Beauty Lies Within, (32 Forrest St., Wilkes-Barre). For info or to book a class: 570.793.5757, sl.beautylieswithin@gmail.com.
As the lights dim and En Vogue begins to sing, “I’m giving him something he can feel/ To let him know this love is real,” a beautiful young woman in thigh-high stockings and tantalizing black heels begins a seductive dance. She is, without a doubt, sexy.
“Anybody can be sexy,” says Sarah LaBarbera. “It doesn’t matter if you’re 15 or 50. It doesn’t matter if you weigh 110 pounds or 310 pounds. You can still learn to move with confidence and sex appeal.”
LaBarbera, once an exotic dancer, now teaches other women what sensuality is all about at her dance and fitness studio, Beauty Lies Within, in south Wilkes-Barre. LaBarbera, 28 and a Danville native, offers Zumba and lap dancing lessons at the studio. She also plans to offer Pilates starting in January. The majority of the classes she teaches, however, are focused on pole dancing.
“It really gets you into shape,” she says. “For anyone that’s not looking for a gym-like, treadmill-based workout, this is perfect. It’s fun, and you don’t even realize that it’s exercise. So while you’re losing weight you’re becoming a really good dancer, too.”
LaBarbera offers three different price packages. One class a week is $15, two classes a week are $10 each and three or more classes a week are $8 each. She also offers a free beginner’s class so women can decide if pole dancing is something they want to continue with.
LaBarbera opened Beauty Lies Within a little less than a year ago after doing some research on the Internet. She found lap and pole dancing classes were being offered to women in larger cities throughout the country, and even though she knows this area could be a bit conservative, she still felt confident about giving the business a shot.
“There is often a negative stereotype attached to pole dancing,” she says, “but I really think this is something even modest women will want to try. Any woman who has been to a strip club and seen a girl who really knew what she was doing on the pole has said to herself, ‘I wish I knew how to do that.’”
That desire is what led Cindy Newhart to LaBarbera’s studio four months ago. She said she was going through a particularly hard time in her life and wanted to do something that would boost her confidence.
“I really needed some fun and excitement, and I wanted to lose a little weight, too,” Newhart says. “And I definitely got all of that here. I’ve already lost 10 pounds.”
Even though she’s been dancing only a short time, Newhart, LaBarbera says, is her best student, and says she can really notice the change in her attitude after a class.
“When she first comes in you can tell she’s tired and her shoulders are slumped,” LaBarbera says. “But when we’re done she’s standing tall and has a bounce in her step.”
Although most of her clients are in their 20s like Newhart, LaBarbera does teach a few older women.
“My oldest student is 53,” she says. “She comes in three times a week. You know that saying, ‘You can’t teach an old dog new tricks?’ That couldn’t be further from the truth. Women are beautiful, passionate creatures at any age, and once our inhibitions are lowered we can really let those sides of ourselves come out.”
A lot of women come to LaBarbera’s studio wanting to learn lap or pole dancing as a way to spice up their relationships. Many of them learn routines, with the help of a male mannequin named Manny, as a surprise to perform for their significant other.
“A sexy dance makes a great gift for a man,” LaBarbera says.
“My husband loves it,” Newhart agrees, referring to the pole she recently had installed in her home.
LaBarbera says she has also seen an increase in the number of bachelorette parties she has booked over the past few months. The parties, LaBarbera says, include both lap and pole dancing techniques, and she and her staff even have the equipment to do sexy photo shoots with the ladies.
What lucky husbands-to-be.
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