Pole Dance Championship 2012, New York City, United States

History
It is probable pole dancing started in America in the 1920s depression, with dancers in traveling shows using a tent pole as a prop. The relationship to Chinese poles is unclear, Chinese troupes performed in Barnum and Bailey's Circus from 1914 but they did not perform on poles.
Pole dancing gradually began evolving from tents to bars as burlesque became more acceptable in the 1950s. In the 1980s pole dancing and striptease became popular in Canada and then in the USA.