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'Pole dancing comes from sex workers of colour so it is odd to be erased in favour of white women'

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date10 April 2024
Publication titleMyLondon (England)
After her first professional gig at the Red Bull Music Festival in 2018, Leila, who grew up in Catford, found “things snowballed in the best way”. Before she knew it, she was being booked by some of the biggest names in the industry, from Snoop Dogg to Burna Boy

But Leila, who goes by the stage name Cutie Whippingham, had a niggling feeling from early on that the “racism in pole was rife”. She said: “When it comes to social media, the people that are always flagged as being important influential pole dancers have always been white women. But pole actually comes from sex workers of colour, so it’s just really odd that we’re never shown those people, and that they’re always erased by the brands and the competitions and things.”

This feeling was solidified in 2020 when, after the resurgence of Black Lives Matter — a movement that Leila was already involved with — fellow dancers told her about their experiences of racist treatment from well-known studios and business owners. She said: “I knew it existed but it just all came out.”

Leila started Blackstage that same year, a space for people that had been previously marginalised from pole, including queer and non-binary people, people of colour, and plus-sized and disabled people. On Saturday April 6, Blackstage hosted its annual event at The Clapham Grand, the biggest pole show in the UK, which sold out. Leila said the show was “aimed to show pole in its best light, really curated into a piece of art".

She added: “That’s not something that pole often gets. Often, we’re an afterthought or a backup dancer, or something isn’t quite centring us. With the show, it’s all about the dancer. They’re the priority. They’re the star. Everything else around them needs to be to their taste.”

Leila and a panel of judges whittled down 207 applications...

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