From the outside, the front studio of the Unified Training Center looked like just another stop on the monthly Art Walk around Gainesville.
But the art on display at the center Friday night was not the prints and paintings most stops showcase during the monthly event. This art was in motion. Students and teachers of Studio Sensuale, a company that gives lessons in burlesque and pole dancing, showed off their moves on one of the polished metal poles affixed to the room's ceiling and floor.
"[Pole dancing] is about stripping off your layers and drinking in your sensuality," said Mary Jane Brunel, owner of French Addiction lingerie store and Studio Sensuale.
But Friday, the women in provocative clothing and towering heels danced for more than personal satisfaction.
The dance showcase served as a fundraiser. Raffle tickets for various prizes were sold and money was collected for breast cancer research and women with the disease.
Brunel, whose close friend is a breast cancer survivor, wanted to donate to a cause that touches women.
"It's a very stressful transition from normal, everyday life to being a struggle to survive," Brunel said.
Studio Sensuale, which calls itself a "stripper school for beginners," has been teaching pole dancing for about a year. The $100 made from the first class was donated to breast cancer research, and Friday's event collected about $500.
"Pole dancing has all this baggage associated with it - dirty strip clubs, dirty old men - but that's not what it's about," said instructor Rebecca Butler. "It helps [women] feel good about themselves."
Pop music set the mood as Butler took a spin on the pole to show the crowd what dancing is all about. In seven-and-a-half-inch heels, she climbed up the pole with little effort, flipped herself and slid elegantly down. For two minutes, she spun and shook, a smile never leaving her face.
There were women and men, young and old, patrons of Studio Sensuale and curious locals who stumbled upon the event as they walked down West University Avenue. Nevertheless, each viewer was wowed by Butler's flexibility and grace. They eagerly applauded her and chanted, "Go girl!" when she pulled off an especially gravity-defying twirl.
By the time she finished her demonstration, sweat had gathered on her forehead, and she sipped ice water in an attempt to cool off.
"It's not only fun and sexy, but it's also a good workout," Butler said.
The fundraiser was also a kickoff for Studio Sensuale's new home in the center. Classes were once taught in French Addiction. With only one pole in the shop and the burden of reorganizing racks of undergarments to make room for dancing before each class, it was a crowded location.
The new center lends more poles and more space to move.
Brunel said she plans to keep hosting fundraisers while helping women "into their femininity, their diva, their goddess side" through pole dancing.
