Frank Marsala, General Manager at Platinum Club, gave me the idea for
interviewing four dancers as he spoke to me in glowing terms about Heaven. I
remembered her from Dollies Playhouse several years ago as an ex school teacher,
and I had taken a number of pictures of her there along with a hundred other
girls. What distinguished Heaven from most of the dancers was an aura of
wholesomeness that would seem out of place at most clubs.
"Where and when shall we do the interview?" I asked Heaven on the
phone. "How about Pierre Marquette?" she suggested. Which really
impressed me since Pierre Marquette is a scenic state park overlooking the
Illinois River, making it an idyllic spot for the interview and photo shoot.
Somehow before we started I knew that I’d find her to be an idealistic
young woman who had been disillusioned by the system. Flicking on the tape
recorder in the Pierre Marquette Lodge, I started asking Heaven a series of
questions about her preschool teaching experiences and her dancing career.
She loved working with preschool children between two and four years old.
When I asked her how effectively the American educational system was dealing
with this age group, she replied: "For kids this age there needs to be
reform for the way the teachers are being treated. It is in their first five
years that the kids are learning the most." Heaven then cited several
examples of how the system was short changing kids during this critical
formative period of their lives. Particularly perplexing to her is how classes
of preschoolers are shuffled from teacher to teacher. "Which is very
damaging to their psyches," Heaven continued "since kids need a sense
of continuity at this very young age, not an ever changing cast of shadowy of
changing adult figures they are never allowed to form long term associations
with." Next she mentioned low pay coupled with low state certification
standards. "I made five dollars an hour which was just above minimum wage
at the time and was making around six when I quit," Heaven said as she
subtlety emphasized the word "just". In only a few words she had
dramatized that something was clearly wrong. Here Americans offered barely more
than minimum wage to these caretakers of their children during the critical
formative years.
I had gotten the sense that Heaven would still be teaching preschool if she
been offered more than starvation wages. But it was her ex husband’s failure
to continue paying child support, not disillusionment with the system, that put
a sudden halt to her career as a preschool teacher. Six dollars an hour was
simply not enough to pay the little family’s bills.
Dancing would supply the money to make the car payments, pay the rent on
time, and to buy food and all the other things necessary to make her and her
daughter comfortable. After working at Dollies, Diamond Cabaret, the Jewel Box,
and the Crystal Palace, Heaven finally found her niche at the Platinum Club,
where she works three nights a week. Having four nights off gives her ample time
to continue working on a college degree that will allow her to return to
teaching at much higher pay not to mention freeing up more quality time to spend
with her daughter.
"Although dancing has a shady reputation, a lot of good things can come
out of it,"Heaven continued. "In this club (Platinum Club) there is
always somebody to talk to. If you go to a regular bar by yourself a lot of
times it doesn’t work out so well. I am hoping a lot of people think I am more
of a psychologist than a dancer. One of the men who comes in here to see me was
telling me that he’s been going to his pastor for counseling because his
recent ex is making his life a living hell. The guy told his pastor: "You
know what has really been helping me is seeing Heaven who’s convincing me that
I’m not really this horrible person I’ve been made out to be." I found
Heaven’s next statement to fly in the face of your average stereotyped notion
of the "typical" dancer-customer relationship. "I try to build up
all the guys’ self esteem..that is, unless they are being really obnoxious
with me."
Ironically Heaven would wind up making several times more money counseling
grown men in a topless club than she made working with little children for the
state of Illinois.
Sexie Jessie
With Dollies Playhouse giving me my beers for a dollar-fifty, supplying me
with my very own phone line just eight feet from the stage which I"d use to
go online, and letting me take over 1500 digital pictures of girls in the club,
it took a lot to get my attention. I probably even had a dancer or two sitting
next to me in front of my laptop when I saw her for the first time over four
years ago, a constantly moving form of raw sensuality that immediately evoked
thoughts of Arab dancing girls performing for the Sultan centuries ago. I found
myself standing in front of her stage just watching her. I rarely tip anyone
with the exception of bartenders and waitresses but this gal was so good that I
not only gave her five bucks but also invited her to have a drink with me at the
bar. Her body never stopped flowing to the beat of the music as we sat next to
each other in our bar stools. I saw her twice again, once at a half forgotten
Metro East Tavern and a second time at a party the new general manager had one
Sunday afternoon. Then one night sitting at Dollies while drinking my beer I got
an e-mail from Sexie Jessie.
One thing led to another-- the instant messaging back and forth on our
computers, the e-mailing, and our meeting up with each other at a club or two,
going out to eat in a small group, or an impromptu party. She started to
experiment with web site design and showed me a short online video or two she
had done, then I had her look at my internet videos. Once in awhile I’d go
over to her home where we would exchange computer software or discuss web site
design, graphics arts programs and digital photography for hours. I had first
seen her and taken pictures of her as a svelte dancer. Later I would visit her
when she was pregnant, then watch her new born girl become a one year old.
A transformation took place. She was no longer Sexie Jessie, the enticing and
beguiling temptress. She had become, fellow computer nerd and internet junkie,
Jessie. I had seen her in clubs making hundreds of dollars in a few hours,
scarcely having the time to have a drink even with me. Then I had spent hours
seeing her other side. We even discussed taking web site development computer
classes together.
She works just two eight hour shifts a week. The rest of the time is hers.
Unlike many girls from the clubs, she’s had a stable relationship for more
than ten years and has lived in the same place for just as long. She’s done
three web sites. First one’s her web site. Second one she does with her
boyfriend, Bob, to showcase his music. Third one she spends the most time with
and that’s the kiddie web site devoted to her daughter Amanda.
But that’s Sexie Jessie’s value system. Numero Uno’s her daughter and
the fact that she centers more of her web site development time around Amanda
than she does around her other two sites proves it. Action speaks louder than
words and I’ve been around Jessie for just too long to ever doubt that the
little girl she brought into this world means everything.
There is no question that dancing provides Jessie with the money and the free
time to do some very positive things. Starting with being the best mother she
can be. Presently taking a computer web site development course online, Jessie’s
polishing skills she’s learned on her own, skills she would never have found
the time to master had she been confined to working a low paying nine to five,
"normal job".
Enigma
I surprised Sam Stimmel, club owner of Stimmelators and Vice President of
INCA (Indiana Night Club Owners Association) with my phone call Friday morning
asking for pictures and an interview with a girl who is both a dancer and a
college student. Having already taken pictures of Enigma, a trim yet buxomly
college student, I was confident she’d be the third girl for this article. But
I had forgotten about the Mothers for a More Boring Nation. A Phi Beta Kappa
earning at least a 3.5 grade point average in Business Administration and
Accounting, Enigma’s got it all-- great looks, an outstanding figure,
personality, intelligence, athletic ability, and to top it all off she’s just
plain nice. Three phone calls to the club left her wanting to do the interview
and more pictures but her head overruled her heart in the end. Fear of losing
valuable scholarships by being identified as a dancer led her to tell me:
"I’d better not do it, Jack, but I’ll help you find someone else."
Gia
Several hours later Sam called me. "I have someone here for you to
interview." I wouldn’t be able to take the pictures this time since I
lived 380 miles from the club and had put everyone on short notice. Luckily
Keith Miller was more than up to the task. Within moments I was on the phone
with Gia, a twenty-six year old mother of two, who expects to receive her four
year degree in psychology in December. Gia started dancing just several months
ago after separating from her husband, a High School teacher. Dancing just two
weekend nights a week gives her ample time to be an effective mother while
taking a full twelve hours of college classes at Indiana University in South
Bend. Uncertain of what her next career move will be, Gia informed me that a
Masters in Psychology is a distinct possibility.
Considering that time is in short supply given her course load at the
university and family commitments I wasn’t surprised to hear Gia say:
"What other thing can I do where if I needed an extra couple hundred bucks
I can just work an extra night? A lot of people say: "How could you do
that? Why can’t you get a legitimate job like being a waitress?" and I
look at that—and, I’ve never been a waitress and I’m thinking why? I know
some people think it’s really crude for me to dance naked in front of people
and take their money."
Gia’s later comments on the subject continued to echo what many dancers had
been telling me for years about all those "honorable legit" jobs
available to them--- working at the gas station, as a waitress at Dennys or
flipping hamburgers at Wendys. After all, when a box of cereal costs six bucks
how can we expect them to make it as Single Parents at low end jobs?"
Devin
One half hour later Sam’s on the phone with me again. "Want to
interview another of my dancers?" he asks. "Her name’s Devin. She’s
been "Miss Nude Galaxy, and best legs for 2001". " Devin doesn’t
have any children, is just 22 and has the whole world in front of her since she
has to be responsible only to herself. During the school year she teaches
pre-school in the morning, "just for practice" she laughs on the other
end of the line. Her afternoons are filled with classes at University of Indiana
South Bend where she’s in her third year of taking certification classes to
teach kindergarten. She’s been a dancer for three years, starting in the South
Bend clubs before moving onto Stimmelators in North Webster where she dances on
weekends. With school no longer in session, during the Summer she will increase
the number of nights she dances.
"What do you prefer doing, teaching or dancing?" I ask her. "I’ll
do more dancing," she replies, "If my dancing career
accelerates." Devin then tells me how Continental Agency expressed an
interest in her along with her craving for travel and new experiences. Featuring
is definitely a strong possibility for her yet her desire to teach continues to
exert its pull. "Teaching pre-school is fun," Devin replies to one of
my questions. "And I think I can make a difference. This is the most
important learning period in childrens’ lives.
Gia clarified the difference between the four dancers in this article (five
if we count Enigma) and the stereotyped dancer of the movies when she said:
"Some people dance as a lifestyle. I have a goal." Although there has
been some improvement on how Americans view women (eg. They can vote and they
are definitely in the work force now) mothers and fathers for the most part
still teach women from girlhood on that everything’s going to be right with
their world once they find a man. It is a sad fact that too many women rely upon
men to look after them and the children they help bring into this world since
millions of men fail to pay child support. I personally believe that these men
should be held more accountable for their responsibilities, but I don’t think
that is going to happen. Since our society lacks either the guts or the means to
inflict more stringent punishment upon these low lives, how can we fault Gia for
saying: "How else can you make money when you need it? Just go in and pick
up some cash. I feel a lot safer now." In a nutshell, Gina’s talking
about self-reliance and independence for women instead of their having to depend
upon a man as the breadwinner, who too often lets both "his" woman and
his children down. Where else can a woman make a thousand dollars a week for
just sixteen to twenty-four hours of work? So before you join the Mothers for a
More Boring Nation who are trying to convince you to close clubs down, think of
Enigma studying for college during slow periods at Stimmelators. Or of Heaven
trying to raise her daughter on a six dollar an hour job teaching pre-school.
Think of Devin having to pay her college tuition from her earnings as a pre
school teacher’s aide. Imagine Sexie Jessie not having the time to learn about
computers and web site development or to be at home with her one year old girl
because she had to work forty hours a week at Steak and Shake while putting in
another fifteen hours at Amoco. And remember that there are thousands of dancers
across the U.S. who view dancing not as a life style but as the opportunity to
achieve worthwhile long term goals, such as learning marketable skills for a new
career, that would be out of reach the moment clubs are closed down.
