A middle-aged pole dancer has revealed she took up the sport when eight months pregnant with her fourth child.

Sara Joel was a working as a professional acrobatic dancer with the Cirque du Soleil and took up pole dancing 10 years after performing with them. She had been asked to train someone in pole dancing for the Cirque du Soleil - and decided to brush up her skills but enjoyed it so much she ended up "falling in love" with the sport.

At 44 years old - whileeight months pregnantwith her fourth child - Sara performed her first pole dancing routine at Drom, New York City, and hasn't stopped since. Sara now takes to the pole five days a week and says it's made her "stronger than ever" and she hopes to do it until she physically can't.

Mom-of-four Sara, from Long Island, New York, US, said: "It is empowering as a 54-year-old woman doing this. I am the strongest I have ever been. I want to do this as long as I can manage, I have met a couple of pole dancers that I admire at competitions. They are both in their early 70s and at the top of their game."

Sara Joel has rubbed shoulders with the likes of Sting (

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Sara says she's the strongest she has ever been (

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Sara spent three years performing as an acrobatic dancer in the Cirque du Soleil. At a 10-year reunion of the entertainment company in 2014, Sara was asked if she could help a performer rehearse for a new pole dance number. She said: "Meanwhile, I had never touched a pole. I took a class and fell in love with it immediately and then the person never signed the contract so I never ended up helping them.

"I became a pole dancer instead." Sara's first professional performance was when she was 44 years old and eight months pregnant with her youngest son. She said: "I had danced through the first three pregnancies doing aerial or dancing so I didn't stop with my fourth. I gave my first pole dancing performance when I was eight months pregnant.

"Pole dancing encapsulates everything I had previously trained for and I am used to working with partners - the pole really is your partner." After taking up the sport, Sara says she found the subject "awkward" to talk about with women of a similar age.

Sara has competed all across the US (

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Sara took up pole dancing when she was eight months pregnant (

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She said: "I would say some of the moms out there did look at me a little strange. I did feel a little bit awkward telling people that I do pole dancing. Lately, I will say I am a pole dancer and people can take it or leave it. It is becoming more popular and mainstream."

Since then, Sara has been competing all over the US and competed in five competitions. In 2018, she came first in a competition at the US Pole Dancing Federation in New York City and in 2020 she came first place at the Pole Sport Organisation competition. She said: "I did my first competition in New York City because it was at the same theatre where I did my first performance whilst I was pregnant with my son. It was a full circle moment for me."

In March 2022, Sara was worried that her career was coming to an end after she was told she needed a hip replacement. She said she was "terrified" and put it off as long as she could but went forward with the operation and said it was "hugely successful". Sara said: "I had hip dysplasia and because of that I was extremely flexible. That was my circus trick but it took away the cartilage.

"I was terrified, I didn't want to get a hip replacement. I was so scared but everyone I spoke to said it was a very successful surgery." Sara says she finds pole dancing "empowering" and she's made friends with like-minded women through it. She has no plans to stop and hopes to do it for as long as she can. Sara said: "I had met a couple of pole dancers that I admire and hang out with.

"I have a friend who is a 73-year-old pole dancer who has had both of her hips replaced. There is another 71-year-old woman I know who has had her hip replaced. Pole dancing is empowering, you meet so many wonderful people - it is a supportive community. You have everything to win, whether it be strength or empowerment."