Athletics and Art of Pole Dancing

Over winter break, I came across this video for Mr. Pole Dance Germany 2011:

I was amazed and impressed by the athletic skill displayed in the video, and so went on to look for Miss Pole Dance winners, and was disappointed to find this:

While the first video was sexual, it was sexual in the way that most men's athletics are sexual: displays of strength, calling back to an evolutionary mindset (in which physical strength means good genes). I found Felix Cane disappointing in comparison. Her act was also super awesome, but the music was depressing and boring, and her dance made her seem kind of like a vulnerable, distressed woman.

I brought this up to MC over skype, and she linked me to the most glorious pole dance video I've ever seen:

She's happy, she's smiling, she's incredibly athletic. It was a fantastic mood boost.

I didn't have a problem with the fact that the three peformances had varying levels of sexualness to them. I had a problem with the difference between the way Carlos's and Felix's acts were to be perceived by the audience. With Carlos, the desired (and acquired) reaction from the audience seemed to be impressed, loud, happy, excited. With Felix, the reaction seemed to be hushed, in awe, impressed by beauty, but also giving the audience (THE GAZE) a level of authority over her.