Five metal poles rise from the floor to the ceiling of an exercise room in the Masonic Hall in Merced. A line of tall high-heeled boots sits against the wall. Warm red wall lights fill the room with a subtle glow.
And on a hot day last week, Tina Kelly, a 28-year-old from Hilmar, wrapped herself around one of the poles -- upside down.
For the last two years, this mother from Hilmar, along with her sister (neither of whom have ever worked as strippers) have taught pole fitness in Modesto and Turlock at studios run by Venus Pole Fitness, their company.
Now they're offering their $25 classes in Merced at the Holistic Xchange.
The sisters are part of the recent national trend that has spawned an association. It has certified pole fitness studios from Los Angeles to England and even is making an effort to make pole fitness an Olympic sport.
According to Kelly, the trend began in 2001 after actress Sheila Kelley opened the first pole fitness studio in Los Angeles. As part of her preparation for a role in a film, Kelley took classes with an exotic dancer. The classes, according to her Web site, were so transformative that Kelley took more courses. She eventually began teaching others.
The popularity of the classes has taken what was until recently merely strip club routines and molded them into an exercise craze. "Without exotic dancers, pole fitness would not be around," said Kelly.
Kelly, 28, said when they first opened up shop it "raised a lot of eyebrows." But aside from its origins and moves and, of course, the poles, Kelly's classes don't resemble strip clubs. There is "no nudity in our class," said Kelly.
She describes it as yoga on a pole. They start classes by stretching and then move slowly to a couple of moves on the pole. The first is a basic swirl around the it. From there her students move to more and more challenging moves. Eventually, they have built enough upper body strength to hang upside down from the pole, among other drills.
Kelly and her sister Diane Flores, started the company after they saw Sheila Kelley on the Oprah Winfrey Show. "If Oprah says it's OK, it's OK," said Kelly. Afterward they hosted a couple of "pole parties" for friends. They would show the crowd how to do simple pole dance moves.
Soon they were being requested at bachelorette parties. To get more serious, the pair went to Southern California and took classes at O.C. Pole Fitness, whose owner is a board member of the Pole Fitness Association. Finally, they got certified there as well.
Kelly said that the class is about having fun and building up confidence while you exercise, not dancing for an audience. "I'm never going to put them on a stage and say, 'Show them what you learned,'" she said.
While many of her students are initially shy and reluctant to move in a sensual way, they eventually come around, she said. It makes them feel comfortable being sexy, she said.
It's an exercise but also a personal performance, which gets people out of their shell, she said. "I want them to have a really good time."
While there are no men in any of her classes yet that doesn't mean they haven't benefited too, said Kelly. "We have a lot of happy husbands and boyfriends."
Reporter Jonah Owen Lamb can be reached at (209) 385-2484 or jlamb@mercedsun-star.com
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