TAKING up pole dancing at the age of 65 isn't an obvious choice for a hobby, but for Pauline Whysall it was something she'd always fancied doing – and she wasn't going to let age stand in her way.
"It was coming up to my 65th birthday and I knew a woman at work who did pole dancing lessons. It's something I'd always wanted to do," says Pauline, from Forest Fields, who works as a nurse at City Hospital.
Pauline rang Sandrea Simons of Pole Palais in Church Street, New Basford, unsure of whether she would be too old to take part in the classes, but Sandrea says age, and indeed size, isn't an issue.
" There isn't an age or size limit – we've got ladies as large as 17 stone right down to seven stone," says Sandrea.
Mum-of-two and grandma-of-three, Pauline, from Forest Fields, adds: "It's got a really nice atmosphere, there are young as well as older people here."
She admits she's had criticisms but that's not going to stop her doing something she enjoys.
"I have had various comments from people but I like doing it and I will carry on doing as long as I still can," says Pauline.
"My husband thinks it's great, he keeps talking about buying me a pole! My two grown-up daughters think I'm mad."
After three months of practising her moves, Pauline has achieved spinning and climbing up the pole – but what she really wants to do is hang upside down from the pole.
"I really enjoy it. It's challenging and setting yourself the task to go upside down is quite a challenge. I was fit before but now I feel a lot stronger," says Pauline, who used to stay fit in the gym.
Instructor Sandrea started pole dancing five years ago and has been running Pole Palais for two years. At 47-years-old, she came to pole dancing later in life herself. Sandrea says: "I prefer it when I get the more mature lady because it makes me feel like you're never too old to try something new. I think the average woman thinks that if you go into a pole class it's going to be skinny 20-year-olds."
Although the professionals make it look easy, pole dancing is actually very difficult to master. At Pole Palais, novices start with a basic pirouette around the pole or a small spin, while advanced moves include climbing to the top of the pole and hanging upside down.
"Then there's the layout where your thighs cross over the pole gripping it in between and you're leaning back," explains Sandrea.
"We try to build the students' upper body and core strength before they even attempt going upside down."
Mum-of-one Sandrea Simons, from Sherwood, got into pole dancing after going to a class for her 42nd birthday and realising how good it was for her body.
"Afterwards I didn't feel like I'd done any fitness because I'd had so much fun," says Sandrea of that first time.
"Two days later the aching that I got made me realise that it really pulled on my upper body strength and I thought if something makes me feel like this then it must be good for me."
Within a year she was completely addicted and going to as many lessons as she could. It gave me a lot of confidence and my body was changing. When I first started I felt a bit mumsy, I wasn't overweight or anything but I wanted more shape," says Sandrea.
"Pole dancing has sculpted my body and cut into my muscles. I feel like I've gone from having a figure that I wasn't happy with to having the figure that I had when I was 20-years-old."
At that time she was studying for a masters degree in art at Nottingham Trent University but Sandrea also did a teaching course on how to teach pole dancing alongside it.
"I decided to open my own school but the great thing is that I've been able to use my arty side to decorate the studio. It's an oasis in the middle of nowhere really," says Sandrea.
"I was a single parent on income support and I really wanted to get off benefits and wanted to use my degree. Now I'm not on any benefits, it gives me a wage and it's a place where people come and enjoy themselves."
She has 15 poles at her studio and also offers burlesque lessons and vintage sewing classes.
Pole lessons start at £6 for the group classes of 11 to 20 people and private lessons of one to three people are from £10 to £30. She also hosts pole dancing and burlesque hen parties.
Sandrea says: "It's a place where women can come and have an hour away from their kids or husband and have an hour to themselves."
For further details on Sandrea's classes, go to www.polepalais.com
