Cleo the Hurricane, Anastasia Skukhtorva, Evgeny Greshilov and Natasha Wang have gained international fame as champion pole dance competitors.

Pole dancing is raising the bar on routines that involve spinning, bending and suspending one's self in the air with just the right geometry to keep from falling.

Pole Fitness has exploded in the last few years with the U.S. quickly embracing a world craze. More than 180,000 Pole Athletes in over 70 countries are working to get Pole Sports into the 2016 Olympics. That's how serious they are and how high they are aiming. Similar to feats you'll see in aerial acts such as Cirque du Soleil shows, pole dance routines integrate music, dramatic lighting and costumes to entertain audiences with athletic feats using hands, feet and body parts interacting with poles in amazing ways. It's fascinating to see, and in many gyms you can now take pole dance classes for body toning.

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