Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Dance and Sexuality: Many Moves: The Journal of Sex Research March 2010
Dance and Sexuality: Many Moves: The Journal of Sex Research March 2010
net/publication/42807921
CITATIONS READS
60 7,257
1 author:
Judith Hanna
University of Maryland, College Park
124 PUBLICATIONS 1,248 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE
Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:
Neuroscience Spotlights Dance: The Brain as Choreographer Performer & Spectator View project
All content following this page was uploaded by Judith Hanna on 06 June 2014.
To cite this Article Hanna, Judith Lynne(2010) 'Dance and Sexuality: Many Moves', Journal of Sex Research, 47: 2, 212 —
241
To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/00224491003599744
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224491003599744
This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or
systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or
distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.
The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents
will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses
should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss,
actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly
or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
JOURNAL OF SEX RESEARCH, 47(2–3), 212–241, 2010
Copyright # The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality
ISSN: 0022-4499 print=1559-8519 online
DOI: 10.1080/00224491003599744
This literature review of dance and sexual expression considers dance and religion, dance and
sexuality as a source of power, manifestations of sexuality in Western theater art and social
dance, plus ritual and non-Western social dance. Expressions of gender, sexual orientation,
asexuality, ambiguity, and adult entertainment exotic dance are presented. Prominent
concerns in the literature are the awareness, closeting, and denial of sexuality in dance; con-
flation of sexual expression and promiscuity of gender and sexuality, of nudity and sexuality,
and of dancer intention and observer interpretation; and inspiration for infusing sexuality into
dance. Numerous disciplines (American studies, anthropology, art history, comparative
literature, criminology, cultural studies, communication, dance, drama, English, history,
history of consciousness, journalism, law, performance studies, philosophy, planning, retail
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
geography, psychology, social work, sociology, and theater arts) have explored dance and
sexual expression, drawing upon the following concepts, which are not mutually exclusive:
critical cultural theory, feminism, colonialism, Orientalism, postmodernism, poststructural-
ism, queer theory, and semiotics. Methods of inquiry include movement analysis, historical
investigation, anthropological fieldwork, autoethnography, focus groups, surveys, and self-
reflection or autobiographical narrative. Directions for future exploration are addressed.
This review of dance and sexuality explores the common comparative literature, criminology, cultural studies,
substantive foci of dance and religion (especially the communication, dance, drama, English, history, history
opposition to dance because of its ‘‘immoral’’ sexuality), of consciousness, journalism, law, performance studies,
dance and sexuality as a source of power, manifestations philosophy, planning, retail geography, psychology,
of sexuality in Western theater art dance and social social work, sociology, and theater arts. These concepts,
dance, and ritual and non-Western social dance (Hanna, not mutually exclusive, include colonialism, critical
1992a). Themes of gender, sexual orientation, asexuality, cultural theory, feminism, Orientalism, postmodernism,
ambiguity, and adult entertainment exotic dance (strip- poststructuralism, queer theory, and semiotics. More-
teases and gentlemen’s clubs) are presented. The review over, some studies use multiple theories and methods
further addresses issues of morality; awareness, closeting, and explore overlapping or intertwined themes and,
and denial of sexuality; conflation of sexual expression consequently, could fit into several categories. Although
and promiscuity of gender and sexuality, of nudity and most of the literature on the topic of sexuality and dance
sexuality, and of dancer intention and audience interpret- devotes only a few paragraphs or pages to it, a limited
ation; symbolic ways of embodying sexuality; and inspi- number of works have made it the key focus.1
ration for infusing sexuality into dance. Dance and sex both use the same instrument—
While at times having to sacrifice complexity and namely, the human body—and both involve the language
nuance in the interest of brevity, the review describes of the body’s orientation toward pleasure. Thus, dance
key aspects of theoretical concepts and study methodol- and sex may be conceived as inseparable even when sex-
ogies related to dance and sexuality as found in the dis- ual expression is unintended. The physicality of dance,
ciplines of American studies, anthropology, art history,
1
My cross-cultural work on dance, gender, and sexuality began in
I thank Katherine Frank, Christopher Carrington, Laurie Freder- the 1960s (see all Hanna entries in the three reference categories). In
ick Meer, Donna Davenport, David Rowland, and the Journal of Sex an effort not to miss the burgeoning work on dance and sexuality,
Research reviewers for giving me helpful guidance on earlier drafts. given that this topic cannot always be identified by title in databases,
Nilima Charya provided editorial assistance. I asked some dance colleagues from an e-mail list of the interdisciplin-
Correspondence should be addressed to Judith Lynne Hanna, ary Congress on Research in Dance for their suggestions for relevant
Departments of Dance and Anthropology, University of Maryland, research, limitations of the research and study methodologies, and
College Park, 8520 Thornden Terrace, Bethesda, MD 20817. E-mail: directions for future exploration. I am most appreciative of their
[email protected] contributions.
DANCE AND SEXUALITY: MANY MOVES
imbued with ‘‘magical’’ power to enchant performer and asked her, ‘‘So you’re going to be a kurve [whore]?’’
observer, threatens some people (Karayanni, 2004; Shay (Jowitt, 1995). Her mother told her to leave the house.
& Sellers-Young, 2005; Wagner, 1997). The dancing So she did, gaining acclaim in the United States,
body is symbolic expression that may embody many Mexico, and Israel (Jowitt, 1995). The creation of a
notions. Among these are romance, desire, and sexual movement activity as ‘‘chaste dancing, ensured success
climax. Octavio Paz (1995) viewed dancers as erotic: a and at the same time offered a haven for homosexuality’’
‘‘representation’’ that diverts or denies sex in action. (Foster, 2001, p. 150). Homosexuality was closeted but
Eroticism ‘‘is sexuality transfigured, a metaphor’’ (Paz, accepted in the arts, as discussed later (Hanna, 1988).
1995, p. 2). The French avant-garde poet, Philippe Notwithstanding the effort to make theater dance
Soupault (1928), noted, ‘‘There is no reason to deny the chaste, as early as the 1930s, modern dance choreogra-
fact that dance, in many cases, exerts a sexual influence, phers were putting pelvic thrusts and grinds on-stage;
if we dare to express it this way. Said differently, the art and by the 1960s and 1970s, choreographers were routi-
of dance is the most erotic of all the arts’’ (pp. 93–94). nely representing sex acts. Mutations, by Glen Tetley and
Dance is purposeful, intentionally rhythmical, cultu- Hans van Manen, premiering in 1970, revealed a nude cou-
rally patterned, nonverbal body movement communi- ple performing an entwining duet that culminated in the
cation in time and space, with effort, and each genre woman in a prone table-top position with the man’s body
having its own criteria for excellence. Dance conveys extended over hers. In Bugaku, an erotic ballet choreo-
meaning through the use of space, touch, proximity to graphed by George Balanchine for the New York City
another dancer or to an observer, nudity, stillness, and Ballet in 1977, a man and woman simulate the consum-
specific body postures and movements. To use a ballet mation of a marriage. The modern dance Paul Taylor
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
example, recall any number of versions of Romeo and Company sought to attract audience members by focusing
Juliet where the dancers’ bodies are barely draped, and on ‘‘sexual excitement.’’ The response was as follows:
love is shown by touching hands, stroking a face, arching
backward, or falling into each other’s arms. When A frisson of dismay ran through the dance world . . .
Juliet’s parents are urging her to marry Paris against when the first advertisement appeared: ‘‘Suddenly you’ll
her will, there is a moment when she stands near him, understand sex . . . better than ever before.’’ And the
her eyes coolly surveying him from toe to head. Then her company general manager reported, ‘‘Just about every-
eyes turn away and, rising on pointe, she briskly travels thing doubled. Window sales tripled. Overall, we were
up 12 percent over last year, selling 84 percent of
away from him. Other dance genres may indicate a more
capacity for the season.’’ (Dunning, 1982, p. C20)
explicitly sexual way in which love is expressed, equally
recognizable and also choreographically creative.
The prominence and presentation of sexuality and
Yet, the issue of sexuality in dance is a sensitive one
dance depend on the form of dance, its context (historical
for some members of the American dance community.
period, culture, or situation), and the point of view of the
They may not be conscious of the sexuality of dance
participant or viewer (Hanna, 1983). Dance, like sports
or prefer to deny, closet, or ignore it. There are advo-
and modeling, lets us look at bodies for pleasure, to link
cates for dance in academe and kindergarten through
them with sexual desire, elicitation, and culmination
12th grade who would prefer the association of dance
(McMains, 2006). Sexuality in dance in this review does
and sexuality not be publicized. Foster (2001) pointed
not mean outright penetration of body orifices. On-stage
out, ‘‘For one hundred years, modern dancers and
dance takes from sexuality practices ‘‘off-stage’’ and
choreographers have resisted all allegations that their
imaginatively stylizes them and possibly reinforces or
art alluded, however discretely or remotely, to sex’’
challenges these practices that include expressions of sex-
(p. 149). The body was cultivated as ‘‘a musculoskeletal
ual identity and attraction, flirtatiousness, friendliness,
system that responded to emotional but never sexual
exhibitionism, eroticism, and love-making. The spotlight
impulses’’ (p. 149). Modern dance is a genre that
might be on secondary sex characteristics—pelvis,
developed against the codified tenets and production
breasts, and hips—a large phallus costume, disrobing
of ballet and its male-dominated companies. In the
within a dance, or lifting a skirt. Other erotic motifs
effort to diminish the identification of dancer as a
are pole dances and dances associated with plant or
woman of questionable moral status who erotically dis-
animal fertility, circumcision, puberty, menarche, and
played her body, a middle-class gender ideology became
marriage. Discussion of a dancer’s sex refers to behavior
the foundation for conceptualizing modern dance as a
off-stage, although dancing on-stage may be its show-
serious art form. The symbolist aesthetic language of
case, audition, or advertisement to be a sexual partner.
literary figures (Arthur Symons, Oscar Wilde, and W.
B. Yeats) mitigated sexuality by describing the dancer
as a translation of some spiritual state into visible form Theoretical Approaches and Study Methodologies
(Koritz, 1995, pp. 3–7). Nonetheless, when Anna
Sokolow told her mother she was going to be a modern In this review, a discussion of the multiple theoretical
dancer, her mother did not approve of dancers and perspectives, methods, and intersecting fields of knowledge
213
HANNA
related to the study of dance and sexuality precedes the of 10 to 30 performers—gives a limited view. Clubs are
presentation of findings. As becomes evident, a theoreti- diverse in type, from ‘‘greasy spoon’’ to ‘‘four-star.’’
cal perspective may have various interpretations, uses, Location, type of patron, and local ordinances con-
and degrees of explicitness. tribute to diversity. Mestemacher and Roberti (2004)
In the 1960s, fields like psychology (e.g., Angier, interviewed three dancers in a Northeast community
1976; Boles, 1973) and sociology (e.g., Cressey, 1982) of 30,000 who were very different. Furthermore, a
began to explore aspects of dance sexuality. Other researcher may sometimes generalize his or her own
disciplines followed. A spate of writing challenging experience and sensual knowledge to that of others.
stereotypes and colonial and patriarchal dominance in Now I will note some common theoretical concepts
dance burgeoned beginning in the 1980s. Enlightenment and research methods found in studies of dance and
(rationalism and objectivity), the modernist attempt to sexuality. Their uneven attention corresponds to their
describe the world in empirical terms, has been con- prominence in the studies of the expression of sexuality
tested with postcolonial, postmodernism, poststructural- through dance.
ism, feminist, and queer theories (e.g., Albright, 1997;
Desmond, 2001a, 2001b; Shay & Sellers-Young, 2005).
Dance Theory
They question the nature and status of knowledge, as
well as how it is acquired, organized, interpreted, and Dance theory is rooted in Laban Movement and
received. Researchers are not neutral recorders of events Effort Shape analyses. These are systems for observing
or attitudes but active creators of them and therefore and describing movement in terms of how the body—
they often recognize bias in their work. Several studies through gesture, locomotion, and posture—uses time;
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
center on personal self-concept and group identity space; effort; flow; aspects of solo, duet, and group
marginalized in some way, as well as efforts of the interactions; music, costume, and set. Studies of dance
marginalized to subvert the existing rules and to find and sexuality usually do not draw upon the tools of
new identities and spaces. Over the years, a progressive movement analysis because researchers lack training in
emergence of numerous interacting movements for them or their concern is with the dance participants
social change that explore the production and repro- and their social context.
duction of inequality and difference—especially the Foster (1996a, 1996b) and Banes (1998) are among
hegemonic discourse of White, heterosexual, capitalist those who drew upon movement analysis to study
partriarchy—has shaped the terrain of considerations modern dance and ballet. Movement discourse analysis
of dance and sexuality. is similar to analyzing language (ethnomethodology and
While we have a rich diverse literature on the linguistics): It views dance as a system of small units
expression of sexuality through dance, there are limita- (movements) that combine to make words (vocabulary),
tions, as in any area of investigation. Paradigms shift that combine to make utterances (phrases), and which
as scholars turn to emerging concepts that sometimes finally combine to make discourse (dance), shaped
are merely new labels for established knowledge. Driven by social context (see Hanna, 1987a, 1987b, 1998a,
by the marketplace, scholars may claim originality with 1998b, 2008a, 2008b). A researcher may look at artistic
so-called ‘‘new’’ approaches to dance and sexuality that conventions that express sexuality in dance.
purport to unmask power relations inscribed on the In textual analysis, focus is on one or several dances
dancing body or reveal fusions of different dance in order to tell the story from a particular perspective,
traditions. Related buzzwords in the literature on dance for example, feminist, gay, or the critic whose writing
include reflexivity, hegemony, globalization, multiple is often presented through a personal creative, often
perspectives=truths, embodiment, and writing and poetic, lens. The choreographer’s or dancer’s intention
rewriting the body. However, since the 1920s, numerous may be irrelevant. Intertextuality is the shaping of texts’
anthropologists and sociologists have contributed sub- (dances’) meanings by other texts. It can refer to a chor-
stantial literature on dance dealing with these issues. eographer borrowing and transforming a prior dance or
There are other problems: For example, scholars of to an observer referencing one dance or other art form
one discipline sometimes borrow but misuse the theories in reading another dance. Platt’s (2009) analysis of
and methods of other disciplines. William Forsythe’s ‘‘Heterotopia,’’ a dance suggesting
Most studies of dance and sexuality are qualitative, both affirmation and negation, placed the work within
exploratory case studies with small non-random samples, context of other theater pieces. He further pointed out
or they capture the researcher’s own experience. Studies the affinity between the box on-stage and sex—the box
are generally site- and historically time-specific. Repre- being a metaphor for sex. A female dancer huskily
sentativeness is an issue. For example, given about breathes into the microphone, ‘‘Put your stuff in my
4,000 clubs nationwide, the research results of a single box.’’ The box denotes a state of isolation and objectifi-
exotic dance entertainment club—or eight in-depth inter- cation. The spoken word, ‘‘cunt,’’ said Platt, is the
views from four clubs, each of which may have hundreds ‘‘unspoken domain of dystopian desire whose sexual
of different dancers, with day, evening, and night shifts sequestration makes public speech possible’’ (p. 6).
214
DANCE AND SEXUALITY: MANY MOVES
A male manipulates his crotch, desire’s force crippling (e.g., Malbon, 1999). Anthropologists may use the
its subject. The dance invokes the specter of the rapes comparative method in the effort to find what is specific
of female and male and is interlaced with an ineffable and what is ‘‘universal’’ and the reasons why. If a kind of
sensation of shame. Platt saw Forsythe’s choreographic sexual expression through dance is found in one group
intentions as enigmatic; and Forsythe, himself, spoke of and not in another, what underlies the difference?
open-ended associations. Autoethnography is participant observation that
involves a focus on one’s experience as a dancer or other
Dance history relies on newspapers, letters, diaries, participant. Some former exotic dancers
literature, autobiographies or biographies of a dancer,
audiovisual materials, and government documents to employ autoethnography as a sex radical attempt to
analyze the past. Critics’ writing often provides histori- render our personal experiences political. Autoethno-
cal records for understanding dance (Hanna, 1983; graphic writing places individual experience in broader
Koritz, 1995). Oral history methodology is used (as sociohistorical context. Far beyond the desire to confess
in other disciplines) and captures the voices of the our transgressions or capitalize on stripping’s sensatio-
nalistic cachet, Flesh for Fantasy is devoted to destigma-
interviewees, their memories, experiences, and subject-
tizing the sex industry, illuminating the labor condition
ivity, regardless of whether it matches up to hard facts. of strippers, and revising the cultural connotations of
Park (2008) pointed out that oral history has been exotic dance. (Egan, Frank, & Johnson, 2006, p. 32;
employed widely in the fields of human rights in truth see also Bartlett, 2004; Sloan, Bell, & Strickling, 1998;
and reconciliation projects, as well as in the field of Snowden, 1994; Wesely, 2002, 2003a, 2003b).
gender and sex studies.
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
Connoisseurship, an acquired ability to judge quality Some autoethnographers also use participant observation
on the basis of having looked at many dances, is related to explore other dance participants’ motivations (Boden,
to dance theory. ‘‘Judgments rely on past experience, 2007; Egan, 2006a, 2006b; Frank, 1998, 2002; Ronai, 1992).
training, cultural biases, personal values, and idiosyncratic Small-group interviews, often called focus groups,
preferences’’ (Csikszentmihalyi & Rich, 1997, p. 45). about dance permit the exploration of the range and
(For overviews of dance studies, see Martin, 1998, Dance depth of shared meanings about a topic (Rouhiainen,
Research Journal, 4[1], 2009.) 2004). The aim is to get at the common knowledge that
informs a group’s understanding of the meanings, prac-
Anthropology, Semiotics, and Communication tices, and social structures that operate within their local
setting. Sulkunen (1990) argued that group interviewing
Anthropologists, semioticians, and communications is especially useful for exploring the factual information
theorists are concerned with the way the body is shaped about the social reality that the interviewees are engaged
and comes to have meaning. Attention is on symbolic with, the norms and ideals related to the issues discussed
systems, deconstruction, social constructionism, unearth- and enacted by the group, the social relations of the
ing underlying biases, and contesting canons. What group members, and the cultural distinctions they make.
constitutes cultural knowledge of dance and sexuality,
its acquisition, ideology, and practice within the context
Sociology
of society and history (Hanna, 1992b)? Anthropologists
examine the text (the dance) and the context (culture, Deviance, behavior that violates social norms and is
society, history, environment, or politics). Although tools usually of sufficient severity to warrant disapproval from
existed to analyze the physical movements of dance (e.g., the majority of society, can be criminal or non-criminal.
the Laban, Benesh, and Eskhol notation systems), no tool Sociologists, and also those in psychology and criminal
existed for probing for meaning in the movements. justice studies, have explored the process of stigmatiza-
In response to the need to understand how dancers con- tion, studying how norms are created, change over time,
vey (dancers encode and spectators decode) ideas and and are enforced. Deviance is caused by a person being
feelings, Hanna (1979=1987) developed a semantic grid negatively labeled, internalizing the label, and acting
through discussions with numerous dancers and research- according to the label. Early studies of adult entertain-
ers attempting to make sense of dances in different parts ment exotic dance and homosexuality centered on
of the world. The grid represents a broad canvas of poss- deviance: low self-esteem and stigma in sexualized con-
ible ways in which dancers embody the imagination. structions of the body. However, clubs in the 1950s to
Ethnography, a hallmark of anthropology, involves 1970s, at the time these studies were conducted, were
living in the community among informants being studied not the upscale gentlemen’s clubs that began in the
and using face-to-face, open-ended interviews that allow 1980s. Gay studies turned from conceptions of homosexu-
for probing respondents’ answers, participant observa- ality as deviance to normalcy, as more dancers and scho-
tions, recording what people do and say, and how these lars ‘‘came out.’’ Structural functionalism and conflict
all fit together. Processual analysis shows how ideas and theory are often related to studies of deviance and there-
events and institutions interact and change through time fore have been applied to the study of dance and sexuality.
215
HANNA
In another sociological approach, Goffman (1959) performers and audience members exercise the gaze
provided a dramaturgical and symbolic interactionist and agency. Individuals may identify with performers
perspective. Herein, human action depends on time, through economic, cultural, and political networks of
place, and audience. A person has a dramatic effect gazes. Spectators interpret aspects of dancing on-stage
emerging from the immediate scene being presented akin to their own embodied experience and gender ideol-
and seeks to manage the audience. ogy. Burt (2007) argued that in a duet, when the male
dancer gazes at the ballerina, the spectator is drawn to
the woman, and the male avoids the full glare of the
Psychology
spectator’s gaze. However, irrespective of sex, a perfor-
Evolutionary psychologists note that humans need to mer’s gaze may direct a spectator’s attention.
attend to motion as a tool for survival—to distinguish Finally, psychoanalytic theory has been invoked to
prey and predator and to select a mate (Miller, 2000). explain how women’s experience is constructed, fore-
Historical and cross-cultural evidence points to dance grounding sexuality as the site of conflict and fantasy.
as contributing to sexual selection, for dance is capti- Lacan’s theory is used to explain concepts of desire as key
vating, sexually attractive, nonverbal communication to the construction of subjectivity (Elliott & Frosh, 1995).
that conspicuously displays a performer’s physical
fitness, health, endurance, youthfulness, and creativity
Philosophy
(Hanna, 1987a, 2006). Yet, the literature on dance and
sexuality rarely explicitly references evolution. Research- Phenomenology, as explicated especially by Merleau-
ers such as David Buss and Randy Thornhill have gath- Ponty (1968), depends on the researcher’s consciousness
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
ered impressive evidence suggesting that we have evolved of the immediate experience to try subjectively to inter-
sexual preferences that favor pretty faces, fertile bodies, pret and communicate. Time and motion influence the
and high social status, which are all easy to display perspective. Scholars and critics who write about their
through dance. Dance is also a means to promote health perception tend to develop ‘‘connoisseurship.’’ For
through exercising mind and body and resisting, reduc- example, Jaeger (1997) analyzed the differential sexual
ing, and conquering stress (Hanna, 2006) that enhances presentation of the breast in ballet, flamenco, and
sexual selection, attracting, and entertaining potential African dance based on her own bodily perceptions
sexual partners. On the other hand, Gazzaniga (2008, and understanding gained through performing these
pp. 203–245) posited that humans alone among species dance forms. She concludes that the ballerina’s breast
have art experiences without obvious evolutionary is muted as the dancer appears transcendent, conveying
payoff, because fictional thinking engages innate ‘‘play’’ unearthliness, delicacy, and mastery of bodily control.
brain modules that allow us to consider hypothetical Her partner’s hand on her breast most often is merely
situations so we can form plans in advance of difficulties. part of the mechanics of such movement as lifts. Fla-
Nevertheless, this play through dance could also contrib- menco, by contrast, is an earthy form of sensual dance
ute to seduction strategies to select mates. in which the performer thrusts her breasts outward to
In a different psychological approach following the audience and at times caresses them with her hands
earlier social learning theory, Bandura (1972) posited to call further attention to this secondary sex character-
that an individual tends to produce attitudes, acts, and istic. Jaeger (1997) reported that in African dance, the
emotions exhibited by an observed model (live dance breast is exuberantly free, moving in response to torso
or dance on film, television, or the Internet). Specifically, and pelvic movements.
a model may be cognitively registered and used or remain Phenomenology is implicit in the self-reflective, auto-
in subconscious memory until a relevant situation acti- biographical narrative. These kinds of narratives about
vates it. A key premise of this theory is that the model dance and sexuality are often written by college-edu-
must attract attention. The observer’s sensory capacity, cated women (e.g., Angier, 1976; Bruce, with Benenson,
arousal level, and past experiences affect receptivity. 1976; Burana, 2001; Cody, 2005; Dragu & Harrison,
Then, retention of what is seen depends on the viewer’s 1988; Eaves, 2002; Futterman, 1992; Schweitzer, 2001;
ability to remember and rehearse through symbolic Seymour, 1994). Some dancers have earned doctorates
encoding in images, words, or actual behavior. Hanna drawing upon their performing experiences (e.g., Brooks,
(1988, 1992c) applied this concept to the study of dance 1997; Claid, 2006; Eaves, 2002; Egan, 2006a, 2006b;
and sexuality: People may get models of what it is to Frank, 2002, 2007; Johnson, 2006; Lewis, 1998a, 1998b,
be male and female and recognize the fluctuating gender 2000). Feindel (1988) was a former dancer with the
boundaries through dance production and presentation National Ballet. Beasley (2003), Dudash (1997), and
within a historical and cross-cultural context. On-stage, Funari (1997) were peep-show dancers.
there is often the expression and questioning of sexual Foucault (1978) directed attention to the body as a
identity and roles, eroticism, and patterns of dominance. subject that constitutes a discourse that has been
Spectatorship is another concept in psychological socially, historically, and culturally constructed. His
research on dance and sexuality (Burt, 2007). Both treatment of the relations between power, the body,
216
DANCE AND SEXUALITY: MANY MOVES
and sexuality contributed to the feminist critique of criticized scholarship and public policy as suffused with
essentialism and to the notion of the gaze as a force of racism and imperialist motives, spoke of the ‘‘exotic
surveillance and control (Foucault, 1977). Albright other.’’ He outlined the ways Western colonialists have
(1997) noted the problematic emphasis on a passive produced a version of the East that they could dominate,
reading of the body, in the Foucauldian sense of the ‘‘a place of romance, exotic beings, haunting memories
body, as the site upon which forms of power impinge. and landscapes, remarkable experiences,’’ as they
Butler (1993) asserted that there is no natural body that mischaracterize, glorify or denigrate (p. 1).
would pre-exist cultural inscription. Sex and gender is Asante (1997), speaking of sensuality and sexuality in
gender—a process which has neither an origin nor an African dances as part of the cosmic order, criticized
end; and fantasy—performance, style, and strategy. Westerners for having taken images out of context and
Feminists have been uncomfortable with how a made fetishes out of male and female bodies. Because
woman’s sensuality should be presented to the world Western colonialists deemed African dance as debauched,
so restrictive body movements were the accepted norm: hypersexual, and lustful, some Africans have assimilated
this judgment and their governments now support dance
Once ‘‘sex’’ itself is understood in its normativity, the companies that ‘‘sanitize’’ sexual expression and link it to
materiality of the body will not be thinkable apart from theater dance, thereby ‘‘uplifting’’ African culture. To be
the materialization of that regulatory norm. ‘‘Sex’’ is, ‘‘modern’’ and officially sanctioned in Tanzania, for
thus, not simply what one has, or a static description example, erotic movements are subdued (Edmondson,
of what one is: it will become one of the norms by which 2002). Desmond (1999) addressed this same issue, using
the ‘‘one’’ becomes viable at all, that which qualifies a
the hula girls and the brown-bodied, sexualized, femin-
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
217
HANNA
discontent; second, how women could be a catalyst for ‘‘unsayable’’ within the terms of an existing cultural form
organizing; and third, corporealizing the abstract and is not necessarily what is excluded, but what is margina-
realizing the paradoxes of being subject to and sub- lized (Butler, 1993, p. 177). Queer means apparently
versive toward existing systems of power, as well as unconnected things are related to each other in strange
reinforcing and destabilizing male power. and unexpected ways. A key tenet of queer theory is ‘‘dif-
MacKinnon (1987) argued that male sexual pleasure ference.’’ In academic discourses, queer has become a term
derived from viewing the female body or its image harms that embraces various practices and identities that are
women. Concepts of gaze emanated from film, then counter to conventional heterosexual sexuality. ‘‘Queer,
migrated to theater and, from there, to the dance– in its primary signification, and in its radical promise, is
spectator relationship. The female body publicly that which not only eludes, but also subverts the ‘proper’.
displayed is seen as objectified and commoditized and And it defies propriety by subverting property, namely the
thus reinforces patriarchy (Manning, 1997). However, appropriation and ownership of bodies and desires by
focus on the rubric of male gaze neglects aesthetic heterosexual normativity’’ (Lepecki, 2002, p. 272). Claid
appreciation—reading drama; seeing form; who does (2006) said, ‘‘lesbian practice and theory contest the mean-
what, when, where, how, and with whom; and dance as ing and normality of being’’ (p. 180; also see p. 183).
an emblem of nonsexual identity. Moreover, there are The interdisciplinary study of homosexuals gained
different readings of the same ‘‘text’’ (Hanna, 1988). momentum in the 1990s. Queer theory and research
When men appropriate women’s sexuality (e.g., in drag), have presented a challenge to minimizing the gay male
feminists see a need to re-appropriate women’s sexuality. population and its profound contribution to theater
Although some feminists single out adult entertain- dance. However, just as race, social class, or age do
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
ment exotic dance as sexual objectification that rein- not necessarily shape dance as an art form or determine
forces and reminds women of their inferior status, excellence in dance, neither does sexual orientation
many exotic dancers disagree. They consider themselves necessarily impact dance—the story being embodied
feminists and reject the binary identity of good girl–bad may be what audiences attend to.
girl, privilege–stigma, or heterosexual–lesbian and are Burt (2001) referred to John Martin’s theory of
concerned about how and when to be valued for their metakinesis to account for the pleasure of watching a
sexuality, a key instrument of their oppression. Sex- queer male dancing body. Risner (2007), Lehikoinen
radical feminism ‘‘proposes an economy of plenty—we (2006), and Gard (2003, 2006) explored the experiences
do not ‘use up’ our sexuality by displaying it at the strip of males in dance training and education to provide
club. We do not render it cheap. We do not trade our insights into hegemonic assumptions about dance,
self-respect for a sweaty dollar. There is always more gender, masculinity, and sexuality, as well as dominant
where that came from’’ (Johnson, 2006, p. 161). Dudash codes that govern the former (see also Green, 2001;
(1997) argued that adult entertainment dancing is living Puttke, 2001). Risner (2007) proffered five themes that
feminism that counters abstract discussions of censor- may illuminate a better understanding of social stigma-
ship and dancer oppression. She notes that the bolstering tization: homophobic stereotypes, narrow definitions
of dancers’ self-image and their expression of emotion of masculinity, heterosexist justifications for male
while dancing in an erotic manner is a playful way of participation, the absence of positive male role models
experiencing movement. Pendleton (1997) spoke of (straight and gay), and internalized homophobia among
lesbian strippers performing the feminine role in order male dance students.
to exploit it to their own advantage. Cvetkovich (2001),
a lesbian go-go dancer, seized the tradition of sexiness
Summarizing Comment
and spectacle: ‘‘Bodily visibility makes its strongest bid
for equivalence with political power’’ (p. 318). Therefore, Dance and sexuality as a theme has been studied in
there was a mocking of butt-fucking, and go-go dancers terms of the meaning of the elements of dance that
in white boots and miniskirts danced on platforms or in describe the status quo in social, cultural, economic,
cages suspended from the ceiling, providing an added and political realms. This provides the baseline to chal-
theatrical dimension to drinking and socializing as part lenge common assumptions. Diverse disciplines draw
of the bar and disco culture during the 1960s. upon movement discourse to explore deviance and nor-
malcy, colonialism, Orientalism, imperialism, feminism,
and queerness. Broadly speaking, equality of theoretical
Cross-Disciplinary: Queer Theory
approaches and study methodologies is not an issue in
Queer theory also provides a fluid conception of the arts and humanities. The theories and study meth-
identity and desire rather than the assigned category of odologies are varied and accepted, depending on the
binary male–female, and explores issues of stigma and researcher’s discipline, mentors, personal preference,
discrimination. It resists hegemony as a counterbalance and question being investigated. Now with graduate
to ‘‘heternormativity’’ and heterosexual privilege in departments of dance, research since the turn of the
mainstream society. What remains ‘‘unthinkable’’ and century has progressed from primarily chronological
218
DANCE AND SEXUALITY: MANY MOVES
studies to embodying more theoretical perspectives. Yet, was unaffected by the love of God. The Talmud
researchers on dance and sexuality come from numerous commands dancing at weddings, rejoicing with the
disciplines, with much cross-over, and with the same whole being. A metaphor for the mysteries of faith,
theoretical concepts and study methodologies influen- dance has been a part of Christian processionals and
cing those disciplines. Current approaches that are Biblical dramas. Liturgical or congregational dance is
attacking the status quo, and unveiling and dismantling a means to rejoice, to dedicate oneself to the Lord, to
basic assumptions, have had historical threads. Current repent, and to promote community. The language of
researchers may use methodologies from diverse disci- movement is God-given within a Protestant view that
plines in a study that yields multiple readings of dance. considers performing a choreographed dance to be
analogous to the self-expression of God as creator
(Adams, 1980; Adams & Apostolos-Cappadona, 1990;
Substantive Areas of Focus Wolterstorff, 1980, p. 51).
On the other hand, some Christians believe dance
In this overview of the literature on dance and sexu- encourages unchaste thoughts and leads to sinful beha-
ality, I have chosen specific substantive foci that stand vior. In the 1890s, music hall ballet dancers in Europe
out in studies in the English language in the United and the United States were stigmatized and associated
States, United Kingdom, and Australia. There is no with prostitution, scarlet women soliciting from the
hierarchy of ideas among these areas of study—that is, stage rather than the street. Popular moral constraints
the organization of themes could essentially be pre- led to views of a dance career as decadent. Although
sented in any order. Religion is discussed first since the music halls had canteens where dancers and
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
dance most likely began with regard to beliefs about admirers could mingle and make assignations, some
the spiritual world. Early studies of dance were about dancers were straight-laced, especially the ballerinas
association with religion and Western theater arts. Then, who husbanded a chaste image (Carter, 2005).
I turn to dance as a source of power, Western theater Christian fundamentalists are expected to stay away
dance, gender, sexual orientation, asexuality, and ambi- from temptation, which often includes dance. Through
guity. Western social dance, ritual and non-Western an organizational network fueled by money, lawyers,
social dance, and exotic dance follow. It is important and technology—an emboldened division of the Chris-
to point out once again that the categories for reporting tian Right fights adult entertainment exotic dance as part
the relationship between dance and sexuality are not of a political religious movement called Dominionism.
mutually exclusive. Studies of one form of dance may Its goals are to supplant constitutional democracy with
address several themes. bible-based, Christian-governing, theocratic elite. Fights
against dance and sexuality occur as merely one front in
a broader culture war, with other battles concentrating
Religion and Dance on abortion and prayer in the schools, for instance.
The sexuality of dance is in the mind of the observer. Composed of evangelical traditionalists, centrists, and
Seen as threatening, dance falls victim to censorship in modernists, Christian Right divisions fight to have their
some cultures. Adversaries seek to diminish dance and voice and ideology prevail (Hanna, 2005, 2008b, 2009).
the environment in which dance expression exists Many organizations have leaders who speak out
(Hanna, 2001, 2002; Jackson & Shapiro-Phim, 2008). against sexuality and the arts—for example, American
Social restrictions on the right to dance in the broader Decency Association, American Family Association,
society exist at particular historical times to shape the Americans United to Preserve Marriage & American
dances that one can see. Nonetheless, the Western theater Values (formerly Family Research Council), Child
dance world, receptive to the unconventional, has been a Welfare Foundation, Christian Broadcasting Network,
comparatively tolerant refuge for creative expression. Let Citizens for Community Values, Concerned Women
us look at two examples in Christianity and Islam. for America, Concerned Women for America’s Culture
and Family Institute, Coral Ridge Ministries, Eagle
Forum, Florida Family Association, Focus on the
Christianity. Opposition to dance is common in Family, Free Congress Foundation, National Associ-
Christianity (Gilbert & Pearson, 1999; Nevile, 2008; ation of Evangelicals, National Center for Law and
Wagner, 1997) and Islam (Shay & Sellers-Young, Families, National Empowerment Television, Southern
2005). On the one hand, from the second century, Baptist Convention, Traditional Values Coalition, and
Christians (e.g., Theodoret of Cyrrhus and Clement of Wall Builders. Such groups attack the National
Alexandria) described dance as an imitation of the Endowment for the Arts and some mainstream dances
perpetual dance of angels, the blessed and righteous for their sexuality, whether intended by the choreogra-
expressing physically their desire to enter heaven. Chris- pher or dancer.
tianity built upon the Hebrew tradition of demonstrat- Opponents of adult entertainment exotic dance would
ing through pious dance that no part of the individual like the U.S. government to ban it, but exotic dance is
219
HANNA
protected by the First Amendment as expression and in exchange for dancing for the King.2 Western belly
‘‘speech.’’ So, the adversaries work through government dancers commonly interpret Orientalist images of the
to enact laws against the clubs toward driving them out harem dancer as a sensual woman and perform in
of business. The restrictions include banning what is celebration of alternatives to, and liberation from,
seen on mainstream stages: nudity or partial nudity, Western patriarchy and materialism. During the 1960s
‘‘simulated nudity,’’ ‘‘simulated sex,’’ touching another and 1970s, belly dancing became an emblem of the
person or self-touch, and ‘‘obscene’’ and ‘‘lewd’’ female sexual revolution (Deagon, 2005; Shay, 2008, p.
behavior—terms that are, of course, open to wide 67), popular as a way for women to resist alienation
interpretation. from their bodies and to claim and express their sexu-
Coupled with religious objections to dance is ality (Adra, 2005; Bentley, 2002; Dox, 1997).
negative criticism based on fears of the sexuality of
African American dance. Prominent dancers, such as Dance Sexuality as a Source of Power
Katherine Dunham and Pearl Primus, were targeted.
Burt (2001) said there is ‘‘the ambivalent white fear Dancers in ballet, modern dance, exotic dance
of and fascination with the black body . . .’’ (p. 232). (discussed in a later section), the Middle East, and Far
However, this pattern is not new, as noted later; East have used sexuality in dance to further social and
successive dance styles in the United States were often economic interests. In the 19th century, French courte-
scandalous in their time. Similarly, the danzon in Cuba, sans drew upon their celebrity status as ballet dancers
samba in Brazil, and tango in Argentina that originated to enhance their artistic and economic well-being. It
among the lower classes, often in bordellos, were first was common for them to have a lover for money,
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
condemned and then eventually accepted by the another for love, and a third to eventually marry. That
mainstream. modern dancer
Islam. Conservative Muslim leaders fulminate Isadora Duncan’s sexuality was a source of power and a
against public performances of female dancers, way to forge her connection to the intelligentsia is
commonly referred to as belly dancers, who were overlooked—she is seen for her ‘‘free love’’ and not what
these connections brought to her table. Sexuality has
deemed low status, disgraceful, immoral, and associated
allowed us to rip the mind of the dancer from the
with prostitution (Shay, 2008; Shay & Sellers-Young,
equation. (Victoria Geduld, personal communication,
2005). In general, dancing has been a dishonorable November 12, 2008)
profession, although male and female dancing is part
of celebrations. Males danced in palaces and homes of Mata Hari is yet another example of using sexuality in
the rich and even became concubines of kings. The dance to advance herself and her spy missions.
male dancers were thought of as having passive Many dancers feel empowered by the performance
homosexuality—their dancing was not a parody of itself. Greek males dancing the rebetika could express
women’s dance. Some Western scholars note that ecstasy, sure of their manhood. Through flamenco and
Middle East dancing is considered sexually deviant, a tango, a paradoxical state of abandonment and full con-
fetishized sign of eroticism, passion, and unbridled trol, of bodily awareness and mental disengagement,
sexuality, inviting Western imperial efforts to tame it women express their passion and make themselves
(Karayanni, 2005). Indigenous Westernized elites often objects of desire and, thus, attain status (Washabaugh,
share the outsiders’ views. Contemporary folk dance 1998a, 1998b).
company performers are more respected than traditional
dancers. Indeed, in Egypt, Iran, and Uzbekistan, state-
sponsored dance companies have attempted to create Sexuality in Western Theater Arts
what they deemed appropriate for male dancers, a This section attends to European court dances;
hypermasculinity to emasculate the image of the male dances on the proscenium stage for the bourgeoisie;
homosexual dancer (Shay, 2008). music hall dances; and the sex, nudity, spirituality, and
Westerners have appropriated the Middle Eastern ballroom dances in contemporary theater.
belly dance and attribute various meanings to its
performance: spirituality, sensuality, femininity, and Court. Ballet developed during the reign of Louis
exercise. Studlar (1997) considered this dance from XIV (1685–1715) within the ambience of a pleasure-
1916 to 1926 as a feminist desire to escape the con- centered society. Ballets were imbued with love poetry
straints of bourgeois domesticity. In publicly performing extolling the power of Venus and were about love
Salome in the Middle East belly dance style, scantily (e.g., Sappho, Mark Antony and Cleopatra, and Cupid;
clad, Western, middle-class and elite women engaged
in a transgressive act. Female freedoms were crystallized 2
Brutality is also seen as a predatory, spider-like female who kills
in the dancing figure of Salome, also associated with her mate in The Cage, choreographed by Jerome Robbins in 1951
brutal sensuality. Salome wants John the Baptist’s head and performed to this day.
220
DANCE AND SEXUALITY: MANY MOVES
Cowart, 2008). The minuet ‘‘captured the blend of a blatant metaphor for sensual and sexual actions’’
pastoral elegance and amorous desire that become (p. 6). Aspects of sexual arousal and gay eroticism appear
synonymous with the ballet itself’’ (p. 183). Sexual in Michel Fokine’s (1911) Spectre de la Rose and Vaslav
energy and intrigue often provided the substrate for Nijinsky’s (1912) Afternoon of a Faun (see Kolb, 2009).
many of the movements and scenarios of the developing
ballet arts (Nadel & Katschall, 1994). Music halls. In the 1890s and early 20th century,
A political dimension also accrued to the ballet. ballet thrived in music halls (Carter, 2005). At this time,
Characters identified with the monarchy and served the French cancan dance was also a venue of social
the interest of critics. Cowart (2008) maintained that a mobility for working class women. This erotic, coquett-
group of libertine artists vaunted the ballet and its dan- ish dance with cheeky gestures undermined Victorian
cers as the embodiment of a new utopia opposed to the values. The dance began with males and females danc-
oppressive, devout, and austere late reign of Louis XIV. ing, but the women could not join in the athletic moves
the men performed unless they lifted their long skirts.
Proscenium stage. Moving to the theater stage, Consequently, they did so on-stage and aroused fantasy
ballet became an avenue of social mobility for beautiful with battement (high kicks), rond de jambe (fast rotary
and talented working class women. Upper-class men fre- movements with the lower leg from a raised knee), port
quented the Paris Opéra, an officially countenanced and d’arms (rapid jumps on one leg with the other raised
abetted marketplace where backstage was a venue of sex- vertically and held by the ankle with the hand, with
ual assignation, from foreplay to possession of dancers as the other arm and hand stretched to the side), roué
mistresses (Guest, 1970, 1972, 1980). For men’s pleasure, (cartwheels), gran écart (jump splits), and, with their
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
women reigned on-stage and, in the 1840s, even danced backs to the audience, they bent over and tossed their
in travesty to partner the ballerinas (Astier, 2007; Elsom, skirts overhead to flaunt their fannies, revealing frilly
1974; Garafola, 2005; Guest, 1966; McCleave, 2007; knickers with lace and ribbons, stockings, and garters.
Migel, 1972): Sometimes they would collapse in an audience mem-
ber’s lap. The bourgeoisie were attracted to and yet
Newspaper critics described and compared female repelled by the culture of the working class. The cancan
dancers’ body parts in excruciating and leering detail. was a dance of freedom, and dancers felt that if they
An immense literature of gossipy pamphlets sprang up chose to exploit their sexuality, they should be free to
that recounted as a kind of biographical profile the amor-
do it (Price, 1998).
ous liaisons and sexual escapades of female dancers. The
disdainful yet salacious tone, the suspicion of prurience
Contemporary theater dance. Foster (1996a)
in these publications, distinguishes them from the more
speculated:
modest literature summing up the glamour and power
of eighteenth-century ballerinas. (Foster, 1996a, p. 6)
Today’s audiences seem not to view the exposed crotch
of the ballerina in arabesque promenade as genitals. They
In this literature, ballet became the ‘‘aestheticization of
do not view the moment where her thighs slide over her
sexual desire’’ (Foster, 1996b, p. 226). Furthermore, partner’s face as she descends from a high lift as fellatio.
critics combined reporting of erotic intrigue and adver- Nor do they see her gentle fall onto her partner’s prone
tisement paid for by principal dancers. body as copulation. (pp. 7–8)
By 1820, dance may not only have represented erotic
encounters, but it may have stood in for sexual inter- Yet, audience members viewing the same dance can have
course. Founded in 1910, the Ballet Russes featured chor- diametrically opposed perceptions. For example, view-
eography permeated with erotic fantasy and pervasive ing Douglas Dunn and Deborah Riley in a duet, half
sensuality, especially homosexual. The gay artistic direc- the audience said the dancers were robotic while the
tor Serge Diaghilev dethroned the ballerina, and ballet other half remarked on the eroticism, exemplified by
became a privileged arena for gay dancers and audience an audience member who wrote on a survey form, ‘‘It
members (Garafola, 2005; see the following discussion). made me feel horney’’ (Hanna, 1983).
Foster (1996a, p. 3) described how classical ballet Christopher Wheeldon, recognized in the dance world
emphasizes the female–male dyad and invests the as a hot-shot choreographer for New York City Ballet,
encounter with sexual meaning through touching and who started his own company in 2007, said, ‘‘Dance, bal-
gestures of love. Following codes of partnering, the let, is sexy. Sex is so much a part of our culture, ballet
man lifts and maneuvers the woman with sexual symbo- is . . . about the sensuality of young bodies moving’’
lism as she is highlighted. The ballerina with extended (Wakin, 2007, p. E1). The Washington Ballet held a cab-
legs capped by standing on pointe is ‘‘the phallus,’’ aret called 7 7 in its school rehearsal hall: seven com-
and the male partner ‘‘embodies the forces that pursue, missioned works in seven minutes—all on the theme of
guide, and manipulate it’’ (p. 3). Even in its romantic love. Some ballets, such as Prodigal Son (1929), explicitly
ballets about an ethereal world of enchantment, ballet simulate intercourse. In Robert Joffrey’s (1967) Astarte,
‘‘also proffered lovely ladies, scantily clad, engaged in a male dancer strips on his way to the stage until he is in
221
HANNA
nothing but briefs. Then, he engages in sexual gyrations merely referencing but actually reenacting movements
with his partner, the goddess Astarte, until each one from sexual intercourse’’ (McMains, 2006, p. 142). Rumba
separately appears to reach a climax. is a sensuous dance of love. By contrast, European couple
Dance Magazine anxiously asked, ‘‘Is it sexist to be dancing projects an image of eternal bliss.
sexy?’’ Looseleaf (2008) interviewed dancers about the
issue, and most of them shared the view of Yeva Glover,
Sexuality and Gender
who performs with the American dance theater group
Company XIV. Glover insisted that if being sexy is an Issues of gender manifest themselves in all kinds of
intrinsic part of the role she is performing, then she has dance. Gender is the focus of discussion by many
no sense that ‘‘it undermines my artistry’’ (p. 46). It is authors, including Hanna, Foster, Banes, and Frank.
only ‘‘sexist,’’ she said, ‘‘if you’re using [it] to sell dance— This section turns to dance and gender in Western
putting on a façade—and not exploring it as an art form’’ theater, Western film, Muslim culture, classical Indian
(p. 46). Whether it is Adam Cooper dancing Matthew dance, Caribbean, and South African performance.
Bourne’s Swan Lake, Altynai Asylmuratova dancing As mentioned earlier, 19th-century theater audiences
Odette, the cast of the American Ballet Theatre in Twyla had a distaste for male dancers. The descent from male
Tharp’s In the Upper Room, the great exponents of tango French royalty performing dance was in part due to the
and flamenco, the sexiness of the material and the sensu- French and Industrial revolutions in the 18th and 19th
ality of the performers are inextricable, and writers centuries. Among the sociopolitical elite, activities of
usually celebrate this fact. Gener (2003) interviewed the body became associated with moral laxity and impe-
Debbie Allen, Martha Clarke, Graciela Daniele, diments to industrial and factory economic productivity
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
Mercedes Ellington, and Lynne Taylor-Corbet on this (Kern, 1975). Although the female ballet dancer was fore-
topic of eroticism in dance (which they all used in their front, men dominated the production behind the scenes.
work), although they also acknowledged that dance is A general claim had been that ballet is oppressive to
not always about sexuality. It may, for example, be women (Adair, 1992). Modern dance, founded by women
about freedom or spirituality (see Kleinman, 1980). in the 20th century, reversed this pattern: women became
Nudity, a type of costume, has become ‘‘old hat’’ in choreographers, dancers, and producers (see Franko,
theater dance, and is not always sexual (Jaeger, 2009; 2002). Park (2008) discussed contemporary b-girls in
see Sparshott, 1995). It may express a sense of shock, New York City who appropriate the b-boy dance form.
exhibitionism, vulnerablity, innocence, health, beauty Rudolf Nureyev, who defected from the Russian
of the body, God’s gift, common humanity, and so forth. Kirov Ballet in 1961, marked the re-ascendance of the
When Kenneth Tynan devised Oh! Calcutta! in 1969, it male dancer. His outstanding technical and dramatic
was meant to blast through the hypocrisy and shame that prowess, good looks, and international recognition and
had kept sexuality, a crucial part of life, off the stage for stature that accrues to a person with a six-digit income
so long (Gold, 1999). Hair and Last Supper at Uncle in the 1960s improved the status of the male dancer.
Tom’s Cabin (with 50 nude dancers on-stage to show Narratives of love and understanding between a man
the common humanity) are similarly provocative. and woman are depicted in films featuring, for example,
Some Western dances reflect the meaning of sexuality the dancing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Dyer
in society and how sensuality and spirituality can be (1993) examined the heterosexual ideal of their danced
yoked (Banes, 1998). Commentators have noted the courtship in musical films of the 1930s and MGM musi-
difference between admiring the line of an arabesque cals of the 1940s and 1950s. The arrangement of the two
or the arch of a foot and rhapsodizing about the but- bodies in relation to each other is cheek to cheek, male
tocks of a male dancer or the breasts of a female one, dominant leader, and female dependency on the male.
and a difference between judging bodies as part of the The later period sees the woman using her male partner
dancers’ artistry and technique and judging them purely as a support as she twines herself around the man. There
as physical objects. That may be why Dance Magazine are ecstatic lifts and supine surrender of the woman as
still feels it has to ask the questions about dance and sex. she strokes the man’s face and leans her head against
Another type of Western theatrical dance conveying his shoulder suggesting her desire for him. Dyer
sexuality is the ballroom dance competition, Dance observed that ‘‘the nearer you get to sex the less same-
Sport. It is essentially stylized heterosexual courtship. ness and equality can be tolerated. . . . Once the dark
Participants in professional ballroom dance are mostly secret world of ‘laying’ is clearly on the agenda, then
working class, situated in a sexually charged space. the woman has to know her place, her difference and
Sexual harassment is unremarkable, women project her subordination’’ (p. 63). This holds true in ‘‘the
desirability, and male dominance manifests itself in rock-oriented dance films of the seventies and eighties,
choice of moves. Gays portray interest in their female such as Saturday Night Fever, Staying Alive, and Dirty
partners, and they portray heterosexual romance as pro- Dancing, where the sexuality of the dance is infinitely
tector and backdrop for female beauty. For Latin dance, more explicit, the sexual subordination of the woman
‘‘sex is the main attraction, their gyrating hip actions not in dance is even more insisted upon’’ (p. 63).
222
DANCE AND SEXUALITY: MANY MOVES
Among Muslims in Egypt where the arts, in general, heterosexual space (heterosexist even) in which men
are frowned upon as a distraction from devotion to and women play out eroticized gender roles in ritual
God, as noted earlier, ghawâzı̂ (gypsies) were dancers dramas . . . the body of the woman . . . is invested with
and prostitutes. Their dancing became stripping for absolute authority as men pay homage to the female
principle. (p. 17)
some European travelers (van Nieuwkerk, 1995, p. 35).
Bewitching viewers with their enticing bodies, dancers
arouse male excitement, and temptation is feared. Acrobatic dancing (bending over backward and
Although female dancers have low status, some among touching the ground) and a mobile bottom (the seat of
the urban lower and middle class whose identities are pleasure) are pronounced and accentuated in the ‘‘batty
as mothers view themselves as workers and their bodies riders’’ (shorts that ride high on the woman’s buttocks).
as neutral productive instruments, like male bodies. There is an association of food and sex, so ‘‘the meta-
Working in a male space in which women usually are phor of woman’s genitalia as meat doubles the pleasure
not present, the dancers become ‘‘men among men.’’ of eating’’ (p. 100). Craighead (2006) examined Black
So as to not compromise their reputations as respectable dance within the contested politics of race, class, gender,
women, they are tough, strong, and ready to beat up a and sexuality in South Africa, referring to extreme
drunk or aggressive male with abusive language or racism and of masked sexism within a White, hetero-
physical assault. If they are men, how can they be sus- sexual, patriarchal, capitalist superstructure.
pected of having affairs with other men (van Nieuwkerk,
1995, p. 178)? Sexual Orientation
In classical Indian dance, men teach females to
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
embody myths that perpetuate male dominance. Some Homosexuality in dance—ambiguous, implicit, and
contemporary dancers are challenging this by altering covert—was not usually discussed in mainstream and
endings of myths so that female goddesses best the male scholarly publications before the 1990s. Over time, the
gods in contests (Hanna, 1993, 1998a). Music and dance hidden became overt off-stage and on. Male dancers,
are modes of worship and homosexual and heterosexual alike, have faced prejudice
and varied spectator perception. This section examines
sexual orientation in theater dance and in social dance.
the devotee, regardless of her=his sex, is always in a
feminine positionality in relation to divinity, worship-
ping god through performance of love and adoration. Homosexuality in theater dance. The ballet and
Dancers embodied poems that articulated spiritual long- modern dance arts have been receptive to gays, and
ing through sexual union, physical intimacy, and plea- the general Western public has assumed male dancers
sure, often initiated by the woman. (Chatterjee, 2004, were gay because ballet, the most popular theater art
pp. 148–149; see also Banerji, 1983) dance, was associated with women, and male dancers
represented corruption of the male code of self-presen-
Movement is grounded and curvaceous with an tation (see Burt, 1995, 1998, 2001; Carman, 2006). A
extended hip. Eyes are flirtatious, and body and fingers survey of 136 professional dancers representing 36
communicate specific meanings. However, Mitra (2006) companies (ballet, modern, jazz, and musical theater)
pointed out that the 20th-century Indian nationalist estimated that one half of the males were gay, and a
movement supported the reinvention of the Hindu deva- small number were lesbian (Bailey & Obserschneider,
dasi temple dance with its erotic practice that had fallen 1997; see Leask, 1998).
into disfavor through colonialist Christian sensibilities. Margulies (2008) discussed his experience as a straight
The dance became a desexualized high art form, codi- dancer. Interestingly, Rahm Emanuel, President
fied, and secular. Audience members of the upper eche- Obama’s chief of staff, and his brother, Dr. Ezekiel J.
lons of society were hostile to a modern performance in Emanuel (with a Ph.D. in political philosophy and an
which females subverted the trope of the chaste female M.D. from Harvard), who built a leading center for
and expressed sexuality, including through physical con- bioethics at the National Institutes of Health and became
tact with other dancers. special adviser to the budget director, Peter R. Orszag,
While some people argue that the lyrics in Jamaican studied ballet. Rahm danced professionally. Ezekiel said,
dancehall music are used to enslave, subjugate, commo- ‘‘It allowed us to endure ridicule and keep going’’
dify, and denigrate women, Cooper (2004) countered (personal communication, April 23, 2009).
that dancehalls serve as a liberating space for African Helping gay students in the face of ridicule is a concern
and Jamaican women to claim (Risner, 2004, 2005, 2007). Claims for athleticism and
technique have been used to downplay the perceived risk
a self-pleasuring sexual identity that may even be and denigration of being identified as homosexual, as
explicitly homoerotic, a female fertility rite. Dance well as to justify dancers’ virility and value. Male dancers
allows people to reclaim their humanity in times of in school may use playing sports to camouflage homo-
economic hardship. The dancehall is essentially a sexuality. Gard (2003, 2006) interviewed 20 male ballet
223
HANNA
and modern dancers in Australia about their occu- figures of Daedalus and Icarus, supposedly father and
pational experiences. He discussed the cultural patterning son. However, about the same age and nearly naked,
of body movement and proposes that physical education they touch each other erotically in slow motion. While
is among the many sites where body and sexual conform- the ballet occasioned critical outrage, it packed in audi-
ity is pursued. Participation in sports is one means by ences. Gay, African American, modern dancer–choreo-
which young males can ‘‘prove’’ their heterosexuality. grapher, B. T. Jones (see Jones & Gillespie, 1995), said:
Choreography has also downplayed the presentation
of homosexuality, although the imagery has changed over Sometimes when I step onstage, I carry in front of me an
time. At the beginning of the 20th century, the male invisible phallus. And this phallus is to me what the
dancer (notably, the acclaimed Nijinsky of Diaghilev’s spear was to the Watusis. It is my virility, my right to
Paris-based troupe Ballets Russe) portrayed implicit be, and the assurance that I will always be. I am in
homoerotic imagery when homosexuality was criminal search of the dance in which the phallus is forgiving
(Kolb, 2009). Dancers’ and choreographers’ queer for being a thing that must penetrate, deflower. This
codings, the subtext of their ballets, were often not easily dance will be selfish and self-interested, and yet, fulfilled
decipherable. Kolb analyzed Fokine’s Le Spectre de la by filling. (p. 131; see Morris, 2001)
Rose, Nijinsky’s choreography of L’Après-Midi d’un
Faune, and Fokine’s Legend of Joseph against the back- Explicit discussion and staging of what was once
drop of early 20th-century research in sexual science implicit eventually occurred. Rudi van Dantzig’s Monu-
and German-speaking authors. However, Nijinsky’s ment for a Dead Boy, first performed in Amsterdam in
dancing challenged conventional masculinity with his 1965, startled audiences with the portrayal of the
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
jumps and also feminine gracefulness. Diaghilev’s choreo- making, life, and death of a gay youth who is ultimately
graphers and dancers attempted to transform the art of destroyed by his desires. In 2009, renowned modern
ballet by emphasizing the erotic physicality of the male dancer, Paul Taylor’s ‘‘Beloved Renegade’’ poet is bisex-
dancer and displacing the 19th-century primary focus ual, coupling sportively with one woman in a fleeting
on the ballerina. early incident, but more pointedly planting a kiss on a
Contrary to most Western European companies’ man’s face later (Macaulay, 2009). Gere (2001) discusses
avoidance of blatant sexual connotations in their dances, a male appropriation of female gestures.
the Ballets Russe, which epitomized exoticism, explored The erotics of looking in Matthew Bourne’s gay male
unorthodox sexualities and subversive gender attach- Swan Lake has male swans as desiring subject and
ments in keeping with the image of Russia as non-West- desired object (Drummond, 2003). This is different than
ern and vaguely associated with a more liberated parody, such as when an exotic dancer makes fun of the
sexuality, including same-sex love, by locating on-stage pretext of clothing by wearing, for example, a police uni-
protagonists in non-earthly, or mythical, spheres. form or a cowboy outfit, or when she parodies female
More commonly, patriarchal codes produced aspects stereotypes by exaggerating secondary sex characteris-
of gender and sexual identity in dance (Roebuck, 2004). tics. Les Ballets Trokadero de Monte Carlo illustrates
Men articulated ‘‘accepted’’ masculine attributes such as the burlesque and physical comedy of men taking on
strength, gallantry, virility, rationality, and love of female persona and going on pointe while also keeping
women. During the same period, an openly gay world the male roles (Juhasz, 2008). Most critics describe the
existed in New York City from 1890 until 1930, when company as lovingly parodying specific ballets and
new legislation after the depression forced gays into particular styles through informed in-jokes (Hanna,
the closet. They ‘‘choreographed against the closet while 1988, pp. 239–240). Female impersonators may mimic
choreographing in the closet’’ (Manning, 1998, p. 34). ballerinas, flamenco, or acrobatic dancers. In drag
For example, modern dancer, Ted Shawn, double-coded shows, the goal may be parody, but also to beat women
his choreography. On one hand, his men performed at the glamour game. The drag queen, a visible stigmata
dance movements drawn from masculine activities such of homosexuality, embodies and symbolizes the male
as manual labor, war, and sport. On the other hand, the who places himself as a woman in relation to other
dancers’ ‘‘He-Man’’ physiques represented the Greek men (see Claid, 2006, p. 165; Franko, 1995, p. 95).
ideal, which is an identifying code for gay men. Manning (2001) raised the issue of gay spectatorship.
Claid (2006) investigated ‘‘how seductiveness in Stoneley (2007) ascribed queerness as a way of looking,
dance performance could be re-figured on=in a perfor- imputation, and an altering of a narrative to make it fit
mer’s body through an oscillation between embodied with a particular desire (see also Midgelow, 2007, on
attributes of masculinity and femininity, power and challenges to the traditional ballet representations of
pleasure, as an ambiguity of gender identity’’ (p. 7). race, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity). Stoneley proposed
During the 1970s, a number of ballets had homoerotic the male attraction to a male body as this: the dancer has
pas de deux (or trois) for men that pretended to be his heels together and toes out to the sides, seemingly ‘‘to
something else. For example, Gerald Arpino’s (1974) make a display of the genitals, when the muscular round-
The Relativity of Icarus featured two men as the mythic ness and ‘pulled-up’ look of the male dancer’s buttocks
224
DANCE AND SEXUALITY: MANY MOVES
might seem to have made its own invitation’’ (p. 11). resistance. They tap into their sexuality on the dance floor,
Gays are attracted to parodic performance of experiencing pleasure in its own right. They feel desire and
femininity, a denaturalized femininity. The ballerina is a desired, as well as a benign sense of mischief: dancing is
narrative of reinvention, not a normal woman. Stoneley thought to be dangerous to virtue. As the women dance
quoted English (1980), who argued that the male dancer for themselves and with each other, they control space
enjoys handling the ballerina as he would enjoy handling on the dance floor, interrupting the dominant practices
his own penis: of heterosexual couples and male dominance (Gotfrit,
1988). Buckland (2002) asked what people are performing
Fondly he holds the phallus in his arms, longingly he when they dance, and a respondent said:
looks into his princess’s eyes, ecstatically he lifts her,
his hands around her long, stiff tube of a body. . . . Her Half the time they’re performing sex. Half the time they
death, the point at which she at last goes limp [is] the are performing how good they are in bed. I think it’s
orgasm of the phallus that she represents in the fantasy very conscious. Especially when you get the butcher
of the hero. (Stoneley, 2007, p. 13) dykes—you can see that strut. . . . They’d come up from
behind, put their hands on the woman’s hips and start
Lepecki (2002) probed how certain modern dance is grinding into her. The more flexible women will manage
causing Portuguese spectators to examine the country’s to find a way to let her know that they would go down
cultural history and self-image. He links queer with on her. (p. 120)
the choreographic work of Francisco Comacho, ‘‘a
publicly imagining, problematizing, and politicizing that Another illustration of a safe space for gay expression
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
which remains a ghostly lack in Portuguese cultural pro- comes from Sidney, Australia. The Sleaze Ball tradition
duction: the bluntly physical body—desiring, sexualized, is a sexy guerrilla form of disco capitalism with spaces
visceral’’ (p. 259). intended for homoerotic and same-sex use, including
Yet, despite these perspectives on spectatorship, as for sex. The balls have shows displaying transgressive
postmodern choreographer–dancer Douglas Dunn homoeroticization (Bollen, 1996).
emphasized, each viewer brings his or her own back- Circuit parties were first developed in connection with
ground, values, and so forth with which to read the the early tea dances attended by a subset of gay men and
meaning of a dance (Hanna, 1983). In my own capacity theme parties held on Fire Island, New York, in the days
as a critic, I have attended performances and chatted with after police abuse and before the beginning of the health
audience members, who seldom talk about dancer sexual crisis of HIV and AIDS. An annual series of social dances
orientation. They might speak about homosexuality if it extending through the night and into the following day,
is portrayed on-stage, but the main fascination is with almost always with a number of affiliated events in the
dancers applying their skills and artistry in performance, days leading up to and following the main event, defines
irrespective of race, gender, or sexual orientation. circuit parties. They came to resemble underground rave
parties in some respects, but differ in that circuit parties
were highly publicized and professionally produced,
Homosexuality in social dance. Although gays have and tended to attract people from a wider age range
experienced hostility in social venues, social dance clubs and a broader geographic area. As many as 10,000 White
are a space to experience freedom from homophobia, a men, with an average age of 33, and with masculine gym-
utopian safe haven, a sense of communalism, and toned buff bodies, might show up and gain immense
liberation (Bollen, 1996; Buckland, 2002; Carrington, positive validation for themselves (Carrington, 2007;
2007; Rivera-Servera, 2004; Siegel, 2001). Ethnicity Nimmons, 2002). The dances become virtual communi-
may merge with queer identity so that the geography ties of men gathered in rapture and comradery seeking
of the dance floor becomes a double alternative to struc- bliss and transcendence. As healing rites celebrating
tures of oppression and a place to be in communion with life, the dances diffuse shame, disempower stigma, and
those who share similar customs (Rivera-Servera, 2004). reclaim eros. Emphasizing gay male desire, dance was
The dance also is disciplinary through the imposition of under the influence of recreational drugs (ecstasy,
the structure of music and stylistic norms. ketamine, crystal, and cannabis). Carrington noted:
Clubs may have go-go dancers and strippers to
encourage people to sexually express themselves on the
Squeezed onto the dance floor, bodies entangled closely
dance floor. Dance can be used to signal and demon- together . . . many of the rules governing everyday social
strate sexual desire. interaction between autonomous individuals no longer
Describing clubbing for lesbians, Wray (2000) said the prevail . . . the boundaries between self and other seem
floor reverberates with culturally coded visual perform- to evaporate with every passing beat and every new
ance of desire as women meet to consolidate lesbian eye contact. (p. 124)
identity and form a large communal body. At the dance
club, with its rock music and oppressive stereotypes of Carrington emphasized that although many social
femininity and masculinity enacted, women embody interactions on the dance floor might have immediate
225
HANNA
or potential sexual possibilities, most of the interactions, Much social dancing is a purveyor of fantasy that
while intensely physical, intimate, and emotional, would permits sexual expression, an area ‘‘which cannot be
not have this dimension. Gay men may dance together totally colonized’’ (McRobbie, 1984, p. 134). Dance is
for hours on end without the dance moving in an overtly inscribed within the realms of feeling and emotion
sexual direction. This often happens within friendship
groups. Circuit boys are icons of gay identity as are associated with being temporarily out of control, or out
the drag queen and leather daddy. of the reaches of controlling forces. Thus we have the
experience of dance being linked, linguistically, with
the onomatopoeia of the letter F: Saturday Night Fever,
Asexuality and Ambiguity Fame, Flashdance—as though, with a quick slip of the
As mentioned earlier, some modern dancers sought tongue, to move rapidly to fever, frenzy, feeling.
to focus on the aesthetic of the whole and to diminish (McRobbie, 1984, p. 134).
the sexuality component of dance. Illustratively, in the
early 20th century, Loie Fuller experimented with light- Dancing is often part of courtship and marriage
ing and ballooning fabric under which she used bamboo celebrations. The opportunity for erotic play through
extensions for her arms. Thus, when she raised them, the social dance is seen as desirous, as in the circuit dances
fabric reached far overhead. Lighting from various described earlier, or disgusting.
angles emphasized parts of her costume and played with Each generation faults the succeeding one with
shadow and reflection. creating sexually immoral dance. In the 18th century,
Choreographers of the 1950s and 1960s, such as Alwin the waltz—the first time a couple danced in embrace—
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
Nikolais, eschewed male and female polarized stereotypes was considered scandalous. Here is a 1799 account of
in favor of unisex movements and androgynous dancers. the waltz at its loosest: A man grasped the long dress
About sexuality and gender, Nikolais explained, ‘‘I’ve of his partner so that it would not drag, and lifted it high,
always abhorred the idea of male and female as opposed, covering both bodies closely as they whirled on the dance
as if we were all walking around in heat. Modern society floor. His supporting hand lay firmly on her breasts, at
forces you to be a sexual object rather than a person’’ (as each movement pressing lustfully (see Katz, 1973).
cited in Dunning, 1985, p. C33). Nikolais associated Since the 1910s, America has been known as the land
dance movement externalizing inner feeling with sexual of a thousand sexy social dances, including the fox trot,
matters. He viewed the environment and the relation of turkey trot, bunny hug, duck waddle, camel walk,
humans to nature in a broader sense. He coached his dan- kangaroo hop, grizzly bear, monkey glide, chicken
cers to think of themselves as abstract qualities rather scratch, kangaroo dip, bull frog hop, buzz, Texas
than people. Kowal (2007) writes, ‘‘Nikolais’ objectivity Tommy, Charleston, Lindy hop twist, frug, skate, pony,
was not unlike the approaches of other gay male artists swim, monkey, mashed potato, pony, hully gully, line
within and outside the dance world, whose investigation dances, and dances with instructions such as ‘‘ballin’
of the impersonal took many guises and relished the the jack’’ (Stearns & Stearns, 1968). Blacks created most
defiance of critical interpretation’’ (pp. 88–89). Merce of these social dances that were then later co-opted,
Cunningham, a gay dancer–choreographer, evolved an ‘‘sanitized’’ (made less sexy), and stylized by Whites.
aesthetic based on chance and discarded the gendered, Some Whites deemed the Black dance vocabulary of
sexual movements he experienced dancing with Martha hip swinging, pelvic rotations and thrusts, torso undula-
Graham and George Balanchine. tions, and shoulder shimmying as immoral. However,
The dance genre called ‘‘contact improvisation’’ many Whites frequented Harlem nightclubs, thrilled to
establishes realms of physical contact other than sexual. partake of a sense of illicit sexuality. Whites deemed
Dancers merge their weight and develop mutual trust Blacks and Latinos to have sexy social dances (Bosse,
and support as they attend to each other’s movement. 2008). Consequently, performing their dances was seen
The body is, to a degree, desexualized and considered as engaging in the transgressive and sexualizing them-
first and foremost as an entity comprising touch, weight, selves through dance (Desmond, 1997; Hanna, 2004a).
mass, and levers. This freed dancers to move without Later came taxi dancing, disco, raves, and booty
necessarily experiencing sexual feelings and to engage dancing. Between 1920 and 1940, taxi dancing primarily
in movement uncharacteristic of gender roles (Bovim, attracted European immigrants (Cressey, 1982; McBee,
2007; Kehoe, 2003; Novak, 1990). 2000). Taxi dancers were so named because, like taxis,
their services were hired by customers for short periods
and metered by a time clock. Paying the ‘‘dime-a-
Sexuality in Western Mainstream Social Dance
dance,’’ men could dance with a woman in a taxi-dance
Theater dances have been discussed within the frames hall or palace. Grinding bodies tightly together without
of gender, sexual orientation, and asexuality. Now the moving from a spot was ‘‘to dance on a dime.’’ To urge
focus turns to the expression of sexuality in social dance the taxi dancer to keep the customer moving, the floor
in mainstream society. manager would say, ‘‘Git off dat dime!’’
226
DANCE AND SEXUALITY: MANY MOVES
A taxi-dance hall in Chicago had, at one time, 600 heightened sexuality or sexual display (Malbon, 1999).
men and 68 girls. In 1930, New York City had 37 Clubbing in Britain is about having fun with other
dime-a-dance palaces; 35,000 to 50,000 male customers people, experiencing ‘‘the fluid sensuous friendships that
per week; and 2,500 to 3,000 employed female dancers. are forged in the night when you find people determined
Women initially danced in same-sex pairs, some to live at their best’’ (Jackson, 2004, p. 6). Dancing
performing a twisting of the hips to showcase their attri- ‘‘unleashes the Dionysian body from the Apollonian
butes in order to sell dances to the men. When dancing constraints imposed upon it in the everyday world’’
with customers, the women rubbed their bodies against (Jackson, 2004, p. 15). Jackson said, ‘‘There is no wrong
the men and wriggled. Some dancers allowed customers way to dance as long as you’re getting off on it. The only
to take them around the floor with the men dancing bad dancer is a miserable one’’ (p. 18). An informant put
behind them and fondling their breasts. Women eager it this way: Dance is ‘‘the next best thing to sex; the feel-
to dance more sensually moved to the center of the hall ing of your whole body being completely connected
where they could not be clearly observed by the other together and fluid and moving and you can just feel
patrons who were on the sidelines. If a ‘‘cop’’ arrived energy flowing right through your body’’ (Jackson,
unannounced, common on Saturday nights, the orches- 2004, p. 21). Another informant said he liked catching
tra started playing the waltz, ‘‘Margie,’’ to alert the someone’s eye on the floor and dancing with the person:
dancers to dance ‘‘respectably.’’ ‘‘When it ends you’ve just got to hug them or thank
Females almost always captured more denunciation them because it felt so good to share that thing with
than their male partners because the middle-class refor- them’’ (Jackson, 2004, p. 22).
mers were obsessed with instilling the virtues of ‘‘true Spike Lee’s 1988 film, School Daze, showed main-
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
womanhood.’’ Burns (2008) said the Filipino racialized stream the African American dance, da butt, also called
immigrant community at taxi dances was identified with freaking, booty dancing, doggy dancing, front piggy-back-
sexuality in the 1930s. Although moralists linked all ing, or dirty dancing, which spread widely in the United
taxi-dance halls with prostitution, patrons reported it States among young adult and junior and high school
was hard ‘‘to make these girls.’’ Police cannot arrest a student male–female social dance partnering. Couples
man for what occurs in the privacy of his own pants. twine thighs, pelvises touch and rotate, and upper torsos
Taxi dances more than half a century ago caused public tilt away from each other. Or females dance with their
outcry about touching, privacy, prostitution, morality, backs to their partners, sometimes bending over with
and government regulation—issues on the table today hands on the floor as they press and grind their butts
concerning the $10 to $20 lap dance in adult cabarets. against the male’s crotch. Some females hike their skirts
Taxi dancing has existed in clubs in Latino barrios above their thong underwear. When White students
for the past 30 years (Hong & Duff, 1976). In California, nationwide picked up booty dancing, their parents
the dancers attract mainly undocumented immigrants became outraged. In 2009, a school principal in Ohio
from Mexico who enjoy the music, female companion- wanted to enforce a ban on ‘‘dirty dancing’’ at a forth-
ship, and courtesy denied at other places where women coming winter formal by requiring students to sign a
treat them ‘‘like dirt.’’ In New York City, Dominican pledge that they will not ‘‘grind,’’ ‘‘rub,’’ or ‘‘simulate’’
American women from Manhattan go on the weekends sex on the dance floor. How are students to tell the
to Queens to dance the bachata and cumbia in bars and difference between permissible moving and grooving
nightclubs frequented by lonely Ecuadorian and and an impermissible bump and grind? In the end, it
Mexican men. The women earn from $50 to $150 a might not matter, given that students opposed to the
night. The large $2-a-dance halls attract young men policy were (predictably) planning to boycott the dance
and women, while the smaller clubs and bars attract (Bergin, 2009).
workers after their restaurant work shift ends about Dancing back to front, el perreo, doggy style, and
midnight; the dancers tend to be slightly older, friend- cheek to crotch, was part of the social dance scene in
lier, and maternal (Kilgannon, 2006; Salazar, 2008). Cuba at least as early as 1989 (Fairley, 2006). Cubans
Disco dancing became rooted in the 1960s. Many attribute this female-led style as coming from the ‘‘Car-
youth enjoy disco dancing that has the prospect of ibbean.’’ The female just walks away if she disapproves
romance. Dance has been associated with the feminine of the male behavior. The dance speaks loudly of sexual
(e.g., little girls take ballet), but the social dance scene desire, and men are known to ejaculate from the sensua-
allows liberation from strictures of gender (Gilbert & lized buttock rubbing on their genitals or to engage in
Pearson, 1999, p. 19). actual sex. The quebrar or requebrar in Latin America,
Clubbing or raving is an opportunity to sensually rooted in historical Spanish and Portuguese sources,
engage the entire body on the dance floor. Women also included pelvic thrusting from front to back in swi-
reported feeling sexual liberation with a relative absence veling movements of hips and pelvis, transgressive dance
from male predation—finding a partner was not the movements associated with sexual intercourse.
goal. The women could flirt in ‘‘safe sex’’—remaining Carnival or mardi gras in Rio, Buenos Aires, Havana,
in control and losing themselves as they experienced and New Orleans allows for greater dance displays of
227
HANNA
sexuality than usual. The reboleio, female rolling of sexual sublimation. Dance illustrations of the
movement of their buttocks, ‘‘seems intended to express spiritual come from India and Korea; of fertility from
an unleashed, uninhibited sexuality—unleashed because Haiti, Tanzania, New Zealand, and Nigeria; of cel-
of the movement’s explosive energy and uninhibited ebration from Senegal and Libya; of sublimation from
because of the dancers’ near total nudity’’ (Chasteen, Malawi and Italy; and of heterosexual entertainment
2004, p. 9). The Cuban rumba’s yambú and guancuancó from China, Japan, Turkey, Egypt, Greece, Morocco,
involve a man chasing a woman. In guancuancó, the Argentina, Spain, and Niger.
man makes pelvic thrusts toward his partner while she Dance may intermesh with sexuality to convey
covers her genitals with her hands or skirt to protect messages of spiritual love that finds its analogy in the
herself from being possessed or ‘‘vaccinated’’ by the bliss of sexual congress as in the narratives of Hindu
man (Daniels, 2002, p. 49). Baile funk from Rio’s favelas classical dance (Banerji, 1983). Korean religious sexually
is often intensely violent and aggressively sexual (Sneed, seductive dancing may be believed efficacious to cope
2008). Community dances are sponsored by gangsters, with supernatural and natural forces (Kendall, 1987).
and song lyrics exalt the strength of the drug traffickers In Haiti’s voodun religion, priests summon a divinity
and praise thievery beyond the community. who possesses an individual by displacing the soul, spirit,
In the tango, legs and feet often intertwine, and a foot and psyche of the self. As lord of eroticism and death,
or leg may penetrate the space between the other dancer’s Ghede’s dance movements remind people of the compul-
legs. The Argentine tango is filled with latent and sive drive to life and the inevitability of death. Baron
ambiguous sexuality. Controversy exists about male- Samedi is his special emissary, who expresses himself in
male partners: a lack of women, women not wanting to foul language and lascivious movements (Deren, 1970).
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
engage in a dance performed in brothels, or practice to Sandawe men and women in Tanzania dance by
know how to partner a woman (Castro, 1998; Tobin, moonlight in the erotic phek’umo rites, simulating
1998). Usually Argentine men refer to dancing together intercourse to promote fertility. The cycle of the moon
not as dancing but as practicing. As Tobin said, ‘‘the pri- coincides with the cycle of women’s menstruation, so
mary relation in tango is not between the heterosexual Sandawe believe the moon is the source of women’s
dance partners, but is between the man who dances with fertility, as well as general fertility. Their dance both
a woman and the other men who watch’’ (p. 90). ‘‘In metaphorically and magically conducts supernatural
Lacanian terms, the male lead in the tango has the phal- beneficence. Women select male partners. Some women
lus while the female follower is the phallus’’ (Tobin, lift their skirts to expose their buttocks to the men.
1998, p. 91). The tango dancers ‘‘step on a highly com- Finally, the men embrace the women while emitting
petitive stage ruled by the laws of naked seduction’’ hoarse grunts, which sound like those of animals in heat
(Savigliano, 1998, p. 105), as the men struggle to tame and mimic the sexual act (Ten Raa, 1969).
their women. Tango dancing has been described as On the first day of the circumcision rite among the
similar to knife fighting and representative of sexual Wanyaturu of Tanzania
intercourse.
Flamenco dancers often express intense sexuality. The the woman stands with her left foot planted firmly on
male dancers exhibit the qualities of the bull fighter (i.e., the ground (her left side being the side on which she is
ferocity and serenity) in interacting with a female, a supposed to lie during intercourse) with her left leg
metonym for Nature with her alluring ways and seductive flexed, toes of the left foot touching the ground. Her
powers. Men subdue the women but yet reaffirm the male partner stands between her legs, and while she
has her hands on his shoulders or waist, his hands are
orderliness of Culture that men represent in reaffirming
held out from the body or down near her vagina. In this
patriarchy (Washabaugh, 1998b). position the two twist their hips in unison in imitation of
coitus, while the others sing suggestive songs making
Sexuality in Ritual and Non-Western Social Dance references to vagina, penis, and the act of coitus.
(Schneider, 1979, pp. 63–64)
In many cultures, religious and secular dances may
precede, intertwine, or follow the other. They are often Among the Cook Islanders in Auckland, New
not separate as they tend to be in the West. In ritual Zealand, the metaphors of the dance songs translate as
dances, as in other dance forms, sexuality may be joining together, moving about, crushing together as in
implicit, like a dance to encourage or celebrate fertility bananas to make pudding. Women move their hips from
or an opportunity for courtship. The dances may be side to side, lifting them with each step while men, in a
for the purpose of alluring a pre- or extramarital affair. semi-crouched position on the balls of their feet, move
Dance also belongs to the repertoire of resources for sex their thighs in and out to the music. The man, smiling,
role scripting, which educates young and old alike about looks at his partner’s hips; she gazes coyly into space.
what it means to be a man or woman (Hanna, 1988). He thrusts and tries to ‘‘capture’’ the woman. But, she
Some African groups teach dances during initiation as also crushes with her hips, bumping his genitals if he
part of learning sexual technique. Dance is also a means gets close enough (Loomis, 1981).
228
DANCE AND SEXUALITY: MANY MOVES
Another expression of dance and sexuality is century. It had essentially disappeared only to reemerge
controlling the excessive enactment of one sex role to revitalized in the 1990s. There are various interpreta-
the detriment of the opposite. Males may dance as tions of tarantism (de Martino, 1966; Hanna, 2006;
women to honor women. Among the Yoruba of Lüdtke, 2009; Rouget, 1985). As in other forms of
Nigeria, a hierarchical, polygamous, patriarchal society possession, it involves entrancement during which the
where men dominate women, the men dance the female dancer indulges in extravagant, often erotic behavior.
masquerade Gelede, a vehicle for men to pay homage to The tarantism provided a woman with a way to release
women and attract their good will—and assuage fears of tension from inner misfortune and relief from hard
impotency and infertility attributed to women. A man work, childbearing, an overbearing husband, and
may tie a fish basket covered by a large wrapper at his restrained sexuality. Cases of tarantism were often
waist to exaggerate the female hips and buttocks and linked to forbidden or lost love or homosexuality; sexual
wear wood assertive breasts. The dancers may satirize taboos and conventions were transgressed. The pizzica
and criticize inappropriate sexual behavior. The top of music accompanying the tarantella dance begins slowly,
one mask bears a sculpted copulating couple (Drewal increases, and reaches the ‘‘orgasmic,’’ followed by a
& Drewal, 1983). cooling-off period, thus mirroring coital activity. The
Another example of the expression of sexuality spasmic contractions in the dance are analogous to the
integral to many kinds of celebrations comes from the vibrations of a spider in its web at times of crisis or
Woloff tradition of sabar in Senegal. Sabar has become death. A spider bite, sometimes in response to socioeco-
part of the repertoire of the Dakar city folk to celebrate nomic or natural calamities, snaps the relational threads
births, marriages, political and sporting events, and that link a healthy individual to her or his body, com-
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
gatherings of friends (Castaldi, 2006, pp. 70–101). In munity, and environment. The healing ritual with its
sabar, women display their power of seduction in a music and dance fulfills a need for attention and social
public setting, questioning the primacy of a bounded, support. Usually, the afflicted lies prostrate on a white
domestic heterosexual norm of sexuality. The spectacu- sheet placed on the ground surrounded by a circle of a
lar kinetic stunts tease. Dramatic shifts between small group of musicians and dancers until a musical
carefully choreographed stillness allow viewers to appre- note moves her into action.
hend with leisure the dancer’s body and extraordinary Dancing to entertain men is found worldwide—for
kinetic motility that establishes ideals of beauty and example, in the Chinese chi-nu, Japanese geisha, Indian
attractiveness, independent of body shape and size. devadasi and nautch, Arabic guina, Korean kisaeng,
‘‘Eroticism is expressed through the sabar dancing Persian motreb, Turkish cengi, Egyptian ghawazee,
idiom, and dance competence defines and constrains Greek hertaere, and Morocan shikhat (Hanna, 1988).
eroticism itself. The dancers’ skills correlate with risqué Tango from Argentina and flamenco from Spain also
bodily exposure: the more skilled a dancer, the more she attract male attention. By contrast, among the Wodaabe
will undress and expose in the dancing circle’’ (p. 82). nomads of Niger, the men dance to attract women who
By contrast, a strict code of modesty for women judge them on their charm, dancing, and beauty
among Muslims prevails due to men’s belief that women (Beckwith, 1983). When a man’s wink is met by a
possess animalistic sexual appetites. A seven-day Libyan woman’s gaze, romance is born.
wedding rite highlighted ambivalence, contradiction,
and accommodation between the sexes through dance
Striptease Exotic Dance
(Mason, 1975). Women dance among themselves to
honor the bride. Men mock the erotic dance women Women dance for men in adult exotic dance, although
perform. The women, too, dance like men. A veiled women are increasingly going to men’s clubs. Although
female representative dances for the men. there is a substantial literature on exotic dance, the dance
Rather than being a precursor to sexual intimacy, itself has been mostly neglected because researchers come
dance may be physical and psychological sexual subli- from disciplines where movement analysis is not an
mation. Orgasmic gratification may come from actual element (Hanna analyzed dance movement and also
or empathic dance involvement, given its excitement, compares exotic dance with other forms of theater and
release, and exhaustion characteristic of sexual climax. popular dance within their social and historical contexts:
Among the Ngoni of Malawi, the ingoma dances were 1998b, 2009, 2010a, 2010b). Dance scholars tend to
the main recreation for everyone. The older Ngoni dismiss exotic dance.
men asserted that this dancing made a young man self- The history of exotic dance dates to the 1920s (Allen,
restrained—sitting about with no fixed activity tended 1991; Jarrett, 1997; Misty, 1973; Shteir, 2004; Urish,
to make a man sexually uncontrolled (Read, 1938). 2004; Zeidman, 1967). Times change: Burlesque, the fore-
Tarantism, in which dancing for days on end plays a runner of contemporary exotic dance, was popular from
key role in expurgating the venom and curing the bite the 1920s to 1950s, then came a slump with the advent of
(real or imaginary) of the tarantula spider, is a hysterical television, and has-been strippers performed in strip
phenomenon related to dancing mania of the late 19th joints known as varicose alley. Carnival stripping in the
229
HANNA
1970s was abusive and degrading for dancers. In rowdy, eight-inch heels, the movements derive from belly dance,
rough, and smutty venues, the dancer–audience patter burlesque, popular dance, Broadway theater, music
was crude and contemptuous (Meiselas, 1975). Women videos, jazz, hip-hop, cheerleading, and gymnastics.
were objects with genitals to be touched. Dissertations The common pole on-stage serves as a phallic symbol
reported dancers in the 1970s suffered low self-esteem and prop that permits embrace and athletic stunts. For
in a devalued occupation (Angioli, 1982; Boles, 1973; example, dancers defy the rules of gravity and propriety
Halperin, 1981). However, the 1980s heralded a revival, as they shimmy up the pole and spin, hanging by their
rather a reformation, with the advent of the ‘‘upscale ankles and descending upside down into a split.
gentlemen’s club.’’ Some are topless, whereas others have Demi Moore’s dance in Striptease is illustrative of
full nudity. Nudity is often prohibited where alcohol is some of this type of dancing. Dancers commonly gyrate
sold. After identifying what exotic dance is, we turn to hips and torso, thrust hips back and forth and rotate
a feminist critique of it, a counter argument, dancers’ them (‘‘bump & grind’’), rotate hips into a squat (like
career experiences, and their interactions with patrons. a screw), undulate the body or body parts, shimmy
breasts, and bend the torso to peek through one’s legs.
Identification. Exotic dance is a form of dance, art, In the second part of exotic dance, a performer,
and communication that is adult theatrical entertain- requiring a fee from an individual patron, dances for
ment with play, fantasy, and acting (Hanna, 2008a, the patron next to where he is seated (or in lap dancing
2008b; also see Schweitzer, 2001). By definition, exotic a performer dances on, straddling, or between a patron’s
dance is supposed to be risqué, disclosing more of the legs). The dancer ‘‘says’’ through body and facial
body and sexier movements than seen in public (Dee, movement, proximity, and touch, the fantasy of ‘‘I am
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
2002). The dancer creates a sexual poem—contours of interested in you, I understand you, you’re special and
the flesh confer power of attraction, pleasure to be important to me.’’ The patron’s purchased ‘‘com-
admired and found beautiful (Hanna, 2004b, 2008a, modity’’ is a license to dream, although there is contact
2008b; Liepe-Levinson, 1998). Beauty and sexuality are as in some taxi-dancing (Lewis, 2000).
important currency in exotic dancers’ work. However, the performer–patron connection is
We see minimal breast coverings and thongs that more—it is providing what is missing in society, namely,
expose much of the body in public swimming areas, human interaction (Frank, 2003). Many patrons pay for
and sexually suggestive movements on MTV and social a dance to have the performer sit and listen non-
dance floors. These forms of dress and behavior are not judgmentally. Married men or those with significant
policed in the same way exotic dancing often is, nor are others often go to exotic dance clubs to merely see
many stage performers in so-called legitimate theatre diverse women, not to have sex, which is illegal in most
harassed the way adult entertainment participants are places. A young, married man seated in the back of a
(Hanna, 2002; Klein, 2006). club asked, ‘‘I’m not cheating, am I?’’
Contemporary U.S. exotic dance usually has two Different from exotic dance clubs, dancers perform
sequential parts. First, a dancer performs on-stage for behind a glass in peep shows and may do the same kinds
the audience as a whole to entertain and then to showcase of movements as seen in cabarets. A customer may
herself for the second part of the dance. Generally, nudity request the dancer move in a particular way for a fee
climaxes the last of a three-song performance in which the (Beasley, 2003; Berger, 2006; Dudash, 1997; Funari,
dancer appears on-stage clothed for the first song, par- 1997; Langley, 1997).
tially removes her clothes during the second, and strips Strippers have been seen as sex deviants: prostitutes;
to nudity at the climax. Like a costume, nudity does not nymphomaniacs; survivors of broken homes and sexual
reveal the dancer’s being (Lewin, 1984). Nudity is to strip- abuse; degraded victims of men’s immoral lust; home-
tease as a punchline is to a joke. Evoking amorality, wreckers; drug users; and dangers to the social order,
nudity contests dominant culture’s neo-Puritan norms the family, and the nation—notwithstanding the fame
(Schiff, 1999). Especially abhorrent to Christians who fol- and fortune of Sally Rand and Gypsy Rose Lee (Lee,
low the scripture mandate for modesty, the sight of a nude 1957; Reid, Epstein, & Benson, 1994). Exotic dance (strip
woman is believed to lead a man to rape the first woman joints and bars) was considered deviant, deviance being
he sees (e.g., testimony at public hearings in Shoreline, an attraction of the entertainment. But now, exotic dance
Lansing, Horry County, Tampa, Prince Georges Count, is more mainstream, with college students and women
City of Oakland Park, Manatee County, and Hillsbor- with post-graduate degrees and full-time day jobs dancing
ough County: For a list of related court cases, see Hanna, and being spectators (e.g., Mattson, 1995). Today there
2005). The Christian Right believes that men cannot are strip aerobics in the gym and exotic dance classes
control themselves (LaHaye, 1963). In fact, some men and videos for the everyday woman. Roach (2007)
are merely curious about female genitalia, as are women explained how the stripper is about everyday women
who usually do not see their own (Hanna, 2008a, 2008b). and how stripping fits into American popular culture.
Exotic dance attire and movement style depend on Although some scholars call exotic dancers sex work-
the dancer, club, and locality. Performed in six- to ers (e.g., see Barton, 2002, 2006; Delacoste & Alexander,
230
DANCE AND SEXUALITY: MANY MOVES
1987; Egan, 2003, 2006; Fischer, 1996; Frank, 2002; and circuits’’ that were prevalent prior to the advent of the
Johnson, 1999, who explore employee rights and the gentlemen’s club with corporate style management and
issue of employee or independent contractor), most dan- four-star restaurants. Holsopple’s 41-dancer, non-ran-
cers do not like to be on the continuum from prostitute dom sample, what she called ‘‘collective voice,’’ offers
to stripper. They prefer to be on the dance continuum no evidence of the representativeness of the incidents
from ballet to exotic dance and the play continuum from and if they are, in fact, disproportionate to the exotic
child to adult, engaging in theatrical fantasy. ‘‘Dancer’’ dance industry, as no control measures were included.
and ‘‘entertainer’’ are common self-identifiers. Dave Holsopple also surveyed 18 other non-randomly selected
Manack, publisher and editor of the industry’s Exotic dancers and offers descriptive statistics that say little
Dancer Bulletin, noted: because numerous clubs have as many as 120 dancers
performing during a shift. Moreover, Holsopple groups
It seems doubtful that anyone in our industry would together the experiences of women dancing in very differ-
willingly identify themselves as working in the ‘‘sex ent settings: bars, nightclubs, peep shows, and saunas.
industry.’’ We’ve never referred to it that way in our Without substantial evidence, there have been other
magazines or at the Expo, ever. ‘‘Sex worker’’ is a reports of harm to dancers, or perhaps the women had
damaging term; it refers to a prostitute, not a dancer. the problems prior to dancing. Using three measurement
(personal communication, 2009)
scales with a small sample, Downs, James, and Cowan
(2006) found that exotic dancers have less satisfactory
In the hundred-plus clubs I (see Hanna, 2005) visited for
relations, greater prioritizing of body attractiveness, and
my research as an expert court witness in First
preoccupation with body self-objectification. Body
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
231
HANNA
Cooper reached conclusions that the clubs cause the harass them, demand sexual favors for benefits, cheat
adverse secondary effects of crime and property them out of money, or show favoritism among workers.
depreciation, conclusions that do not follow from the Lap dancing, often criticized, is not compared to
‘‘evidence’’ reported in the ‘‘studies’’ and court cases contemporary social dancing—namely, booty dancing.
they present (see Hanna, 2003a, 2003b). Today, lap-dance moves are similar to young adult and
junior and high school student male–female partnering
Counter arguments. Scientific research on the exotic in ‘‘da butt.’’ However, lap dancing differs from taxi
dance industry challenges allegations that the sexuality dancing and social dancing in several ways: The female
of this form of dance leads to crime, property dancer has little or no clothing, the men usually keep
depreciation, and disease (e.g., Enriquez, Cancino, & their hands off the women, the dance takes place in a
Varano, 2006; Land, Williams, Ezell, Paul, & Linz, licensed adult entertainment club, the dancers earn
2004; Linz, Paul, & Yao, 2006; Paul, Linz, & Shafer, $150 to $1,000 a night, and the customers pay more than
2001). Clubs have no more problems than other places a dime or two dollars a dance (Hanna, 2008a, 2008b).
of public assembly (Hanna, 2009, 2010b, 2010c). Nudity in exotic dance (Schiff, 1999) is criticized, but
Contrary to some feminists who oppose exotic dance not compared to nudity in mainstream dance (for a dis-
on the grounds that it reduces the female body to a com- cussion on nudity in ballet, see Jaeger, 2009). Any dance
modity, other feminists distinguish between the agency conveys a multitude of meanings, from eroticism to
of a female willfully using her body and a male acting health, nature, beauty of the body, and feminine power.
upon her body. Women’s bodies are mobile, and subjec- The meanings conveyed in contemporary exotic dance
may be erotic, but erotic expression certainly does not
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
My stage show often demonstrates the hologram, of the Career, culture, and class. A number of studies
beautiful and abused body, of the orgasmic and pained describe dancers’ career paths and social identities in
moment. Through various arching, stretches, and addition to the social organization of clubs (Benson,
constrictions, one slides right through what is graceful Epstein, & Reid, 1994; Boles & Garbin, 1974; McCaghy
and what is awkward. . . . The continuous motion of this & Skipper, 1969; Skipper & McCaghy, 1971). As noted
show, the body rolls and writhing, marks the transitory earlier, there are various types of clubs, dancer personal-
nature of beauty and the potential for change. (p. 156) ities, and experiences; and there are good places, bosses,
and clientele—and bad ones—just as there are greasy
In response to feminists who claim dancers are sex spoons in rough neighborhoods and four-star gourmet
objects treated as if devoid of humanity, Reed (1997) restaurants catering to business people.
said ‘‘a man isn’t denying a woman’s humanity if he Dance as emotional labor (Bruckert, 2002), senses of
admires her breasts and not her intellect in the appropri- self, and the effect dancing has on personal relationships
ate context’’ (p. 182); and this does not preclude other have been explored by a number of authors (Boles &
possibilities. A number of exotic dance supporters Garbin, 1974; Downs et al., 2006; Reed, 1997; Ronai,
consider that the dancer’s choice to place her body 1992). Fine (1991) compared exotic dance with ballet
within a financial transaction does not reduce her to a and explained the former’s low status in the 1980s and
commodity any more than a model, actor, or athlete why it is not taught in high school (ballet, certified as
would in their respective professions. Conversations part of elite culture, has established critics, expansive
with dancers and audience members alike have revealed venues, charitable events to support it, well-funded
an awareness that exotic dance merely taps into con- companies, international links, textbooks and theories,
temporary attitudes toward the body as something to schools, professional organizations, etc.). Exotic dance
be cultivated, used, and presented (Hanna, 2008a). is examined as cultural meanings (Calhoun, Cannon,
A major problem with an unrelenting focus on nego- & Fisher, 1996; Frank, 2005; Hanna, 1999), social class
tiations of power between men and women in the clubs (Trautner, 2005), tourist attraction (Donlon, 1998), and
and the question of empowerment versus exploitation amateur contest (Agustin, 2005; Calhoun et al., 1996).
is that the experience of dancers is not compared to the Motivations to become an exotic dancer include
experience of women in other occupations. Service income, flexible schedule, and opportunity to exercise.
industries have mutual ‘‘exploitation’’ as claimed for Career contingencies that are involved with the selection
exotic dance (Boles & Garbin, 1974; Sloan et al., 1998). of the exotic dance occupation and the personal adapta-
Men in other occupations may, for example, be verbally tions have been the focus of several studies (Forsyth &
and physically disrespectful toward women, grope and Deshotels, 1998; Frank, 2002; McCaghy & Skipper,
232
DANCE AND SEXUALITY: MANY MOVES
1969; Skipper & McCaghy, 1971). Exotic dance has its and Preston (1988) looked at stereotypical role relation-
contradictions: It promises women more lucrative ships from 1994 to 1996: men as providers, women as sup-
dividends than any other service work and adulation at porters, men as objects of desire whom women cannot
the same time that it elicits contempt. Halperin (1981) resist. Theatricalism, interactionist, and dramaturgical
suggested females are attracted to exotic dance because perspectives pay attention to social processes through
of narcissistic exhibitionism or the experience of a poor which dancers seduce patrons (Boden, 2007; Dodds,
body image in youth. Thus, dancing is an attempt to con- 1996; Hanna, 2010a; Liepe-Levinson, 1998; Massey &
firm adequacy and self-worth through attracting positive Hope, 2005; Ronai & Cross, 1998; Ronai & Ellis, 1989;
audience acclaim. Yet, the negative stigma associated Spivey, 2003; Wood, 2000). The dancers’ power feeds into
with dancing may paradoxically lower self-esteem. male-dominated commercial sex systems, but in ways
Most scholars writing about exotic dance address the unanticipated by some purely feminist arguments.
problem of stigma. A key issue is that American culture On the other hand, some studies report exotic dance’s
stigmatizes sexual pleasure for its own sake. Dancers are challenges to patriarchy, male dominance, and social
viewed as engaged in a devalued occupation at the legal control (Egan, 2004; Hanna, 2009; Montemurro,
and moral margins of mainstream thought (Angioli, 2001). The female sex is power and the unknown, and
1982; Boles, 1973; Halperin, 1981; Peretti & O’Connor, the male fears castration in Manderson’s (1992) view.
1989; Thompson & Harred, 1992; Thompson, Harred, Liepe-Levinson (1998, 2002) referred to male degradati-
& Burks, 2003). Consequently, dancers employ ‘‘neutra- on; when women take control of their sexuality, males
lization techniques’’ in an attempt to distance them- need fantasy to maintain their dominance (Wood,
selves from the stigmatizing components of the role 2000). Frank (2007) argued that contradictions about
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
(Peretti & O’Connor, 1989). power are contested and negotiated. Dancers negotiate
Considerations of race, social class, gender, and gender relations as women do in other service occupa-
sexuality in strip club interactions have been explored tions (Ronai & Ellis, 1989). Ross and Greenwell (2005)
in a number of studies (Barton, 2001; Frank, 2002; pointed out that the dancers negotiate the male-
McCaghy & Skipper, 1969; Pendleton, 1997; Trautner, dominated business with ‘‘courage and savvy, balancing
2005; Wood, 2000). For example, in Vancouver moral condemnation of their overtly sexual behavior
with their love of dance, music, applause, and (varying
White striptease dancers, including those who donned degrees of) notoriety’’ (p. 141). The dancers play the role
blackface or manipulated other non-white tropes, could of conscientious objector by bravely testing and defying
take on the symbols and signifiers of the racial Other as society’s sexual limits.
erotic spectacle or play up the pageantry of white glam- Strategic flirting allows the dancer to have the upper
our. Indeed, they were not indelibly stigmatized by their hand, according to Deshotels and Forsythe (2006; also
skin color as Black dancers and Asian dancers were.
see Hanna, 2009). Eroticism is discussed in terms of atten-
(Ross & Greenwell, 2005, p. 157)
tion given to patrons, what Enck and Preston (1988)
referred to as counterfeit intimacy in their dramaturgical
Egan (2004) discussed surveillance cameras in a club
analysis. Erikson and Tewksbury (2000) argued that their
in terms of controlling the behavior of dancers and how
findings ‘‘contradict the notion that . . . men who patron-
they break the rules outside of the len’s focus. Although
ize the clubs exploit strippers. Rather, the women . . . hold
she recognized that the cameras can protect the dancer
the power to establish and enforce the norms of micro
against unruly patrons, she overlooked the need for
aspects of their interactions with patrons’’ (p. 292).
the club to follow the law, including absurd regulations
Dancer income makes it difficult to leave the industry
designed to drive the club out of business. Violations
(Sweet & Tweksbury, 2000). Schweitzer (2001) wrote:
can lead to the club losing its license and paying other
‘‘With men the suckers, and women pocketing the cash,
penalties. Owners and managers can be sent to jail for
the striptease becomes a reversal of society’s conventional
violating the law.
male=female roles . . . one of the few outlets in which
women exercise unchallenged command over their
Dancer–patron interaction. Interaction patterns bodies’’ (p. 72). Perhaps they work harder to sell lap
between exotic dancers and patrons, especially focusing dances during estrus changes. Women earn more during
on the normative patterns within the strip club setting their peak period of fertility; they dress more provoca-
and their consequences, have been studied (Boles & tively, and men find them prettier (Miller, Tybur, &
Garbin, 1974; Dressel & Peterson, 1982; Liepe-Levinson, Jordan, 2007). Johnson’s (1999) perspective was that
1998, 2002; Schiff, 1999; Schweitzer, 2001; Tewksbury, the patrons provide a backdrop for women’s battles with
1994), with controversy over who holds the power. Dan- their bodies to look good.
cer–patron exchanges that are essential to the work Exotic dance patron characteristics are quite diverse
experience reflect widespread patterns of male dominance (Brewster, 2003; Egan, 2003, 2006a; Erickson &
(Wood, 2000). The dancer tries to seduce a patron to Tewksbury, 2000; Frank, 2002; Hanna, 1998, 2008a;
spend money, but he holds the power of the purse. Enck Liepe-Levinson, 2002; Montemurro, Bloom, & Madell,
233
HANNA
2003; Prewitt, 1989). Regulars are men who frequently draw upon some diverse and some shared theoretical
patronize a particular dancer and develop a fantasy concepts and research methods. The accumulation of a
relationship with her (Brewster, 2003; Egan, 2006a; wide range of case studies and discussions about dance
Frank, 2002). A regular will request many dances and and sexuality suggest more than idiosyncratic illus-
paid time for conversation from her and give her presents. tration. There is not a single narrative, but various exam-
Women perform exotic dance for other women ples that coalesce into a nuanced picture. The expression
(Wosick-Correa, 2008). Black women in Washington, of sexuality in dance worldwide is certainly impacted by
DC dance at same-sex desiring parties (Carnes, 2009; religious beliefs and actions. Dances are performed for
Frank & Carnes, 2009). Frank and Carnes compared many, often overlapping, reasons—for example, selecting
strip clubs for heterosexually identified White male a mate, a livelihood, recreation, mimetic movements to
patrons with clubs for same-sex desiring women. The ‘‘cause’’ reality, and celebration. The sexuality of dance
latter had parties with purpose. Black women avoided is shown to be a source of power in itself but also a means
unwelcome male advances, engaged in group dancing to social, economic, and political benefits. Western
(stepping) for communal bonding, and provided lesbian- theater arts—from European court to proscenium stage,
relevant health services. The parties lack a specific music hall dance to contemporary theater art perform-
location, and locations change to operate under the ance and social dances—reveal innovation. Part of the
radar of strip club regulations. Western aesthetic is for the ‘‘new.’’ Changes have
Males also dance for women and for men (Arnold & occurred in what can be presented in public, from
Margolis, 1985). It is common for a club generally cater- implicit, coded sex and sexual orientation, to more
ing to male patrons interested in female dancers to set explicit kinetic images and themes. Colonialist, patriar-
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
aside a night once per week or month for ladies’ night chal, feminist, and heterosexual beliefs that have framed
(Montemurro, 2001; Montemurro et al., 2003; Smith, the study of dance and sexuality have been challenged.
2002) to see men dance (Ronai & Ellis, 1989; Tewksbury, Although there is a wide body of knowledge about
1994). Chippendales, opened in 1978 in the United King- expression of sexuality in dance, there is also much to
dom, not only eroticized the male body but also spawned learn. How does it affect the interplay of cognition
imitators. The show was a fantasy land—a good night and emotion in the brain? How do sexual emotions trig-
out for the girls. Women acquired access to what men ger aesthetic value? How do various cultures define what
have had. Male stripping implies women’s social and is sexual in their dance—that is, what are their signifiers?
sexual freedom to watch male dancers as men watch We have much to learn about the kinesthetic detail,
female dancers. Women experience a dimension of liber- the embodied social practice, semantics, syntactics, and
ation, albeit commercialism—impersonal male–female pragmatics of specific sexual works. What is the point
relationships, not role reversal as much as aberration. of view of a dancer–choreographer thinking and
The performances are opportunities for women patrons creating a work about sexuality?
to express themselves as sexual without the usual social Discovering how sexual identities and expressions in
constraints (for discussions on the study of gender rela- dance vary geographically in the United States and in
tions and social control in a male strip club, see Barham, other places warrants research. How widespread are
1985; Montemurro, 2001; Wood, 2000). Dragu and Black clubs and White clubs where women dance for
Harrison (1988) referred to the ‘‘Cock’s Dance.’’ women? What is the relevance of U.S.-centric queer
Male dancers strip for gays and others (Seymour, theory to international identities and dancing bodies?
1994, 2008). Boden (2007) spoke of emotional labor Should there be a transcultural framework for reconcil-
and the dance reflecting the sexual desires of patrons, ing ‘‘othered’’ bodies with ‘‘othered’’ sexualities within
not dancers, although dancers perform for male desire. the context of dance?
Patrons were permitted to touch the dancers at Arena, We know that dance has been open to persons with
a club in Washington, DC—a safe way to have physical marginal sexual orientations. But, what is the role of
contact with other bodies. The nude dancers perform in sex and sexual orientation in joining and attaining roles
socks and sneakers for about 20 minutes, physically and in dance companies? What difference does one’s sexual
verbally relating to the patrons seated at the bar. A orientation make to one’s performance? Is there a
patron folds a dollar bill into one of the dancer’s socks. universal gay aesthetic? Do gay and lesbian viewers
Then, the dancer squats down facing the customer, who experience theatrical dance in distinctly different ways
may stroke the dancer’s cock or rub and squeeze his ass. from straight viewers?
We know that dance practices reflect what exists in a
society and culture and often suggest what might be, and
New Directions there are generational changes in how sexuality in dance
can be expressed on-stage. But, how will a dancer
This overview of studies in different historical periods convey sexuality on-stage in sexual and nonsexual roles
and cultures explores expressions of dance and sexuality, in new dance forms? How will the dancer’s sexuality
and reveals the interest from multiple disciplines that then be a source of power and means to non-dance
234
DANCE AND SEXUALITY: MANY MOVES
venues and materials? What is the evidence that people Banes, S. (1998). Dancing women: Female bodies on stage. New York:
in the 21st century automatically think female concert Routledge.
Beckwith, C. (1983). Niger’s Wodaabe: ‘‘People of the taboo.’’
dancers are sexually promiscuous and that male dancers National Geographic, 164, 483–509.
are gay and promiscuous? Bentley, T. (2002). Sisters of Salome. New Haven, CT: Yale University
Methodologically, there is a need for replication, Press.
comparison, and longitudinal studies. Replication sheds Bergin, K. (2009, February 20). Ohio principal enforces ban on ‘‘dirty
light on a degree of representativeness and change over dancing.’’ First Amendment Law Professor Blog. Retrieved
from http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/firstamendment/2009/
time. How do the working conditions of the body in, for 02/footlose-comes.html
example, ballet, hip hop, Broadway, performance art, Bosse, J. (2008). Salsa dance and the transformation of style: An
exotic dance, martial arts, massage, and yoga compare ethnographic study of movement and meaning in a cross-cultural
with body use in other industries? How do different context. Dance Research Journal, 40(1), 45–64.
groups organize, mobilize, and fight censorship of their Brewster, Z. W. (2003). Behavioral and interactional patterns of strip
club patrons: Tipping techniques and club attendance. Deviant
sexual expression in dance? How is sexuality a political Behavior, 24, 221–243.
football in government sponsorship of dance in different Brown, C. (1994). Re-tracing our steps: The possibilities for feminist
countries? dance histories. In J. Adshead-Lansdal & J. Layson (Eds.), Dance
In interviewing, there is a need to ask the same ques- history: An introduction (Rev. ed., pp. 198–216). London:
tions in different ways to understand what an informant Routledge.
Burns, L. M. S. P. (2008). ‘‘Splendid dancing’’: Filipino ‘‘exceptional-
really means. Much of the literature on dance and the ism’’ in taxi dancehalls. Dance Research Journal, 40(2), 23–40.
expression of sexuality is filled with interpretations and Burt, R. (2007). The male dancer: Bodies, spectacle, sexualities (2nd
assertions that beg confirmation from dance makers, ed.). London: Routledge.
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
performers, and audiences. Multidisciplinary teams, Butler, J. (1988). Performative acts and gender constitution: An
for example, pairing a dance specialist with a social or essay in phenomenology and feminist theory. Theatre Journal,
40, 519–531.
behavioral scientist, might best be able to address some Butler, J. (1990). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of
of these questions. identity. New York: Routledge.
Butler, J. (1993). Bodies that matter: On the discursive limits of ‘‘sex.’’
New York: Routledge.
Butler, J. (1998). Gender and performance: Selections from gender
References trouble. In D. Welton (Ed.), Body and flesh: A philosophical
reader. Malden: Blackwell.
Because of the extent of the literature on exotic dance Carter, A. (2005). Dance and dancers in the Victorian and Edwardian
music hall ballet. Hampshire, England: Ashgate.
and on queer issues in dance, there are separate cate-
Castaldi, F. (2006). Choreographies of African identities: Négritude,
gories for them. However, in the literature, the categories dance, and the National Ballet of Senegal. Urbana: University of
may not be mutually exclusive. Illinois Press.
Castro, D. (1998). Carlos Gardel and the Argentine tango: The lyric of
social irresponsibility and male inadequacy. In W. Washabaugh
(Ed.), The passion of music and dance: Body, gender and sexuality
Dance and Sexuality (pp. 63–78). New York: New York University Press.
Chapkis, W. (1997). Live sex acts: Women performing erotic labour.
Adair, C. (1992). Women and dance: Sylphs and sirens. London: London: Cassell.
Macmillan. Chasteen, J. C. (2004). National rhythms, African roots: The deep
Adams, D. (1980). Congregational dancing in Christian worship (rev. history of Latin American popular dance. Albuquerque: University
ed.). Austin: Sharing Company. of New Mexico Press.
Adams, D., & Apostolos-Cappadona, D. (Eds.). (1990). Dance as Chatterjee, A. (2004). Contestations: Constructing a historical
religious studies. New York: Crossroad Publishing Company. narrative for Odissi. In A. Carter (Ed.), Rethinking dance history:
Adra, N. (2005). Belly dance: An urban folk genre. In A. Shay & A reader (pp. 143–156). London: Routledge.
B. S.-Y. (Eds.), Belly dance: Orientalism, transnationalism, and Claid, E. (2006). Yes? No! Maybe . . . : Seductive ambiguity in dance.
harem fantasy (pp. 28–50). Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda. New York: Routledge.
Albright, A. C. (1997). Choreographing difference: The body and Cooper, C. (2004). Sound clash: Jamaican dancehall culture at large.
identity in contemporary dance. Hanover, NH: Wesleyan New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
University Press. Cowart, G. (2008). The triumph of pleasure: Louis XIV & the politics of
Asante, K. W. (1997). Sensuality and sexuality as duality in African spectacle. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
dance. In S. E. Friedler & S. B. Glazer (Eds.), Dancing female: Craighead, C. (2006). ‘‘Black dance’’: Navigating the politics of
Lives and issues of women (pp. 271–277). Amsterdam, The ‘‘Black’’ in relation to ‘‘the dance object’’ and the body as
Netherlands: Harwood Academic Publishers. discourse. Critical Arts: A Journal of South–North Cultural and
Astier, R. (2007). Françoise Prévost: The unauthorized biography. In Media Studies, 20(2), 16–33.
L. M. Brooks (Ed.), Women’s work: Making dance in Europe before Cressey, P. G. (1982). The taxi-dance hall. Chicago: University of
1800 (pp. 123–159). Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Chicago Press.
Bandura, A. (1972). Modeling theory: Some traditions, trends, and Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Rich, G. J. (1997). Musical improvisation: A
disputes. In R. D. Park (Ed.), Recent trends in social learning systems approach. In R. K. Sawyer (Ed.), Creativity in perform-
theory (pp. 35–61). New York: Academic. ance (pp. 43–66). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Banerji, P. (1983). Erotica in Indian dance. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Cusick, S. G. (1994). Feminist theory, music theory, and the mind=
Humanities. body problem. Perspectives of New Music, 32(1), 8–27.
235
HANNA
Daly, A. (1987). The Balanchine woman: Of hummingbirds and Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. New
channel swimmers. The Drama Review, 31(1), 8–21. York: Doubleday.
Daly, A. (1991). Dance and feminist analysis: A limited partnership. Gold, S. (1999, June 27). One place sex is seldom taken seriously. The
Dance Research Journal, 23(1), 2–3. New York Times, pp. 5–7.
Daniels, Y. (2002). Cuban dance: An orchard of Caribbean creativity. Gotfrit, L. (1988). Women dancing back: Disruption and the politics
In S. Sloat (Ed.), Caribbean dance from Abakuá to Zouk: How of pleasure. Journal of Education, 170, 122–141.
movement shapes identity (pp. 23–55). Gainesville: University of Green, J. (2001). Socially constructed bodies in the American class-
Florida Press. room. Research in Dance Education, 2, 155–173.
Deagon, A. (2005). The dance of the seven veils: The revision of Guest, I. (1966). The romantic ballet in Paris. Middletown, CT:
revelation in the Oriental dance community. In A. Shay & B. Wesleyan University Press.
Sellers-Young (Eds.), Belly dance: Orientalism, transnationalism, Guest, I. (1970). Fanny Elssler. Middleton, CT: Wesleyan University
and harem fantasy (pp. 243–275). Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda. Press.
de Martino, E. (1966) La terre du remord [The land of remorse]. (C. Guest, I. (1972). The romantic ballet in England. Middleton, CT:
Poncet, Trans.). Paris: Gallimard (Original work published 1961) Wesleyan University Press.
Deren, M. (1970). Divine horsemen: The voodoo gods of Haiti. New Guest, I. (1980). Victorian ballet-girl: The tragic story of Clara
York: Delta. Webster. London: Adam & Charles Black.
Desmond, J. (1997). Embodying difference: Issues in dance and cultural Hanna, J. L. (1983). The performer-audience connection: Emotion to
studies. In J. Desmond (Ed.), Meaning in motion: New cultural stu- metaphor in dance society. Austin: University of Texas Press.
dies of dance (pp. 29–54). Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Hanna, J. L. (1987). To dance is human: A theory of nonverbal
Desmond, J. (1999). Staging tourism: Bodies on display from Waikiki to communication (Rev. ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Sea World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1979).
Dox, D. (1997). Thinking through veils: Questions of culture, criticism, Hanna, J. L. (1987a). Gender language onstage: Moves, new moves,
and the body. Theatre Research International, 22(2), 150–162. countermoves. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences,
Drewal, H. J., & Drewal, M. T. (1983). Gelede: Art and female power 77, 18–26.
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
among the Yoruba. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Hanna, J. L. (1988). Dance, sex and gender: Signs of identity, domi-
Dunning, J. (1982, May 6). Should dance sell itself any way that works? nance, defiance and desire. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
The New York Times, p. C20. Hanna, J. L. (1992b). Moving messages: Identity and desire in dance.
Dunning, J. (1985, June 13). Alwin Nikolais: A dance patriarch. The In J. Lull (Ed.), Popular music and communication (2nd ed., pp.
New York Times, p. C33. 176–195). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Dyer, R. (1993). ‘‘I seem to find the happiness I seek’’: Heterosexuality Hanna, J. L. (1992c). Tradition, challenge, and the backlash: Gender
and dance in the musical. In H. Thomas (Ed.), Dance, gender and education through dance. In L. Senelick (Ed.), Gender and
culture (pp. 49–65). London: Macmillan. performance (pp. 223–238). Hanover, NH: The University Press
Edmondson, L. (2002). National erotica: The politics of ‘‘traditional’’ of New England.
dance in Tanzania. In F. Harding (Ed.), The performance arts in Hanna, J. L. (1993). Classical Indian dance and women’s status. In H.
Africa: A reader (pp. 78–94). London: Routledge. Thomas (Ed.), Dance, gender and culture (pp. 119–127). London:
Elliott, A., & Frosh, S. (1995). Psychoanalysis in contexts: Paths Macmillan.
between theory and modern culture. London: Routledge. Hanna, J. L. (1998a). Feminist perspectives on classical Indian dance.
Elsom, J. (1974). Erotic theatre. New York: Taplinger. In D. Waterhouse (Ed.), Dance of India (pp. 193–231). Toronto:
Fairley, J. (2006). Dancing back to front: Regeton, sexuality, gender University of Toronto, Graduate Centre for South Asian Studies.
and transnationalism in Cuba. Popular Music, 25, 471–488. Hanna, J. L. (2001). Ballet to exotic dance—Under the censorship
Fasick, L. (2007). Using music and dance to explore gender norms. watch. In J. LaPointe-Crump & J. C.-W. (Compilers), Dancing
International Journal of the Humanities, 5(2), 47–51. in the millennium: An international conference, 2000 proceedings
Foster, S. L. (1996a). The ballerina’s phallic pointe. In S. L. Foster (pp. 230–234). Washington, DC.
(Ed.), Corporealities: Body, knowledge, culture and power (pp. 1– Hanna, J. L. (2002). Dance under the censorship watch. Journal of Arts
24). New York: Routledge. Management Law and Society, 29(1), 1–13.
Foster, S. L. (1996b). Choreography and narrative: Ballet’s staging of Hanna, J. L. (2004a). Dance. In C. Wintz & P. Finkelman (Eds.),
story and desire. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Encyclopedia of the Harlem renaissance (pp. 289–293). New York:
Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison (A. Routledge.
Sheridan, Trans.). New York: Vintage. (Original work published Hanna, J. L. (2006). Dancing for health: Conquering and preventing
1975) stress. Lanham, MD: AltaMira.
Foucault, M. (1978). The history of sexuality, Vol. 1: An introduction. Hong, L. K., & Duff, R. W. (1976). Gentlemen’s social club: Revival
New York: Vintage. of taxi dancing in Los Angeles. Journal of Popular Culture, 9,
Franko, M. (1995). Dancing modernism=performing politics. Blooming- 827–832.
ton: Indiana University Press. Jackson, N., & Shapiro-Phim, T. (Eds.). (2008). Dance, human rights
Franko, M. (2002). The work of dance: Labor, movement, and identity and social justice: Dignity in motion. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow.
in the 1930s. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press. Jackson, P. (2004). Inside clubbing: Sensual experiments in the art of
Garafola, L. (2005). Legacies of twentieth-century dance. Middleton, being human. Oxford, UK: Berg Publishers.
CT: Wesleyan University Press. Jaeger, S. (1997). Beauty and the breast. Philosophy Today, 41,
Gard, M. (2003). Moving and belonging: dance, sport and sexuality. 270–276.
Sex Education, 3, 105–118. Jaeger, S. (2009). Finding a pedagogical framework for dialogue about
Gard, M. (2006). Men who dare: Aesthetics, athletics and the art of nudity and dance art. American Journal of Aesthetic Education,
masculinity. New York: Peter Lang. 43(4), 32–52.
Gazzaniga, M. S. (2008). Human: The science behind what makes us Jordan, S., & Thomas, H. (1994). Dance and gender: Formalism and
unique. New York: Ecco=HarperCollins. semiotics reconsidered. Dance Research, 12(2), 3–14.
Gener, R. (2003). Body heat: Choreographers view sexuality in diverse Jowitt, D. (1995). Anna Sokolow. Dance Magazine, 69(8), 38–43.
ways. American Theatre, 20(4), 22–27. Karayanni, S. S. (2004). Dancing fear and desire: Race, sexuality and
Gilbert, J., & Pearson, E. (1999). Discographies: Dance music, culture imperial politics in Middle Eastern dance. Waterloo, Ontario,
and the politics of sound. London: Routledge. CA: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
236
DANCE AND SEXUALITY: MANY MOVES
Katz, R. (1973). The egalitarian waltz. Comparative Studies in Society Novack, C. J. (1990). Sharing the dance: Contact improvisation and
and History, 15(3), 365–377. American culture. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
Karayanni, S. S. (2005). Dismissal veiling desire: Kuchuk Hanem and Park, M. (2008). Dancing like a girl: An oral history of b-girls in New
imperial masculinity. In T. Shay & B. Sellers-Young (Eds.), York City in the 1990s. Unpublished master’s thesis, Columbia
Belly dance: Orientalism, transnationalism, and harem fantasy University.
(pp. 114–143). Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda. Paz, O. (1995). The double flame: Love and eroticism. New York:
Kehoe, T. D. (2003). Pheromones and contact. Contact Quarterly, Harcourt Brace.
28(2), 67. Platt, R. (2009). Forsythe’s box: On the afterlife of choreography.
Kendall, L. (1987). Shamans, housewives and other restless spirits: Performing Arts Journal, 91, 1–16.
Women in ritual Korean life. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Price, D. (1998). Cancan! London: Cygnus Arts.
Kern, S. (1975). Anatomy and destiny: A cultural history of the human Puttke, M. (2001). Education special: Education—Who: Adolescence,
body. New York: Bobbs-Merrill. sexuality, and dance. Ballett International—Tanz Aktuell, 8=9,
Kilgannon, C. (2006, February 20). At $2 a dance, a remedy for 26–31.
loneliness. The New York Times, p. A17. Read, M. (1938). The moral code of the Ngoni and their former
Kleinman, S. (Ed.). (1980). Sexuality and dance. Reston, VA: Dance military state. Africa, 11, 1–24.
Publications, National Association of Health, Physical Education, Rouget, G. (1985). Music and trance: A theory of the relations between
Recreation, and Dance. music and possession (B. Biebuyck, Trans.). Chicago: University of
Koritz, A. (1995). Gendering bodies=performing art: Dance and Chicago Press. (Original work published 1980)
literature in early twentieth-century British culture. Ann Arbor: Rouhiainen, L. (2004). Troubling gendered views on the choreographic
University of Michigan Press. practice of Finnish contemporary dance. In E. Anttila, S. Hæmælæi-
Loomis, T. M. (1981, November). Twisi-na mama, Twisi-na papa: The nen, T. Løytønen, & L. Rouhiainen (Eds.), Same difference? Exploring
performance of gender in Cook Island dancing. Paper presented at ethics and politics in dance (pp. 155–190). Helsinki: Theatre Academy.
the colloquium on Gender and Fertility, University of Adelaide, Said, E. (1978). Orientalism. New York: Vintage.
Glen Osmond, Australia. Salazar, C. (2008). Women say NY’s dollar-dance clubs have darker
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
Looseleaf, V. (2008). Is it sexist to be sexy?. Dance Magazine, 82(7), side. Retrieved from http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081003/ap_
44–46. on_re_us/dancers_for_hire_2
Lüdtke, K. (2009). Dances with spiders: Crisis, celebrity and celebration Salutin, M. (1973). Stripper morality. In J. H. Gagnon & W. Simon
in southern Italy. New York: Berghahn Books. (Eds.), The sexual scene (2nd ed., pp. 167–192). New Brunswick,
MacKinnon, C. A. (1987). Feminism unmodified: Discourses on life and NJ: Transaction Books.
law. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Savigliano, M. E. (1998). From wallflowers to femmes fatales: Tango
Malbon, B. (1999). Clubbing: Dancing, ecstasy and vitality. London: and the performance of passionate femininity. In W. Washabaugh
Routledge. (Ed.), The passion of music and dance: Body, gender and sexuality
Manning, S. (1997). The female dancer and the male gaze: Feminist (pp. 103–110). New York: New York University Press.
critiques of early modern dance. In J. Desmond (Ed.), Meaning Schneider, H. (1979). Romantic love among the Turu. In D. S.
in motion: New cultural studies of dance (pp. 153–166). Durham, Marchall & R. C. Suggs (Eds.), Human sexual behavior:
NC: Duke University Press. Variations in the ethnographic spectrum (pp. 59–70). New York:
Margulies, J. (2008). Straight guys can dance, too. In S. Tarrant (Ed.), Basic Books.
Men speak out: Views on gender, sex, and power (pp. 40–42). New Shay, A. (2008). Choreographing hypermasculinity in Egypt, Iran, and
York: Routledge. Uzbekistan. Dance Chronicle, 31, 211–238.
Martin, R. (1998). Critical moves: Dance studies in theory and politics. Shay, A., & Sellers-Young, B. (Eds.). (2005). Belly dance: Orientalism,
Durham, NC: Duke University Press. transnationalism, and harem fantasy. Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda.
Mason, J. (1975). Sex and symbol in the treatment of women: The Skipper, J. K., & McCaghy, C. H. (1971). Strip teasing: A sex-oriented
wedding rite in a Libyan oasis community. American Ethnologist, occupation. In J. M. Henslin (Ed.), Studies in the sociology of sex
2, 649–661. (pp. 275–296). New York: Appleton-Century Crofts.
McBee, R. D. (2000). Dance hall days: Intimacy and leisure among Sneed, P. (2008). Favela utopias: The bailes funk in Rio’s crisis of
working-class immigrants in the United States. New York: New social exclusion and violence. Latin American Research Review,
York University Press. 43(2), 57–80.
McCleave, S. (2007). Marie Sallé, a wise professional woman of influence. Soupault, P. (1928). Les dernières nuits de Paris [The last nights of
In L. M. Brooks (Ed.), Women’s work: Making dance in Europe Paris]. Paris: Calmann-Levy.
before 1800 (pp. 160–182). Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Sparshott, F. (1995). Some aspects of nudity in theatre dance. Dance
McMains, J. (2006). Glamour addiction. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan Chronicle, 18, 303–310.
University Press. Stearns, M., & Stearns, J. (1968). Jazz dance: The story of American
McRobbie, A. (1984). Dance and social fantasy. In A. McRobbie & vernacular dance. New York: Macmillan.
M. Nava (Eds.), Gender and generation (pp. 130–161). London: Studlar, G. (1997). ‘‘Out-Salomeing Salome’’: Dance, the new woman,
Macmillan. and fan magazine Orientalism. In M. Bernstein & G. Studlar
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1968). The visible and the invisible (A. Lingus, (Eds.), Visions of the East: Orientalism in film (pp. 99–129). New
Trans.). Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press. (original Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
work published 1964) Sulkunen, P. K. (1990). Ryhmähaastattelujen analyysi [The analysis of
Migel, P. (1972). The ballerinas: From the court of Louis XIV to group interviews]. In K. Mäkelä (Ed.), Kvalitatiivisen aineiston
Pavlova. New York: Macmillan. analyysi ja tulkinta. Helsinki: Gaudeamus.
Miller, G. (2000). The mating mind: How sexual choice shaped the Ten Raa, E. (1969). The moon as a symbol of life and fertility in
evolution of human nature. New York: Doubleday. Sandawe thought. Africa, 39(1), 24–53.
Mitra, R. (2006). Living a body myth, performing a body reality: Tobin, J. (1998). Tango and the scandal of homosocial desire. In
Reclaiming the corporeality and sexuality of the Indian female W. Washabaugh (Ed.), The passion of music and dance: Body,
dancer. Feminist Review, 84, 67–83. gender and sexuality (pp. 79–102). New York: New York
Nadel, M. H., & Katschall, D. (1994). Dance and sexuality. In University Press.
V. L. Bullough & B. Bullough (Eds.), The encyclopedia of human van Nieuwkerk, K. (1995). ‘‘A trade like any other’’: Female singers and
sexuality (pp. 161–165). New York: Garland. dancers in Egypt. Austin: University of Texas Press.
237
HANNA
Wagner, A. (1997). Adversaries of dance: From the Puritans to the Carnes, M. (2009). Do it for your sistas: Black same-sex desiring
present. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. women’s erotic performance parties in Washington D.C. Unpub-
Wakin, D. J. (2007, January 8). Gambler shakes up land of tutus and lished doctoral dissertation, American University.
leotards. The New York Times, p. E1. Cody, D. (2005). Candy girl: A year in the life of an unlikely stripper.
Washabaugh, W. (1998a). Fashioning masculinity in flamenco dance. New York: Gotham.
In W. Washabaugh (Ed.), The passion of music and dance: Body, Dee, T. (2002). The definitive manual for topless dancers or ‘‘Hey mister,
gender and sexuality (pp. 39–50). New York: New York why are you sitting there with my money in your pocket?’’ (8th ed.).
University Press. Boca Raton, FL: Author.
Washabaugh, W. (Ed.). (1998b). The passion of music and dance: Body, Delacoste, F., & Alexander, P. (Eds.). (1987). Sex work: Writings by
gender and sexuality. New York: New York University Press. women in the sex industry. San Francisco: Cleis Press.
Wolterstorff, N. (1980). Art in action: Toward a Christian aesthetic. Demovic, A. (1993). Strippers in New Orleans: A preliminary study.
Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing. Human Mosaic, 27(1=2), 19–28.
Deshotels, T., & Forsyth, C. J. (2006). Strategic flirting and the
emotional tab of exotic dancing. Deviant Behavior, 27, 223–241.
Dodds, S. (1996), Dance and erotica: The construction of the female
Exotic Dance stripper. In H. Thomas (Ed.), Dance in the city (pp. 218–233).
New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Agustin, L. (2005). The cultural study of commercial sex. Sexualities, Donlon, J. G. (1998). A travel model in the runway setting: Strip-tease
8, 621–634. as exotic destination. In M. Oppermann (Ed.), Sex tourism
Allen, R. C. (1991). Horrible prettiness: Burlesque and American and prostitution: Aspects of leisure, recreation, and work (pp.
culture. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina. 116–122). Elmsford, NY: Cognizant Communications.
Angier, R. (1976). ‘‘. . . A kind of life.’’ Conversations in the combat Downs, D. M., James, S., & Cowan, G. (2006). Body objectification,
zone. Danbury, NH: Addison House. self-esteem, and relationship satisfaction: A comparison of exotic
Angioli, M. D. (1982). Body image perception and locus of control in dancers and college women. Sex Roles, 54, 745–752.
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
semi-nude and nude female dancers. Unpublished doctoral disser- Dragu, M., & Harrison, A. S. A. (1988). Revelations: Essays on
tation, United States International University, San Diego, CA. striptease and sexuality. London, Ontario: Nightwood Editions.
Arnold, M., & Margolis, M. L. (1985, December). Turning the tables? Dressel, P. L., & Peterson, D. M. (1982). Gender roles, sexuality, and
Male strippers and the gender hierarchy. Paper presented at the male strip show: The structuring of sexual opportunity.
the meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Sociological Focus, 15, 151–162.
Washington, DC. Dudash, T. (1997). Peepshow feminism. In J. Nagle (Ed.), Whores and
Barham, S. B. (1985). The phallus and the man: An analysis of male other feminists (pp. 98–118). New York: Routledge.
striptease. In L. Manderson (Ed.), Australian ways: Anthropologi- Eaves, E. (2002). Bare: On women, dancing, sex, and power. New York:
cal studies of an industrialized society (pp. 51–65). London: Allen Knopf.
& Unwin. Egan, D. (2003). Eroticism, commodification and gender: Exploring
Bartlett, C. S. (2004). Stripper shoes. Bloomington, IN: First Books exotic dance in the United States. Sexualities, 6, 105–114.
Library. Egan, D. (2004). Eyeing the scene: The uses and (re)uses of surveillance
Barton, B. (2002). Dancing on the Mobius Strip: Challenging the sex cameras in an exotic dance club. Critical Sociology, 30, 299–319.
war paradigm. Gender & Society, 16, 585–602. Egan, D. (2006a). Dancing for dollars and paying for love: The relation-
Barton, B. (2006). Stripped: Inside the lives of exotic dancers. New ships between exotic dancers and their regulars. New York:
York: New York University Press. Palgrave Macmillan.
Beasley, J. (2003). Lapdancer. New York: Power House Books. Egan, D. (2006b). Introduction: Third wave strippers: Flesh for femin-
Benson, D. E., Epstein, J. S., & Reid, S. (1994). Role identity in a ist fantasy. In D. Egan, K. Frank, & M. L. Johnson (Eds.), Flesh
devalued occupation: The case of female exotic dancers. Sociologi- for fantasy: Producing and consuming exotic dance (pp. xi–xxxiii).
cal Focus, 27, 1–17. New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press.
Berger, J. (2006). West confessions: Autoethnography of a peep show Egan, D., & Frank, K. (2005). Attempts at a feminist and interdisci-
customer. In D. Egan, K. Frank, & M. L. Johnson (Eds.), Flesh plinary conversation about strip clubs. Deviant Behavior, 26, 1–24.
for fantasy: Producing and consuming exotic dance (pp. 139– Egan, D., Frank, K., & Johnson, M. L. (Eds.). (2006). Flesh for
156). New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press. fantasy: Producing and consuming exotic dance. New York:
Boles, J. (1973). The nightclub stripper: A sociological study of a deviant Thunder’s Mouth Press.
occupation. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Enck, G. E., & Preston, D. J. (1988). Counterfeit intimacy: A drama-
Georgia, Athens. turgical analysis of an erotic performance. Deviant Behavior, 9,
Boles, J., & Garbin, A. P. (1974). The strip club and customer–stripper 369–381.
patterns of interaction. Sociology and Social Research, 58, 136–144. Enriquez, R., Cancino, J., & Varano, S. (2006). A legal and empirical
Bott, E. (2006). Pole position: Migrant British women producing perspective on crime and adult establishments: A secondary
‘‘selves’’ through lap dancing work. Feminist Review, 83, 23–41. effects study in San Antonio, Texas. American University Journal
Brewster, Z. W. (2003). Behavioral and interactional patterns of strip of Gender, Social Policy and the Law, 15, 1–41.
club patrons: Tipping techniques and club attendance. Deviant Erikson, D. J., & Tewksbury, R. (2000). The ‘‘gentlemen’’ in the
Behavior, 24, 221–243. club: A typology of strip club patrons. Deviant Behavior, 21,
Brooks, S. (1997). Dancing toward freedom. In J. Nagle (Ed.), Whores 271–293.
and other feminists (pp. 252–255). New York: Routledge. Feindel, J. (1988). A particular class of women. Vancouver: Lazara
Bruce, H., with Benenson, D. (1976). Honey: The life and loves of Publications.
Lenny’s shady lady. Chicago: QP, Playboy Press. Fine, G. A. (1991). Justifying fun: Why we do not teach exotic dance in
Bruckert, C. (2002). Taking it off, putting it on: Women in the strip high school. Play and Culture, 4, 87–99.
trade. Toronto: Women’s Press. Fischer, C. B. (1996). Employee rights in sex work: The struggle for
Burana, L. (2001). Strip city. New York: Talk Miramax Books. dancers’ rights as employee. Law and Inquiry: A Journal of Theory
Calhoun, T., Cannon, J. A. H., & Fisher, R. (1996). Amateur and Practice, 14, 521–554.
stripping: Sexualized entertainment and gendered fun. Sociologi- Forsyth, C. J., & Deshotels, T. H. (1998). A deviant process: The
cal Focus, 29, 155–166. sojourn of the stripper. Sociological Spectrum, 18, 77–92.
238
DANCE AND SEXUALITY: MANY MOVES
Frank, K. (1998). The production of identity and the negotiation of (Eds.), Flesh for fantasy: Producing and consuming exotic dance
intimacy in a ‘‘gentleman’s club.’’ Sexualities, 1, 175–202. (pp. 159–188). New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press.
Frank, K. (2002). G-Strings and sympathy: Strip club regulars and male Jones, P., Shears, P., & Hillier, D. (2003). Retailing and the regulatory
desire. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. state: A case study of lap dancing clubs in the UK. International
Frank, K. (2003). Just trying to relax: Masculinity, masculinizing prac- Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, 31, 214–219.
tices, and strip club regulars. Journal of Sex Research, 40, 61–75. Kay, K. (2000). Naked but unseen: Sex and labor conflict in San Fran-
Frank, K. (2005). Exploring the motivations and fantasies of strip club cisco’s adult entertainment theaters. Sexuality and Culture: The
customers in relation to legal regulations. Archives of Sexual Politics of Sexuality, 3, 39–67.
Behavior, 34, 487–504. Kelly, E. D., & Cooper, C. (2000). Everything you always wanted to
Frank, K. (2007). Thinking critically about strip club research. Sexua- know about regulating sex businesses. Journal of Planning Litera-
lities, 10, 501–517. ture, 17, 393–394.
Frank, K., & Carnes, M. (2009). Gender and space in strip clubs. In Klein, M. (2006). America’s war on sex. Westport, CT: Praeger.
R. Weitzer (Ed.), Sex for sale: Prostitution, pornography and the LaHaye, T. (1963). How to be happy though married. Wheaton, IL:
sex industry (2nd ed., pp. 115–137). New York: Routledge. Tyndale House.
Frenken, G. M. N., & Sifaneck, S. J. (1998). Sexworkers and dope: An Land, K. C., Williams, J. R., Ezell, M. E., Paul, B., & Linz, D. (2004).
ethnography of heroin-using lap dancers in New York City. An examination of the assumption that adult businesses are asso-
Addiction Research, 6, 341–370. ciated with crime in surrounding areas: A secondary effects study
Funari, V. (1997). Naked, naughty, nasty: Peep show reflections. In J. in Charlotte, NC. Law & Society Review, 38, 69–104.
Nagle (Ed.), Whores and other feminists (pp. 19–35). New York: Langley, E. (1997). The lusty lady. Berlin: Scalo.
Routledge. Lee, G. R. (1957). Gypsy. London: Futura.
Futterman, M. S. (1992). Dancing naked in the material world. Buffalo, Lewin, L. (1984). Naked is the best disguise: My life as a stripper. New
NY: Prometheus. York: Morrow.
Gard, M. (2003). Moving and belonging: Dance, sport and sexuality. Lewis, J. (1998a). Lap dancing: Personal and legal implications for
Sex Education, 3, 105–118. exotic dancers. In J. Elias, V. Bullough, & G. Brewer (Eds.), Pros-
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
Halperin, R. H. (1981). Female occupational exhibitionism: An explora- titution: On whores, hustlers, and johns. New York: Prometheus.
tory study of topless and bottomless dancers. Unpublished doctoral Lewis, J. (1998b). Learning to strip: The socialization experiences of
dissertation, United States International University, San Diego. exotic dancers. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 7, 51–66.
Hanna, J. L. (1998b). Undressing the First Amendment and corsetting Lewis, J. (2000). Controlling lap dancing: Law, morality and sex work.
the striptease dancer. Drama Review, 42(2), 38–69. In R. Weitzer (Eds.), Sex for sale: Prostitution, pornography and
Hanna, J. L. (1999). Toying with the striptease dancer and the First the sex industry (pp. 203–216). New York: Routledge.
Amendment. In S. Reifel (Ed.), Play and culture studies (Vol. 2, Liepe-Levinson, K. (1998). Striptease: Desire, mimetic jeopardy, and
pp. 37–56). Stamford, CT: Ablex. performing spectators. The Drama Review, 42, 9–37.
Hanna, J. L. (2002). Dance under the censorship watch. Journal of Arts Liepe-Levinson, K. (2002). Strip show: Performances of gender and
Management, Law, and Society, 29, 1–13. desire. New York: Routledge.
Hanna, J. L. (2003a). Exotic dance adult entertainment: Ethnography Linz, D., Paul, B., & Yao, M. Z. (2006). A peep show establishment,
challenges false mythology. City & Society, 15, 165–193. police activity, public place, and time: A study of secondary effects
Hanna, J. L. (2003b). Review of Eric Damian Kelly and Connie Cooper, in San Diego, California. Journal of Sex Research, 43, 182–193.
‘‘Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Regulating Sex Manaster, S. (2006). Treading water: An autoethnographic account
Businesses.’’. Journal of Planning Literature, 17, 393–394. (ing) of the lap dance. In D. Egan, K. Frank, & M. L. Johnson
Hanna, J. L. (2004b). The First Amendment, artistic merit and nudity (Eds.), Flesh for fantasy: Producing and consuming exotic dance
in Minnesota: Dance, criminal public indecency and evidence. (pp. 3–18). New York: Thunder’s Mouth Press.
Minnesota Law and Politics, 145, 34. Retrieved from www. Manderson, L. (1992). Public sex performances in the Patpong and
lawandpolitics.com explorations of the edges of imagination. Journal of Sex Research,
Hanna, J. L. (2005). Adult entertainment exotic dance: A guide for 29, 451–475.
planners and policy makers (Council of Planning Librarians Margolis, M. L. (1994). Little Brazil: An ethnography of Brazilian
Bibliography 375). Journal of Planning Literature, 20, 116–134. immigrants in New York City. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Hanna, J. L. (2008a). Hoochy coochy dancing and fantasy love. Press.
Retrieved from www.americanethnography.com/november Massey, J. E., & Hope, T. L. (2005). A personal dance: Emotional
Hanna, J. L. (2008b). Right to dance: Exotic dancing in the U.S. In N. labor, fleeting relationships, and social power in a strip bar. In
Jackson & T. Shapiro-Phim (Eds.), Dance, human rights and social C. Morrill, D. A. Snow, & C. H. White (Eds.), Together alone:
justice: Dignity in motion (pp. 86–107). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow. Personal relationships in public places (pp. 66–90). Berkeley:
Hanna, J. L. (2010a). Empowerment: The art of seduction in adult University of California Press.
entertainment exotic dance. In F. Kouwenhoven & J. Kippen Mattson, H. (1995). Ivy league stripper. New York: Arcade.
(Eds.), Music, dance and the art of seduction. Delft, The McCaghy, C. H., & Skipper, J. K. (1969). Lesbian behavior as an
Netherlands: Eburon Academic. adaptation to the occupation of stripping. Social Problems, 17,
Hanna, J. L. (2010b). Naked truth: A Christian right, strip clubs and 262–270.
democracy. Meiselas, S. (1975). Carnival strippers. New York: Farrar, Straus and
Hanna, J. L. (2010c). ‘‘Toxic’’ strip clubs: The intersection of religion Giroux.
and law. Mestemacher, R., & Roberti, J. W. (2004). Qualitative analysis of
Jarrett, L. (1997). Stripping in time: A history of erotic dancing. vocational choice: A collective case study of strippers. Deviant
London: Pandora. Behavior, 25, 43–65.
Jeffreys, S. (2008). Keeping women down and out: The strip club boom Misty. (1973). Strip! Toronto: New Press Toronto.
and the reinforcement of male dominance. Signs, 34, 151–173. Montemurro, B. (2001). Strippers and screamers: The emergence of
Johnson, M. L. (1999). Pole work: Autoethnography of a strip club. In social control in a noninstitutionalized setting. Journal of Contem-
B. Dank & R. Refinetti (Eds.), Sex work & sex workers: Sexuality porary Ethnography, 30, 275–304.
& culture (Vol. 2, pp. 149–157). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction. Montemurro, B., Bloom, C., & Madell, K. (2003). Ladies night out: A
Johnson, M. L. (2006). Stripper bashing: An autovideography of viol- typology of women patrons of a male strip club. Deviant Behavior,
ence against strippers. In D. Egan, K. Frank, & M. L. Johnson 24, 333–352.
239
HANNA
Murphy, A. G. (2003). The dialectical gaze: Exploring the subject– Snowden, L. (1994). Nine lives: From stripper to schoolteacher: My
object tension in the performances of women who strip. Journal year-long odyssey in the workplace. New York: Norton.
of Contemporary Ethnography, 32, 305–335. Spivey, S. (2003). Bureaucratizing the erotic: Rationalizing embodi-
Nevile, J. (Ed.). (2008). Dance, spectacle and the body politic, 1250– ment in two nude dancing bars. Sociological Imagination, 39(2),
1750. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 93–113.
Pasko, L. (2002). Naked power: The practice of stripping as a Sweet, N., & Tewksbury, R. (2000). Entry, maintenance, and depar-
confidence game. Sexualities, 5, 49–66. ture from a career in the sex industry. Humanity and Society, 2,
Paul, B., Linz, D., & Shafer, B. (2001). Government regulation of 136–161.
‘‘adult’’ businesses through zoning and anti-nudity ordinances: Tewksbury, R. (1994). A dramaturgical analysis of male strippers.
Debunking the legal myth of negative secondary effects. Com- Journal of Men’s Studies, 2(4), 5–42.
munication Law and Policy, 6, 355–391. Thompson, W. E., & Harred, J. L. (1992). Topless dancers: Managing
Pendleton, E. (1997). Love for sale: Queering heterosexuality. In J. stigma in a deviant occupation. Deviant Behavior, 13, 291–311.
Nagle (Ed.), Whores and other feminists (pp. 73–82). New York: Thompson, W. E., Harred, J. L., & Burks, B. E. (2003). Managing the
Routledge. stigma of topless dancing: A decade later. Deviant Behavior, 24,
Peretti, P. O., & O’Connor, P. (1989). Effects of incongruence between 551–570.
the perceived self and the ideal self on emotional stability of Trautner, M. N. (2005). Doing gender, doing class: The performance
stripteasers. Social Behavior and Personality, 17, 81–92. of sexuality in exotic dance clubs. Gender & Society, 19, 771–788.
Pinney, A. (2005). Ethics, agency and desire in two strip clubs: A view Urish, B. (2004). Narrative striptease in the nightclub era. Journal of
from both sides of the gaze. Qualitative Inquiry, 11, 716–723. American Culture, 27(2), 157–165.
Prewitt, T. J. (1988). The exposed exotic dancer: A semiotic of decep- Wesely, J. K. (2002). Growing up sexualized: Issues of power and
tion in porno-active ritual. In T. Prewitt, J. Deely, & K. Haworth violence in the lives of female exotic dancers. Violence Against
(Eds.), Semiotics 1988 (pp. 241–247). New York: University Press Women, 8, 1182–1207.
of America. Wesely, J. K. (2003a). Exotic dancing and the negotiation of identity:
Prewitt, T. J. (1989). Like a virgin: The semiotics of illusion in erotic The multiple uses of body technologies. Journal of Contemporary
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
performance. The American Journal of Semiotics, 6(4), 137–152. Ethnography, 32, 643–669.
Reed, S. (1997). All stripped off. In J. Nagle (Ed.), Whores and other Wesely, J. K. (2003b). ‘‘Where am I going to stop?’’ Exotic dancing,
feminists (pp. 179–188). New York: Routledge. fluid body boundaries, and effects on identity. Deviant Behavior,
Reid, S. A., Epstein, J. S., & Benson, D. E. (1994). Role identity in a 24, 483–503.
devalued occupation: The case of female exotic dancers. Sociologi- Wesely, J. K. (2006). Negotiating myself: The impact of studying
cal Focus, 27, 1–16. female exotic dancers on a feminist researcher. Qualitative Inquiry,
Roach, C. M. (2007). Stripping, sex, and popular culture. New York: 12, 146–162.
Berg. Wood, E. A. (2000). Working in the fantasy factory. Journal of
Ronai, C. R. (1992). The reflexive self through narrative: A night in the Contemporary Ethnography, 2, 5–31.
life of an erotic dancer=researcher. In C. Ellis & M. G. Flaherty Wosick-Correa, K. R. (2008). Sexy ladies sexing ladies: Women as
(Eds.), Investigating subjectivity: Research on lived experience consumers in strip clubs. Journal of Sex Research, 45, 201–216.
(pp. 102–124). Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Zeidman, I. (1967). The American burlesque show. New York:
Ronai, C. R. (1998). Sketching with Derrida: An ethnography of a Hawthorn.
researcher=erotic dancer. Qualitative Inquiry, 4, 405–420.
Ronai, C. R. (1999). The next night sous rature: Wrestling with
Derrida’s mimesis. Qualitative Inquiry, 5, 114–129.
Ronai, C. R., & Cross, R. (1998). Dancing with identity: Narrative
Queer Issues in Dance
resistance strategies of male and female stripteasers. Deviant
Behavior, 19, 99–119. Bailey, J. M., & Obserschneider, M. (1997). Sexual orientation and
Ronai, C. R., & Ellis, C. (1989). Turn-ons for money: Interactional dance. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 26, 433–444.
strategies of the table dancer. Journal of Contemporary Ethnogra- Barton, B. (2001). Queer desire in the sex industry. Sexuality and
phy, 18, 271–298. Culture, 5(4), 3–27.
Ross, B., & Greenwell, K. (2005). Spectacular striptease: Performing Boden, D. M. (2007). Alienation of sexuality in male erotic dancing.
the sexual and racial other in Vancouver, B.C., 1945–1975. Journal of Homosexuality, 53(1=2), 129–152.
Journal of Women’s History, 17, 137–164. Bollen, J. (1996). Sexing the dance at Sleaze Ball 1994. The Drama
Schiff, F. (1999). Nude dancing: Scenes of sexual celebration in a Review, 40, 166–191.
contested culture. Journal of American Culture, 22(4), 9–16. Bovim, J. (2007). Contact improvisation classes: Subject: Androgynous
Schweitzer, D. (2001). Striptease: The art of spectacle and trans- encounters. Contact Quarterly, 32(1), 9.
gression. Journal of Popular Culture, 34, 65–75. Buckland, F. (2002). Impossible dance: Club culture and queer world-
Scott, D. A. (1996). Behind the g-string: An exploration of the stripper’s making. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
image, her person, her meaning. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. Burt, R. (1995). The male dancer: Bodies, spectacle, sexualities.
Seymour, C. A., Jr. (1994). Desire and dollar bills: An ethnography of London: Routledge.
customers and strippers at a gay male striptease club in Washington, Burt, R. (1998). The desire to dance. Ballett International—Tanz
D.C. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Maryland, Aktuell, 8=9, 18–21.
College Park. Burt, R. (2001). Dissolving in pleasure: The threat of the queer male
Seymour, C. A., Jr. (2008). All I could bare: My life in the strip clubs of dancing body. In J. C. Desmond (Ed.), Dancing desires: Choreo-
gay Washington, D.C. New York: Simon & Schuster. graphing sexualities on and off the stage (pp. 209–241). Madison:
Shteir, R. (2004). Striptease: The untold history of the girlie show. New University of Wisconsin Press.
York: Oxford University Press. Carman, J. (2006). Sex & dance: Gay men & dance: What’s the connec-
Sloan, L., Bell, H., & Strickling, C. (1998). Exploiter or exploited: tion? Dance Magazine, 80(11): 56–58.
Topless dancers reflect on their experiences. Affilia: Journal of Carrington, C. (2007). Circuit culture: Ethnographic reflections on
Women and Social Work, 13, 352. inequality, sexuality, and life on the gay party circuit. In N. Teunis
Smith, C. (2002). Shiny chests and heaving g-strings. Sexualities, 5, & G. Herdt (Eds.), Sexual inequalities and social justice (pp.
67–89. 123–147). Berkeley: University of California Press.
240
DANCE AND SEXUALITY: MANY MOVES
Cvetkovich, A. (2001). Social stagings: White boots and combat boots: Lepecki, A. T. (2002). The impossible body: Queering the nation in
My life as a lesbian go-go dancer. In J. C. Desmond (Ed.), modern Portuguese dance. In S. C. Quinlan & F. Arenas (Eds.),
Dancing desires: Choreographing sexualities on and off the stage Gender and sexuality in the Portuguese-speaking world (pp.
(pp. 315–348). Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. 258–275). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Desmond, J. C. (Ed.). (2001a). Dancing desires: Choreographing Macaulay, A. (2009, February 27). Dance weds music, and the body
sexualities on and off the stage. Madison: University of Wisconsin electric sings. The New York Times, p. C6.
Press. Manning, S. (1998). Coding the message: Susan Manning traces the
Desmond, J. C. (2001b). Introduction: Making the invisible visible: overlap between American modern dance and gay culture. Dance
Staging sexualities through dance. In J. C. Desmond (Ed.), Theatre Journal, 14(1), 34–37.
Dancing desire: Choreographing sexualities on and off the stage Manning, S. (2001). Looking from a different place: Gay spectatorship
(pp. 3–32). Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. of American modern dance. In J. C. Desmond (Ed.), Dancing
Drummond, K. G. (2003). The queering of Swan Lake: A new male desires: Choreographing sexualities on and off the stage (pp. 403–
gaze for the performance of sexual desire. Journal of Homosexu- 413). Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
ality, 45(2=4), 235–255. Midgelow, V. L. (2007). Reworking the ballet: Counter-narratives and
Elsom, J. (1974). Erotic theatre. New York: Taplinger. alternative bodies. London: Routledge.
English, R. (1980). Alas alack: The representation of the ballerina. Miller, G., Tybur, J. M., & Jordan, B. T. (2007). Ovulatory cycle
New Dance, 15, 18–19. effects earnings by lap dancers: Economic evidence for human
Foster, S. L. (2001). Closets full of dances: Modern dance’s perform- estrus?. Evolution and Human Behavior, 28, 375–381.
ance of masculinity and sexuality. In J. C. Desmond (Ed.), Morris, G. (2001). What he called himself: Issues of identity in early
Dancing desire: Choreographing sexualities on and off the stage dances by Bill T. Jones. Studies in Dance History, 18, 243–263.
(pp. 147–207). Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. Nimmons, D. (2002). The soul beneath the skin: The unseen hearts and
Gere, D. (2001). 29 effeminate gestures: Choreographer Joe Goode and habits of gay men. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
the heroism of effeminacy. In J. C. Desmond (Ed.), Dancing desire: Pendleton, E. (1997). Love for sale: Queering heterosexuality. In
Choreographing sexualities on and off the stage (pp. 349–381). J. Nagle (Ed.), Whores and other feminists (pp. 73–82). New York:
Downloaded By: [Hanna, Judith Lynne] At: 15:26 1 April 2010
241