from right to left.
Are you working on anything at the moment?
At the moment, I’m working on my pole camps all over the world, where I teach people my things on the pole
