BARTLETT, TN — Fire stations of the United States: beware! That long, thick, metal pole running through the center of your building may just qualify you as an Adult-Oriented Business!That’s what Rachel Vint, the owner of what she hoped would be a dance studio offering a wide variety of musically-inspired movement and exercise courses, learned when she was informed that the humble shop she hoped to open is actually an adult-oriented business. Why? Because she wants to install vertical metal poles and offer local soccer moms and other dance lovers the latest in dance and exercise.
Perhaps unaware that actual exotic dancers also use floors, steps, rails, and even chin-up bars during their routines, the city of Barlett determined that the installment of the vertical dance poles turned Vint’s otherwise innocent dance studio into an adult business – something that’s not allowed within the city limits.
Vint has received a stop work order; meaning that she can not open her studio nor continue construction on it.
“We don’t sell toys, videos; we don’t hold naked parties. There are no orgies going on here,” Vint fumed to WSMV-Nashville.
As far as Vint is concerned, it’s just a dance class – and a very popular one, if the rest of the country is to be taken into consideration.
“It’s just simply women coming in, getting a good time, getting a good workout, losing weight, and feeling good about themselves,” she informed WSMV.
Vint has explained her athletic intentions to the mayor, but he couldn’t see past the poles. “When I spoke with him, he said if I had just had a dance studio that would be one thing; but when I installed the poles, I became an adult-oriented business,” she recountes.
It didn’t matter that Vint has never been a stripper nor worked in the adult entertainment field. Her dance credentials are in ballet – and although she once taught a strip-to-fit class in another city, she insists that she refuses to teach anyone who wants to be a stripper.
“I’m not teaching strippers,” she assures. “I turn them away and try to talk them out of it. It’s all about empowering women.”
“I think, when it comes down to it; we live in the Bible Belt,” she concludes.
Vint, who describes the situation as a “dream” turned into a “nightmare,” plans to hire an attorney.
