These are scenes that may seem surprising in Saudi Arabia. However, in Riyadh, at least three gyms now offer pole dancing lessons. “Five or ten years ago, we never would have thought about it. We were limited to looking for a place to do yoga or very easy things,” explains May al-Youssef, owner of a pole dance studio in the Saudi capital.
Show the physical and sporting demands of pole dance
However, in recent years, the authorities have sought to further open up the society to soften its image internationally and among its own young people, despite fierce political repression targeting feminist activists in particular. And this is especially through sport.
“When I told my parents (that I wanted to start pole dancing), they were totally against it,” says Nada, a 28-year-old Saudi woman.
The objective of these women is to break the clichés about this practice and, above all, to show the physical and sporting demands of pole dance. “After a few lessons, I showed them the videos (…) and now they understood that it was not that easy,” Nada continued.
Well-being and self-confidence
The young woman also says that if her friends and colleagues thought at first “that was wrong”, now they also want to try pole dancing.
“I feel like there’s more interest in pole dancing because it’s something new that girls like to try,” says May al-Youssef.
For many years, restrictions on what Saudi women could wear or do severely limited their opportunities for physical activity.
“In the beginning there was a problem with the low number of coaches. We had to do several sessions to train some coaches, to have some who could train others,” added May al-Youssef.
What these women point out is the well-being that this sport provides, especially in relation to the body, and above all, self-confidence. Nevertheless, NGOs regularly single out Saudi Arabia for serious human rights violations, in particular for its crackdown on feminist activists.
Source: BFM TV
