Empowering You Through Dance and Movement
About Us
Based in Kota Kinabalu, Pole Oasis is a safe, judgement-free zone for anyone looking to explore their confidence, creativity and capabilities through pole dancing and fitness. We believe in the wide-ranging benefits of pole, able to transform a person’s body not just physically, but also emotionally and spiritually. Pole Oasis is a place where people of all cultures, creeds, and walks of life can come to embrace those many benefits in a warm, supportive and collective environment.
At Pole Oasis, we hope to create a community that is respectful and loving. We do not tolerate bullying or body shaming—whether of others or of the self. Here, how you look is always secondary to how you treat yourself and the people around you. We want to help you discover the best version of yourself, be it physically or mentally. We will teach you how to focus on what your body can do and how to achieve it. We aim to create a community that is positive, confident
and empowered. More than anything else, we want our students to grow from within.
Our Mission: To create a supportive pole community in Sabah that prioritises creativity, discovery and compassion over physical appearance.
Our Vision: To provide a safe space for people of all walks of life looking to explore their true potential self and of course, the art of pole dancing.
About the Founder
Vanesa Chung Martinez lives and breathes dance. Having first learned ballet as a child, her fervor for dance carried on into her teen years as part of Bodycare, a dance group in Kota Kinabalu, and into her days of university as part of the salsa community in Newcastle, Australia.
But it was early in 2013 when she first discovered pole dancing. A lot of the time when people hear ‘pole dancing’, the image they have in their heads is hypersexualised. It comes with some stigma that Vanesa was initially quite self conscious about. But from her very first class, it became apparent to her that pole was about much more than the stigma. Pole dancing not only challenged her physically but also gave her a safe outlet to express and explore her creativity and sensuality. That freedom and discovery gave her a newfound confidence and grounded
state of mind that has shaped the instructor and person she is today. Pole Dancing became her therapy in fighting her decade long battle of mental health illness of Anxiety and Depression.
Vanesa competed in a number of state heats in Australia, and was a finalist in the Australian Pole Championships in 2015. Soon after, Vanesa took a “competitive break” as she entered a new life chapter - Motherhood. Now, a mother of three children, Vanesa continues to share her passion for dance and hopes to inspire others to discover their authentic self through dance.