There are over 60 women and one man, dressed in black athleisure of every kind, warming up on a Sunday afternoon at The Pole Camp’s ECR studio. Anusha Swamy, pole artiste and founder, is checking to see if the poles fitted across the studio floor and ceiling are in alignment. “There might be nerves, so let us dance it out,” says Mridula Joseph, and everyone breaks into a dance as Shakira’s ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ plays over the speakers. Then, a rehearsal begins. All of them move with ease, graceful on the floor and fluid on the poles. For every breathtaking spin, every move that has some performers suspended upside-down, the others applaud. The Chennai-based pole dancing school is gearing up for its first public showcase, Becoming, at the Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall on August 16. Envisioned as an elaborate production and not as a pole show alone, Becoming will be based on the navarasa or the nine emotions, and will have 64 students present thematic, choreographed pieces with the pole, take the stage. Anusha, who founded the studio nearly five years ago, says that when things started, she expected pole to thrive in Chennai as a fitness activity. “It did. But given how I am a dancer myself, I realised that the dance is what makes this so interesting. I slowly began to introduce choreography lessons and saw how much my students enjoyed it even though many of them haven’t danced before,” she says. Choosing to base Becoming on the navarasa, Anusha says, was the result of a roller-coaster of emotions she felt after a dental surgery. “In our 30s, somehow everyday feels like a complex mix of these multiple emotions. We go through this not just with life, but with pole as well. There is the initial fear to try it out, the happiness and exhilaration of getting it right, the courage to experiment and do better…” she says.