Club Chrome

A sex worker-led pole dance collective which prioritises BIPOC, LGBTQI+ & SWers.

HONEYDIP & ASAP.MERC (@honeydipchinchilla_ & @asap_merc) photographed by Ammar (@a_horizon_line) — **HONEYDIP & ASAP.MERC**
(@honeydipchinchilla_ & @asap_merc) photographed by Ammar (@a_horizon_line)

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Club Chrome is an amazing pole dancing showcase that prioritises LGBTQI+, BIPOC and Sex Workers (SW); all performers are either one or more of these identities. It celebrates the performance art of pole dance whilst not shying away from its association with strip clubs, and proceeds go to SW-affiliated organisations! It is a safe space celebrating the intersections between the diverse communities of Sydney. Acts explore gender expression and athletic prowess. There are a wide range of performers that utilise pole in lots of different ways; current sex workers (ranging from strippers to full service sex workers), drag queens, drag kings, aerial doubles, acts that take on a more comedic element, others that are brute strength, or some which more theatrical. Creative expression is encouraged!

Why society needs Club Chrome

What do people of colour, queer people and sex workers all have in common? They deviate from the norm in the patriarchal society we live in. They don’t have access to the same privileges that others do. With Club Chrome, the aim is to create a queer-friendly performance space that has not previously existed in Sydney. Throughout the world, similar queer pole spaces are flourishing, as queer communities bring a more experimental approach to their pole work by playing with gender constructs and subverting the norms inside a pole scene that is predominately white, cisgendered, heteronormative and in denial of the strip club influence. This means current strippers often do not feel welcome to partake in the pole community, despite being incredible performers. As a queer focused event, Club Chrome uses pole and its associations to challenge conventions of female sexuality, as it is so often framed in relation to cisgender men’s desires.

The woman behind it all

Linh, the founder of Club Chrome is a queer Vietnamese ex-stripper and pole dancer. She created Club Chrome in December 2020 to prioritise people of colour, queer people and sex workers, and to raise awareness and money for sex workers. She hoped to create a space that was fun and vibrant and that would bring both pole dancers and sex workers together whilst prioritising queer or POC. She imagined recreating that feeling of community and belonging that she herself felt in the strip club locker room, out on queer nights or during late nights at the pole studio and to share this with others. Linh says that Club Chrome could not happen without all the work that every performer and all those behind the scenes puts in, and she considers every person involved an integral part of what makes Club Chrome so special.