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pixierocksonthepole
01-28-2011, 08:14 PM
Wow! That's nuts!

Grac
01-29-2011, 03:15 AM
I don't know if I'm realy entitled to be on this thread; I apologize if I'm not. :-\

The SW site is a great place: the women are proud to be women, and you ladies are using your talent and intelligence to get the best that life has to offer. And the gentlemen on the site seem to respect you for it.

I am a "happily retired dancer," but I never stripped or danced in burlesque. I was a tap dancer; I appeared in only one professional show.

I enjoyed it thoroughly, but one professional show was enough to teach me that it was not the career for me. Too much pressure; constant competition for jobs.

Since I retired over 20 years ago, I have enough distance from the experience to remember only the good times. I still have my tap shoes! And I sure enjoyed the applause, the flowers at curtain calls, and mostly the joy of being on stage performing. It was a very happy experience.

I am one of the luckiest of the lucky ones. I went to college on scholarships, got my Bachelor's degree, and I've had a successful career since I graduated from college.

I guess you could say that when it comes to "show business," I still miss the "show" part of it, but I sure don't miss the "business"! ;)

I know that I made the right choice for myself.

lifetravelergirl
01-29-2011, 03:37 PM
For about a month it has been so bad, I am lucky to make a hundred dollars a night. It seems like just a month ago or so I had a couple of good weeks, making about $250 a night. I feel very burnt out and I am dreading my job. five nights a week, booming, horrible music. Mostly people from another country who do not appear to be here legally who come for the "free show".

I am so tired of maintaining regulars who want to get me outside of the club. Even the regulars are so cheap. The guys I deal with are always trying to game the girls into thinking they have a potential sugar daddy if they meet them outside of the club but it is all bs. I have been working so hard to save money, I am relatively new to the industry, couldn't find a job in 08 and nearly lost everything so now I am a scrooge, scrimping and saving. I don't enjoy the prospect of being a wage slave after dancing. I want to live and see the world but I feel like my time is ending and I will have to go back to a mediocre existence as I don't have any education or skills.

carmen_b
01-29-2011, 05:43 PM
I must be close to being done. I think it's a contributing factor ( though there are others ) on feeling exhausted and worn down all the time. I can't just do the emotional up and down forever. I have danced for 2 years ( though year one was sporadic ) and I still struggle to feel normal after a shift ( unless I've made my " perfectly normal " amount that seems like an acceptable average). If I did poorly ..... I am a mess. If I did well ..... I'm convinced I should stay in the town for 2-3 more days and try to more ..... till I have a rough night again. It seems to just be a never ending loop ( though things are still "ok" money wise ). I took end of Nov - early Jan off ( about 5 weeks ? ). I have a hard time with the loudness / the hours ect.

I guess my official answer is " no more than 2 years " to the poll because I might still pop up here and there . I don't think going often like I was is in the cards for me anymore.

I'm still thinking on it and trying to figure out exactly to do. If I work much .... I'm going to NEED nicer clubs than where I've been going.

charlie61
01-30-2011, 12:02 PM
I remember how amazing (not in a positive way) it was watching girls burn out at my club after they had danced a year or two full-time. I was just like, "Wow.." This job is such a crazy mindfuck. I'm amazed I got through 4 years of it.

shift_6x
01-30-2011, 01:16 PM
I plan on phasing out within the next two years. I know if I really wanted to I could prolly hang around for another five-six years bc there are girls here who r say 38 that r still doing it but I dont want to push it to that extreme. They still do well for themselves but I just cant push it to that. Then it will be really hard. Younger guys like me still..I dont want it to get to the point where only old 60 year olds like me bc the guys know for a fact Im near 40. Thats really difficult to deal with.

Ali Chin Chin
02-03-2011, 06:31 PM
I light up when I talk about my stripping days, but there is just no way i could go back. It really seems as if "Tigerlily" was an alter ego who is now dead.

I'm immersed in a new career, which I have completely dedicated to. Now I wish i started tattooing sooner... but i was having so much fun and making too much money dancing!

Well, it's my life, it happened the way it happened.

TurboHips
02-05-2011, 06:24 PM
I moved to Boston from San Antonio to continue dancing but soon after I retired for half a year. I'm in the midst of moving back and out of early retirement. I miss the freedoms dancing afforded me. Plus, i'm jumping back in during the busy season, so to speak. Very much looking forward to that

msdiddy
02-08-2011, 06:23 PM
i started dancing in january '10 and i only did it to save money so i could relocate. i had a full-time job during the day and i was also dancing 4 - 5 nights a week so i was exhausted, but it was worth it in the end. i quit in june and i was fine with it. sometimes i miss it, but most times i don't. like someone else said, it feels really good not to have to shave all the time and wear makeup constantly. i made okay money, and wouldn't have relied on it for my primary income, but i did manage to get rid of some debt and save over $3000.

Kisca
02-09-2011, 12:44 AM
I start dancing in April/March 2010, it was great in the start. I didnt see the bad even though it started slowly. Then after 2-3 months, I started to get sick of it, I saw customers asking for more, sometimes they didnt even ask they just went for it. I would be dancing in a booth and look beside or across me and see some girl fucking for 200 dollars. I stopped with a few 1-4 week breaks. When I did stop, I missed it and went back. I was also dealing with an ex-boyfriend whom didnt want to dance then, so sometimes he was ok with it, at times he wasnt. Mainly he was ok with it in the beginning, this was Aug and my money was already falling downwards. I decided to take a break due to school and went in at a few random times. It was random, it was either great or horriable.

Now recently, I decided to return fully to 2-3 times a week, having school still I cant work more.. But I dont think I want to. Lately for the past 2 months, it wasnt great for me at all. I see more cheapo's, I get rejected, and when I do get dances I have fight 80% of the men as they keep on asking for more and more. Mind you, this is a high-contact full nude club already! I will give it a few more weeks/months until I figure few things out and save a certain amount, then I will consider quitting. If I quit, I will try to get a job as a waitress there... I think they make more money than the clean dancers now.

Jay12
02-13-2011, 11:16 AM
Dancing for me is back and forth; when I'm jobless, is my main source of income and I do it for as many hours a week (the most I've worked on a week as a dancer; both in a club and privates is 52 hours) I can making at least $1700 bucks a week. When I have another job (jobs), I only do it once or twice a week, for a few hours, so I won't lose the technique and I would stay in the right shape (when I have other jobs I go to the gym twice or three times a week; when I dance full time, dancing is the only workout).

Right now, I'm gaining experience as an electrician so I can get the journeyman license later this year, so I'm busting my ass as an electrician right now, and I only dance on Sundays and/or do a private party every now and then. When I get that license, I would probably dance more often and if I get laid off, I'm back to dancing full time again.

Retirement? Only when I'm old enough to use bifocals, hearing aids and a cane.

devildolly
03-12-2011, 11:39 PM
I know this is an older thread but this is fascinating to me and resonates with me as I am having that conversation with myself again! I am considering quitting because # 1.: though I like the place i dance at( it's like a cute bad boyfriend with tattoos who has no money treats you like crap but you love him anyway just causes he's charming) I don't make enough money usually after tip outs(25-50) and paying a baby sitter ( 60-80) to even justify coming to work !( not counting gas and makeup etc).( when my bd was watching baby for free it was okay but he can't most nights now because he took a job where he has to work night shift alot!) We dont get nude but we dance like trained ballet,jazz, pole dancers so i think we should technically walk away with more $ for pure entertainment and showmanship or get paid a small salary ( we used to) but it's not like that. We have 1 lap dance booth that is not really private so most guys dont want one... For a while working there was more of a social outlet for me cause as a single mom I rarely get out much.and it has kept me in shape and i do like having a reason to put on makeup and buy costumes and the male attention of course ...but my child in now 5 and i said i would quit when she got into full time school becaue then i could work "normal" 9- 5 hours.
Also she is very smart and aware and is curious about my "big" shoes and sparkly makeup and the "halloween costumes " in my bag - she does not know what i do for work but she is in the unfiltered stage where she talks about any and everything she sees at school so i really have to watch what i say and what she sees- i feel bad about it even though I am just a go go dancer. I dont want her to suffer ( being teased or ostracized) because of what i do.
I am also having a hard time not drinking to make the time go faster when I am there and since i am also in school full time getting up to go to class hung over has not been benefitital. I am in my 30's now too so even if i dont drink sometimes i am just plain tired and going to bed at 3 am and getting up at 7am when my daughter wakes like clockwork is tough!
I certainly don't miss the bitchiness and cattiness of my co workers- i work with some really talented interesting girls but its hard to know who your real friends are there and i don't really trust many of them.
i was thinking think I had only more year only as i don't ever want to be the "too old" dancer at the club but the way things are going I might quit sooner and try working from home or at least take another break until summer (my summer school break and then maybe try another club( nude - no alcohol) where i can make more money for my last few months of dancing.