Question 7
Q: Do dancers choose their own music to dance to onstage?
A: Well, that’s a tough question because it has several answers. It depends upon the club and the dancer. It is very common in PDX for dancers to choose their own music to perform to. This is one of the reasons that Portland strip clubs are awesome:they often allow the dancers to have creative control over their stage performances. Dancers often bring in CDs of songs and ipods to plug in to the sound system. Some clubs allow for this and other clubs do not for a myriad of reasons ranging from rules about music type to sound quality/system compatibility issues.
Now, let me make this answer even more complicated and use Sassy’s as an example. This club has two stages, so there are often two girls dancing at the same time. The girl on the main stage chooses the music she wants, and the girl on the backstage has to dance to whatever the main stage girl chooses. It all works out fairly in the end, though, since the rotation of dancers gives everyone their turn on the main stage.
It is also common for a dancer to put her trust in a DJ and allow him or her to choose songs to play. DJs often create lists on the club’s computer of songs that a dancer already likes and new songs she might enjoy that fit in the genre of music she usually goes for. Many DJs are great at this, and can provide a dancer with an awesome list of tunes, even going so far as to bring in new songs for specific dancers. If you are lucky enough to work with such a DJ, as a dancer you should tip him extra for going above and beyond the call of duty.
So remember…if you like a song, tip accordingly! If you are not sure whether to tip the DJ or the dancer, just ask who chose it. If the DJ has to look at a computer or ipod screen to figure it out, then the dancer probably chose the song. But here’s a thought: as long as both the DJ and the dancer are doing a great job, why not tip them both? (wink wink)
