According to Page Six, that would be Christine Schwarzman, wife of Blackstone Group head Stephen Schwarzman at a party thrown by Denise Rich:
Pole-dancing under the flashing lights was Christine Schwarzman to the amusement of her husband Stephen, the Blackstone Group and Kennedy Center boss.
Enquiring minds wanna know: Where did she acquire her skills? Does Mrs. S have her very own pole installed at home? Will this be the latest fitness trend (classes are being offered around town) moving from Hollywood to Wall Street? (see more on the latter below)
THE American invasion of St. Tropez has the locals upset. Just a day after Sean Combs was ordered to remove his 277-foot yacht from the harbor because his guests threw too much garbage overboard, Denise Rich had her party shut down early at 2:30 a.m. because her guests were making too much noise. After dinner and drinks aboard Rich's sleek, 145-foot yacht, "Lady Joy," 300 luminaries disembarked to the old port, where an actual merry-go-round had been de-horsed and converted into a rotating dance floor surrounded by go-go girls in cages. Pole-dancing under the flashing lights was Christine Schwarzman to the amusement of her husband Stephen, the Blackstone Group and Kennedy Center boss. Also on the carousel were a well-bronzed George Hamilton, Anne Hathaway, Rena Sendi, Terry Allen Kramer and Serena Boardman. P.M. Lounge emcee Unik handed the mike to Combs, who rapped over his new record with James Brown.
Denise's Bash Too Merry - Page Six
And yes, pole dancing is going mainstream.....
But striptease workouts are gaining mainstream acceptance.
The exercise programs combining moves usually seen in topless bars with aerobic training have been around since at least 2001, starting in small, boutique exercise studios. The routines have also been available on DVDs, including several by Carmen Electra.
Now the general population appears to be ready for the sexy workouts — if they are done tastefully, says Donna Meyer, corporate director of group exercise at 24 Hour Fitness. The club began rolling out the classes at nearly all of its 362 locations nationwide in June.
Other local and national gyms offer similar classes, though not all are coed. Some, for women only, place more emphasis on the sensual than the cardiovascular, but all claim to make workouts more enjoyable.....
Not everyone is comfortable in a coed setting. At the striptease and pole dancing classes at Sheila Kelley's S Factor studios there are no mirrors, no windows — and no men.
Kelley, an actress, says she fell in love with sensual dancing while researching her role as a stripper for the 1999 film "Dancing at the Blue Iguana." She started by teaching friends in her Hancock Park house, and now has seven studios in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco, with more on the way. S Factor offers seven levels of strip and pole dancing exercise. Like in martial arts achievement, levels are color-coded. But instead of a belt, beginners get a white G-string; top-level students earn the right to wear a black G-string.
Kelley's women-only workouts combine elements of yoga, Pilates and dance. Learning "tricks" like the Snake and the Helicopter on the shiny chrome poles develops upper body strength, she says. The two-hour classes start with stretching and breathing exercises on the softly lighted floor, then progress to calisthenic-like movements and less inhibited dance and strip moves. The workouts get the heart rate up, but that doesn't seem to be the focus — it's more about stretching and slow, sensuous movement.
At S Factor sessions, some women take nothing off, others might wear 6-inch heels and strip to their G-string. Kelley says the classes are as much about empowering women and helping them to be comfortable with their bodies and sexuality in a supportive environment as they are about exercise. And that's great for your sex life, says newly married Renee Christopher, a second-level (pink G-string) student at S Factor....
Go ahead, people, take it all off - Los Angeles Times
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