Aqua
06-06-2007, 02:25 PM
(SF)
Original story here (http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4865416.html)
By DAVID KAPLAN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
Not your typical workout
The S Factor studio has confronted image issues as it tries to sell stripping-based fitness routine as empowering and not sleazy
Only gradually is Gina Villarreal letting friends know about the class she's taking. It's shocking when they first hear about it. She still hasn't told her mother.
"When people ask you why you're looking so happy, you can't say, 'I learned a new pole trick today,' " she said.
Pole as in the kind strippers use. She's also learning to lap dance.
A marketing rep for a health care company, Villarreal is learning strip routines at S Factor, which opened in Houston last month.
Women in other cities have gone through the S Factor experience and sing its praises.
Not only do they get in a good workout, but they say it's liberating, allowing them to express their sensuality in a safe environment without being judged by men.
But it doesn't sound like the kind of a thing nice girls do, which created a marketing challenge for S Factor.
The California-based company had to address a potential image problem: that what it's offering may seem sleazy and degrading to women.
Unlike other S Factor studios in California, Illinois and New York, the Houston location will be the first in a red state.
The S Factor is the brainchild of actress Sheila Kelley, who opened her first studio in 2001 in Los Angeles.
She got the idea for her business after learning to striptease for a movie role. Fellow actresses Kate Hudson, Teri Hatcher, Allison Janney and Lindsay Lohan have taken her classes.
Kelley's book The S Factor: Strip Workouts for Every Woman is in its fifth printing, and she sells three exercise DVDs: The Beginning, S Factor 2 and Intermediate With Lap Dance and Pole Work 101.
Since the first studio opened six years ago, S Factor has had success. "Being asked on Oprah six times did not hurt," Kelley said by telephone.
Currently she has 11 studios with about 4,000 women enrolled.
She plans to open 14 studios next year and 20 more the following year. She wouldn't reveal her revenue.
S Factor's temporary Houston location is in Montrose, with a permanent studio scheduled to open near the Galleria. Eight weeks of two-hour sessions are $440.
Kelley has created an S Factor lifestyle brand that includes a clothing line, a book, DVDs and an online community.
A former dance major at New York University, she studied ballet, modern and other kinds of dance.
When visiting strip clubs to prepare for a movie role, she found the places degrading but discovered that the dance movements themselves are "beautiful" and a way for a woman to "celebrate her curves and sensuality."
Through S Factor she seeks to separate the dance movements from the seediness of the striptease industry. There is no nudity in her classes, but students do peel off clothes to another layer of attire.
Kelley strives to overcome the negative stereotype associated with stripping by using the word "wholesome" as often as she can when describing her program.
And when posing for S Factor-related pictures, she opts for shots projecting "inner joy" as opposed to something more provocative, she said.
Meaning of 'S'
The "S" in S Factor is a reference to a woman's curves. But it could easily interpreted as standing for "sex" or "stripping," noted Betsy Gelb, professor of marketing at the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston.
S Factor could benefit from a slogan like "Wholesome, Fun, Tones You Up," Gelb said.
"I'd position this as a new, fun version of Curves," Gelb said. Gelb doesn't think that many younger women will feel stigmatized by the concept anyway.
"Getting together with a bunch of women in a way your mother never would have would be fun," she said. "I think this is kind of a natural winner."
Even with older women, "I can imagine them thinking: 'Wouldn't it be kind of fun to be 22 and just kind of showing off who you are?' It's like wearing a costume," Gelb said.
Local psychologist Sally Porter explained S Factor's appeal.
"To do the routines with other women does seem empowering, like a delicious bit of safe fun," she said.
However, Porter said, she can understand the objections.
"There are pros and cons, but I think the benefits outweigh the costs," she said. "You'd have to trust your internal wisdom to see how it made you feel."
Gelb doesn't believe, though, that the exercise class would be demeaning.
Without men, "it's a whole different ballgame," she said.
'Pure movement'
Rachael Huntley, an instructor at S Factor and its director of Texas expansion, agrees.
"I've been so immersed in it that it's funny when people are shocked by it. To me, it's just about pure movement and self expression," said The Woodlands native, who earned a degree in nuclear engineering from Texas A&M University.
Noting that there are no mirrors in the class, Huntley said: "It's more on how your body feels rather than how you look."
The first group of classes in Houston sold out after 100 women enrolled, Huntley said.
After the Houston operation is up and running, she will set up studios in Dallas and Austin.
At S Factor in Houston, an advanced training class was recently held for some teachers. The instructor was Tina Khraishi, who began by leading participants in stretching.
"Your body falls into a trance into a place of pure relaxation," she said, speaking slowly and dramatically. "There are no boundaries. There are no limits."
Then she gave a movement command you probably wouldn't hear in ballet class: "Take that booty all the way out and around the room."
The class is casual, with plenty of laughter and chatter.
The pole work session resembles a gymnastics class as the women take turns doing pole routines: Pole Cat, Descending Angel, Helicopter and Snake. The women encourage each other with applause and hoots and hollers.
"The first day in class, I was very scared. What in the hell am I getting myself into?" Villareal said. But now, "you feel like you're high on life when you're done with class."
Original story here (http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4865416.html)
By DAVID KAPLAN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
Not your typical workout
The S Factor studio has confronted image issues as it tries to sell stripping-based fitness routine as empowering and not sleazy
Only gradually is Gina Villarreal letting friends know about the class she's taking. It's shocking when they first hear about it. She still hasn't told her mother.
"When people ask you why you're looking so happy, you can't say, 'I learned a new pole trick today,' " she said.
Pole as in the kind strippers use. She's also learning to lap dance.
A marketing rep for a health care company, Villarreal is learning strip routines at S Factor, which opened in Houston last month.
Women in other cities have gone through the S Factor experience and sing its praises.
Not only do they get in a good workout, but they say it's liberating, allowing them to express their sensuality in a safe environment without being judged by men.
But it doesn't sound like the kind of a thing nice girls do, which created a marketing challenge for S Factor.
The California-based company had to address a potential image problem: that what it's offering may seem sleazy and degrading to women.
Unlike other S Factor studios in California, Illinois and New York, the Houston location will be the first in a red state.
The S Factor is the brainchild of actress Sheila Kelley, who opened her first studio in 2001 in Los Angeles.
She got the idea for her business after learning to striptease for a movie role. Fellow actresses Kate Hudson, Teri Hatcher, Allison Janney and Lindsay Lohan have taken her classes.
Kelley's book The S Factor: Strip Workouts for Every Woman is in its fifth printing, and she sells three exercise DVDs: The Beginning, S Factor 2 and Intermediate With Lap Dance and Pole Work 101.
Since the first studio opened six years ago, S Factor has had success. "Being asked on Oprah six times did not hurt," Kelley said by telephone.
Currently she has 11 studios with about 4,000 women enrolled.
She plans to open 14 studios next year and 20 more the following year. She wouldn't reveal her revenue.
S Factor's temporary Houston location is in Montrose, with a permanent studio scheduled to open near the Galleria. Eight weeks of two-hour sessions are $440.
Kelley has created an S Factor lifestyle brand that includes a clothing line, a book, DVDs and an online community.
A former dance major at New York University, she studied ballet, modern and other kinds of dance.
When visiting strip clubs to prepare for a movie role, she found the places degrading but discovered that the dance movements themselves are "beautiful" and a way for a woman to "celebrate her curves and sensuality."
Through S Factor she seeks to separate the dance movements from the seediness of the striptease industry. There is no nudity in her classes, but students do peel off clothes to another layer of attire.
Kelley strives to overcome the negative stereotype associated with stripping by using the word "wholesome" as often as she can when describing her program.
And when posing for S Factor-related pictures, she opts for shots projecting "inner joy" as opposed to something more provocative, she said.
Meaning of 'S'
The "S" in S Factor is a reference to a woman's curves. But it could easily interpreted as standing for "sex" or "stripping," noted Betsy Gelb, professor of marketing at the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston.
S Factor could benefit from a slogan like "Wholesome, Fun, Tones You Up," Gelb said.
"I'd position this as a new, fun version of Curves," Gelb said. Gelb doesn't think that many younger women will feel stigmatized by the concept anyway.
"Getting together with a bunch of women in a way your mother never would have would be fun," she said. "I think this is kind of a natural winner."
Even with older women, "I can imagine them thinking: 'Wouldn't it be kind of fun to be 22 and just kind of showing off who you are?' It's like wearing a costume," Gelb said.
Local psychologist Sally Porter explained S Factor's appeal.
"To do the routines with other women does seem empowering, like a delicious bit of safe fun," she said.
However, Porter said, she can understand the objections.
"There are pros and cons, but I think the benefits outweigh the costs," she said. "You'd have to trust your internal wisdom to see how it made you feel."
Gelb doesn't believe, though, that the exercise class would be demeaning.
Without men, "it's a whole different ballgame," she said.
'Pure movement'
Rachael Huntley, an instructor at S Factor and its director of Texas expansion, agrees.
"I've been so immersed in it that it's funny when people are shocked by it. To me, it's just about pure movement and self expression," said The Woodlands native, who earned a degree in nuclear engineering from Texas A&M University.
Noting that there are no mirrors in the class, Huntley said: "It's more on how your body feels rather than how you look."
The first group of classes in Houston sold out after 100 women enrolled, Huntley said.
After the Houston operation is up and running, she will set up studios in Dallas and Austin.
At S Factor in Houston, an advanced training class was recently held for some teachers. The instructor was Tina Khraishi, who began by leading participants in stretching.
"Your body falls into a trance into a place of pure relaxation," she said, speaking slowly and dramatically. "There are no boundaries. There are no limits."
Then she gave a movement command you probably wouldn't hear in ballet class: "Take that booty all the way out and around the room."
The class is casual, with plenty of laughter and chatter.
The pole work session resembles a gymnastics class as the women take turns doing pole routines: Pole Cat, Descending Angel, Helicopter and Snake. The women encourage each other with applause and hoots and hollers.
"The first day in class, I was very scared. What in the hell am I getting myself into?" Villareal said. But now, "you feel like you're high on life when you're done with class."