Striptease:
A striptease or exotic dance is a form of erotic entertainment, usually a dance, in which the performer, known as a “stripper”, gradually undresses, in a teasing and sexually suggestive manner, to music.

Stripteases are now performed mostly in strip clubs and (especially in the UK) pubs, though theaters and music halls have also been used as venues. The “teasing” part involves the slowness of undressing, while the audience is eager to see more nudity. Delay tactics include additional clothes being removed or putting clothes or hands in front of just undressed body parts, such as breasts or between the legs. Emphasis is on the act of undressing along with sexually suggestive movement, rather than the state of being undressed. In the past, the performance often finished as soon as the undressing was finished, though today striptease artists usually continue dancing whilst in a state of nudity. The costume the stripper wears before disrobing can be an important part of the act. These could be fantasy themed: such as a schoolgirl uniform, maid’s dress, policewoman’s outfit etc.

Striptease and nudity have been subject to legal and cultural prohibitions and other aesthetic considerations and taboos. Such restrictions have been embodied in venue licensing constraints and national and local laws.

Along with physical attractiveness and appropriate clothing, the main asset and tool used by the exotic dancer in recent years is the stripper pole.

In addition to night club entertainment, stripping can be a form of sexual play between partners. This can be done as an impromptu event or—perhaps for a special occasion—with elaborate planning involving fantasy wear, music, special lighting, practiced dance moves, and even dance moves that have been previously unpracticed.

American tradition

A fully nude stripperAmerican striptease nurtured its roots in carnivals and Burlesque theatres featuring famous strippers such as Gypsy Rose Lee and Sally Rand. The vaudeville trapeze artist Charmion performed a “disrobing” act onstage as early as 1896, which was captured in an Edison film, “Trapeze Disrobing Act” in 1901 . Another milestone for modern American striptease is the possibly legendary show at Minsky’s Burlesque in April of 1925: The Night They Raided Minsky’s. The Minsky brothers brought burlesque to New York’s 42nd Street. However the burlesque theatres here were prohibited from having striptease performances in a legal ruling of 1937 leading to the later decline of these “grindhouses” (named after the bump ‘n grind entertainment on offer) into venues for exploitation cinema.

The sixties saw a revival of striptease in the form of topless go-go dancing. This eventually merged with the older tradition of burlesque dancing. Carol Doda of the Condor Night Club in the North Beach section of San Francisco is given the credit of being the first topless go-go dancer.The club opened in 1964 and Doda’s première topless dance occurred on the evening of June 19 of that year. The large lit sign in front of the club featured a picture of her with red lights on her breasts. The club went “bottomless” on September 3, 1969 and began the trend of explicit “full nudity” in American striptease dancing.San Francisco is also the location of the notorious Mitchell Brothers O’Farrell Theatre. Originally an X-rated movie theater this striptease club pioneered lap dancing in 1980, and was a major force in popularizing it in strip clubs on a nationwide and eventually world wide basis.

In the seventies, with changing cultural expressions of sexuality, striptease declined in profitability and status. In the technology boom of the eighties and nineties, those in the profession enjoyed increased acceptance and better working conditions

French tradition
The People’s Almanac credited the origin of striptease as we know it to an act in 1890s Paris in which a woman slowly removed her clothes in a vain search for a flea crawling on her body. At this time Parisian shows such as the Moulin Rouge and Folies Bergere pioneered semi-nude dancing and tableaux vivants. In 1905, the notorious and tragic Dutch dancer Mata Hari, later shot as spy by the French authorities during World War I, was an overnight success from the debut of her act at the Musée Guimet on March 13, 1905. The most celebrated segment of her act was her progressive shedding of clothing until she wore just a jeweled bra and some ornaments over her arms and head. Another landmark performance was the appearance at the Moulin Rouge in 1907 of an actress called Germaine Aymos who entered dressed only in three very small shells. In the 1930s the famous Josephine Baker danced semi-nude at the Folies and other such performances were provided at the Tabarin. These shows were notable for their sophisticated choreography and dressing the girls in glitzy sequins and feathers. By the 1960s “fully nude” shows were provided at such places as Le Crazy Horse Saloon

British tradition

The Windmill Theatre in 2009.In Britain the Windmill Theatre, London, pioneered nude shows, from 1932 onwards (closing in 1964), though, in accordance with British law the naked girls were not allowed to move: appearing in stationary tableaux vivants. The Windmill girls also toured other London and provincial theatres, sometimes using ingenious devices such as rotating ropes to move their bodies round, though strictly speaking, staying within the letter of the law by not moving of their own volition. According to the film Mrs Henderson Presents, mice were snuck on the stage by eager audiences to get the nudes to move. Another way the law was bent was the fan dance, in which a naked dancer’s body was concealed by her fans and those of her attendants, until the end of her act in when she posed naked for a brief interval whilst standing stock still. The Windmill girls were a major morale booster during wartime London as was the cartoon-strip stripper Jane, modelled on one of the Windmill girls, who appeared in the Daily Mirror.

In 1942 Phyllis Dixey formed her own company of girls and rented the Whitehall Theatre in London to put on a review called The Whitehall Follies. This was the first striptease show put on in the West End of London, but not the first show to have nude studies as the Windmill reviews were already in existence. She stayed at the Whitehall for the next five years producing the Peek-a-boo reviews. Her performance was at the time considered artistic and she thought that it was an art form, although the mostly male audience doubtless had other thoughts. She was known as the ‘Queen of Striptease’.

By the 1950s touring striptease acts were used to attract audiences to the dying music halls. Paul Raymond started his touring shows in 1951 and later leased the Doric Ballroom in Soho and opened his private members club,the Raymond Revuebar in 1958.This was the first of the private striptease members clubs in Britain. Changes in the law in the 1960s brought about a boom of strip clubs in Soho with ‘fully nude’ dancing and audience participation. Pubs were also used as a venue, most particularly in the East End with a concentration of such venues in the district of Shoreditch. This pub striptease seems in the main to have evolved from topless go-go dancing. Though often a target of local authority harassment, some of these pubs survive to the present day. An interesting custom in these pubs is that the strippers walk round and collect money from the customers in a beer jug before each individual performance. This custom appears to have originated in the late 1970s when topless go-go dancers first started collecting money from the audience as the fee for going “fully nude”. Private dances of a more raunchy nature are sometimes available in a separate area of the pub .

Japan
Striptease became popular in Japan after the end of World War II. When entrepreneur Shigeo Ozaki saw Gypsy Rose Lee perform, he started his own striptease revue in Tokyo’s Shinjuku neighborhood. During the 1950s, Japanese “strip shows” became more sexually explicit and less dance-oriented, until they were eventually simply live sex shows.

Recent history

A stripper using a pole.Recently pole dancing has come to dominate the world of striptease. This form of dancing can trace its origin to a performance by one Miss Belle Jangles at Mugwumps strip club in Oregon in 1968. From here it spread to Canada where, in the late 20th century, the exotic dance club grew up to become a thriving sector of the economy. Canadian style pole dancing, table dancing and lap dancing, organized by multi-national corporations such as Spearmint Rhino, was exported from North America to the United Kingdom, Central Europe, Russia, and Australia etc. In London, England a raft of such so-called ‘lap dancing clubs’ grew up in the 1990s, featuring pole dancing on stage and private table dancing, though, despite media misrepresentation, lap-dancing in the sense of bodily contact was forbidden by law A headlining star of a striptease show is referred to as a feature dancer, and is often a performer with credits such as contest titles or appearances in adult films or magazines.

In America a notable contemporary practitioner of striptease is the rock singer Courtney Love. In one notorious incident in March 2004, she disrobed on prime-time American TV in front of host David Letterman while standing on his desk.

In December 2006, a Norwegian court ruled that striptease is an art form and made strip clubs exempt from value added tax.

New Burlesque
In the latter 1990s, a number of performers and dance groups have emerged to create New Burlesque, a revival of the classic burlesque of the early half of the twentieth century. New Burlesque focuses on dancing, costumes and entertainment (which may include comedy and singing) and generally eschews full nudity or toplessness. Some burlesquers of the past have become instructors and mentors to New Burlesque performers such as Velvet Hammer, Hope Talmon or Cyrelle St. James Co. and The World Famous Pontani Sisters. The pop group Pussycat Dolls began as a New Burlesque troupe.

Male strippers

Male performer Tigger, at the 2006 Neo-Burlesque Miss Exotic World Pageant. Photo Michael AlbovUntil the 1970s, strippers in Western cultures were almost invariably female, performing to male audiences. Since then, male strippers, performing to female audiences, have also become common. Male and female strippers also perform for gay and lesbian audiences respectively, as well as for both sexes in pansexual contexts. Before the 1970s dancers of both sexes appeared largely in underground clubs or as part of a theatre experience, but the practice eventually became common enough on its own. One of the more well-known troupes of male strippers are the Chippendales. Male strippers have become a popular option to have at a bachelorette party.

The record-holder for Guinness World Records “oldest male stripper” is Bernie Barker, who was 63 at the age of his induction.

Gay males
Gay male strip clubs feature men who appear initially in skimpy undergarments (which may be removed if full nudity is allowed) and socks. Many mainstream gay bars and nightclubs employ Go-Go boys, who gyrate and dance in little more than a G-String and shoes, and often strip completely naked for the pleasure of other men, typically for tips.

Off-stage
Main article: lap dance
A variation on striptease is private dancing, which often involves lap dancing or contact dancing. Here the performers, in addition to stripping for tips, also offer “private dances” which involve more attention for individual audience members. Variations include private dances like table dancing where

Striptease and the law
From ancient times to the present day, public nudity and striptease have been subject to legal and cultural prohibitions and other aesthetic considerations and taboos. Such restrictions have been embodied in venue licensing constraints and national and local laws. Many jurisdictions forbid “full nudity”. For instance, in some parts of the USA, there are laws forbidding the exposure of female nipples, which have thus to be covered by pasties by the dancer (though no such taboo applies to the exposure of male nipples) and certain jurisdictions have forbidden postures considered “indecent” (such as spreading the legs).[citation needed] Shoes (often high heeled) are usually kept on for practical and aesthetic reasons. Often, health codes require shoes to be worn at all times