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Thread: "You look nervous onstage"

  1. #1
    Moderator Aurora_Sunset's Avatar
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    Default "You look nervous onstage"

    Ok, so this happened a long time ago, but I'm just curious what the perspective is on this since it's always made me go "hmm." And, who knows, it might happen to me again in the future...

    Anyway, about 3 months after I first started dancing, I was doing my tip-walk after stage and a woman who was sitting by herself was like "You're new, aren't you?" I'm like "Well... relatively, I guess." She's like "I can tell. You look nervous onstage." I really didn't know how that was possible since I'm never nervous onstage. I was nervous my very first day and that was about it. Stage dancing is actually my calming points during the shift cuz I just get to dance without worrying about hustling. So I was basically like "uh... I'm not nervous "... The woman insisted I was, and then pointed to the stage where another girl was dancing, and said "See, she's not nervous! She knows she owns that stage." I look up, and this girl looks zoned out and bored out of her mind. No expression, not looking at customers, just kinda wandering around the pole... Sooo, idk, because I try to engage the audience, smile, and put some "oomph" in my dance moves, that makes me "not confident"??

    So, I've always just wondered what customers consider "nervous" or "new-looking" when onstage and what's considered "confident." I thought maybe it was one of those notions where people think that only the newbie strippers who are nervous are still happy and bubbly, and that you are not a "confident, seasoned stripper" until you look dead inside and bored...? So, when you see a happy dancer onstage, do you assume she's new and nervous up there? Do you only consider a girl "confident" if she looks like she doesn't give a crap onstage? Just curious.

  2. #2
    Featured Member Laurisa's Avatar
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    Default Re: "You look nervous onstage"

    I can easily tell the difference between a new dancer, a seasoned dancer, and a lazy dancer. There is always the exception which would be dancers who have worked for a while but never picked up on stage presence, transitions, or floor/pole work.

    New dancers typically appear jittery, unsure of themselves, can't do basic transitions, walk stiffly, sometimes trip, don't make eye contact often, seem absorbed in their moves, dance like they are in a night club, repeat the same moves several times, shake their ass a lot, stand up improperly, don't point their toes, bend their legs at the wrong time, hold the pole incorrectly (arm extended), etc.

    Lazy dancers typically hold the pole properly, walk lazily but effectively in their shoes, do basic spins and transitions repeatedly, don't appear uncomfortable, look aloof to the customers, have a scowl on their face, may appear drunk/high, but generally you can still tell that they know what they are doing.

    Seasoned dancers will have good form overall, but their actual stage performance varies as some dancers do not like pole tricks over floor work, or vice versa.

    The "seasoned" dancers who do not know how to dance/probably never will typically do some dance moves properly, have decent form, but do weird things that look awkward and that they probably are accustomed to and have never been critiqued about.

    That is how I differentiate. I typically have good accuracy if I go ask the dancer how long they have danced afterward.

    You can look foolish to veteran dancers but still appear confident to customers. There are new girls who look a fool to me but sell dances and have good stage presence because they are confident and it shows. They may not look like strippers but they are well on their way to becoming professionals.

    I have great form on stage and can do a lot of pole tricks, but if I do not do pole tricks on stage for a night sometimes customers will ask me if I am new. Typically when I ask them why it is because they say they come in "a lot" and have never seen me before. Coincidentally enough I have never seen them either, so that probably means they don't spend enough money to make me notice them.
    If you are willing to do for one year what other's won't, you can spend a lifetime doing what other's cant.


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    Default Re: "You look nervous onstage"

    Maybe the customer was talking about the dancer's timing and the way she moved her body? That is usually a dead give away. Even if a new girl understands the concept of giving eye contact her newness is apparent in the lack of control of her body which can be noticed by the experienced eye even if they are just walking around on stage.

    I might be alone, but as a customer I rarely look at girls faces when they are on stage. when they initially come out I'll look at the whole package but usually I'm watching their body and am taking note of their overall fluidity. So a girl who has an awesome stage and a dead expression would still get a check plus in my book.
    Last edited by MyButter; 11-09-2011 at 06:17 PM.

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    Default Re: "You look nervous onstage"

    Sounds like she (the customer) was just odd. Doesn't sound like you looked "nervous", but had more energy. The customer equated that "energy" with nervousness instead of "giving a damn." Weird interpretation, but it happens.

    To answer your question, in my limited experience with amateur night, I've seen both - confident dancers and nervous dancers. Confident dancers work it - they're shouting to the room with their bodies, "pay the fuck attention to me because I am WORTH your attention". Nervous dancers are in their own head-space and very self-conscious - do I look good, am I moving okay, etc. I don't blame them, it takes guts to get up there, but it doesn't make for a great dance.

    It's sorta like public speaking - the good ones focus on the message they're trying to convey. The bad ones focus on if they're doing okay. Big difference.

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  8. #5
    The Jackal
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    Default Re: "You look nervous onstage"

    My definition of being nervous is when you are unable to engage your brain completely due to some sort of fear. The visible result of this is lack of composure and lack of thoughtful response. Nervous people also tend to have apologetic smile for no good reason.

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    Veteran Member azaleanola's Avatar
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    Default Re: "You look nervous onstage"

    How confident is a woman who goes to a strip club, then proceeds to insult a stripper's stage show to her face and try to make her doubt herself for the rest of the night? Sometimes customers are just bitchy. Don't worry about it.

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