Working Out Never Has Been so Sexy: Susan Hilferty Aims to Boost Women’s Self-Esteem With a New Pole Dancing Studio in Coconut Grove
June 1, 2006
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May 28–Though she is a straight-laced pharmaceuticals rep during the day, Susan Hilferty is a dancer at heart. A graduate of the School of American Ballet, she sees music and choreography in ordinary movements.
But three years ago the choreography ideas stopped flowing for the 38-year-old former Miami Heat dancer. A bad breakup with her then fiance slashed Hilferty’s self-esteem as well as her passion for dance, she said.
That is, until she discovered pole dancing — sans the nudity.
“Once I started learning more and more about pole dancing as an art, I realized that while I was going through that rough time in my life I had stopped listening to music and stopped doing the things I loved,” said Hilferty, who recently opened her own studio in Coconut Grove. “So often, women are put down by our society. I want my studio to be a haven for them, a place where their confidence just blossoms and women help other women.”
The fitness trend first sparked by actress Sheila Kelley, who in 2001 opened a studio called The S-Factor in California, inspired Hilferty when she saw it featured on Oprah in 2003. The idea of toning one’s body with the Pilates, yoga and ballet aspects of the erotic dance form while tapping into one’s sensuality fascinated Hilferty.
Soon after seeing the show, she traveled to the West Coast to take classes at Kelley’s studio. She completed her certification with Fawnia Mondey, a Canadian actress and fitness model who popularized pole dancing as a sport in Canada.
Now nearly a month into working as a pharmaceuticals rep and teaching pole dancing by night at her Pole Fitness Studio, Hilferty said she hopes to help pole dancing shed its seedy stigma and gain momentum as an exercise.
She also hopes the studio, which is tucked in a small strip mall above a coin laundry along Southwest 28th Street and Bird Road, strengthens women’s self-esteem along with their muscles.
“I want it to be therapeutic for women so that they can feel happy about themselves and realize that they are beautiful just how God made them,” said Hilferty, who lives in Bal Harbour. “This is about health and feeling empowered by discovering your sensuality; this is not about taking your clothes off and learning how to be a stripper.”
Currently, the studio offers six divisions starting from the beginner’s level called Flirting, to Goddess, where accomplished dancers master several routines and gear up for a private performance. Each level consists of a 90-minute class once a week for six weeks and costs about $270.
On a recent visit, the Flirting class began with about 15 minutes of stretching on Pilates mats followed by floor exercises.
For one known as the “bad kitty,” the six women were told to lie on the floor on their stomachs, bend their knees and lift their legs in the air while arching and lowering their backs and nipping the floor with their heads like a purring kitten.
Hilferty then showed the women a routine in pieces by having them dance around the shiny black poles, leaning their hips away from it and stepping forward in a slow trot as if they were scraping the polish off their toes. More choreography followed, including a move where the women rubbed their bums and gave it a playful spank while watching themselves in one mirrored wall.
As they pulled this move off, Hilferty corrected each woman’s techniques, made jokes and gave them positive feedback.
“I work out a lot so I’m always looking for something new and different to give me an extra push,” said first-time student Joan Cartuccio of Miami. “Besides, I’ve been married 20 years so I need all the help I can get.”
Hilferty, a University of Miami graduate, is enjoying her new business venture.
“I always knew I’d have a ballet bar in my life,” Hilferty said, smiling. “I just didn’t know it would be vertical.”
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Copyright (c) 2006, The Miami Herald
