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Go-go dancing

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Not to be confused withGo-go,an unrelated subgenre of funk music.

Modern go-go dancer Cherry Lei
Go-go boot

Go-go dancersare dancers who are employed to entertain crowds atnightclubs[1]or other venues where music is played. Go-go dancing originated in the early 1960s at the French bar Whisky a Gogo, located in the town ofJuan-les-Pins.The bar's name was taken from the French title of the Scottish comedy filmWhisky Galore! [2]The French bar then licensed its name to the West Hollywood rock clubWhisky a Go Go,which opened in January 1964 and chose the name to reflect the already popular craze of go-go dancing.[3]Many 1960s-era nightclub dancers wore short, fringed skirts and high boots[4]which eventually came to be calledgo-go boots.Nightclubpromotersin the mid‑1960s then conceived the idea of hiring women dressed in these outfits to entertain patrons.

Etymology[edit]

The termgo-goderives from the phrase "go-go-go" for a high-energy person,[5]and was influenced by the French expressionà gogo,meaning "in abundance, galore",[6]which is in turn derived from the ancient French wordla goguefor "joy, happiness".[7]The termgo-go danceroriginated from the French bar Whisky a Gogo located in Juan-les-Pins, a seaside town nearCannes,which was among the first places in the world to replace live music with records selected by a disc jockey and to provide the spectacle of paid dancers known as go-go girls.

In the 1960s[edit]

On 19 June 1964,Carol Dodabegan go-go dancingtoplessat theCondor Clubon Broadway and Columbus in theNorth Beachneighborhood ofSan Francisco.She became the world's most famous topless and bottomless go-go dancer, dancing at the Condor for 22 years. In Canada, in 1966, Bonny Rush was mentioned as the country's first topless go-go dancer in the news media.[8]In general, however, go-go dancers in the 1960s did not work topless.[9]

In 1964 theLos Angeles–based clubWhisky a Go Gobegan suspending go-go dancers above the audience in glass cages.[10]Located on theSunset StripinWest Hollywood,the club hired scantily clad dancers wearing knee-high vinyl go-go boots (or occasionally theCourrèges bootswhich inspired them) and mini skirts or miniflapper dresses.[11]The club began to hire go-go dancers regularly in July 1965.

Go-go discotheques began to open across the United States.[4]In 1967 an article inNewsweekestimated that there were 8000 go-go dancers working in the US, aged mostly between 18 and 21.[12]The majority of go-go dancers in theNew York metropolitan areawere migrants from Brazil.[13]Go-go dancing was generally performed to recorded music rather than a live band.[14]The go-go dancers danced on tables, in cages, on dance floors[15]or on small go-go stages.[14]Their role was to entertain the audience and demonstrate dance moves.[15]Many dancers hoped that go-go dancing would provide them a way intoshow business.[4]Others simply earned money while travelling around the US as part of thecounterculture of the 1960s.[14]Earnings from go-go dancing in the mid-1960s were around $125–$200 per week.[4]

In Germany,Der Spiegel,in an article on discotheque trends in April 1965, described theScotch Kneipeand thePussycatinMunichas the first discotheques in the country to feature go-go dancers performing in cages above the audience.[16]In Canada in 1967, a club in Montreal's York Hotel began to employ the city's first go-go dancers. Other Montreal venues followed, including bars, hotels, taverns and strip clubs. The dancers initially wore pasties but over the years the amount of nudity shown increased.[17]

Television and media[edit]

Go-go dancers were employed as background dancers accompanying performances (real or lip-synced) byrock and rollbands on teen music programs in the mid-1960s.Hullabaloowas a musical variety series that ran onNBCfrom 12 January 1965 – 29 August 1966.The Hullabaloo Dancers—a team of four men and six women—appeared on a regular basis. Another female dancer, model/actressLada Edmund, Jr.,was best known as the caged "go-go girl" dancer in theHullabaloo A-Go-Gosegment near the closing sequence of the show. Other dance TV shows during this period such asABC'sShindig!(16 September 1964 – 8 January 1966) also featured go-go dancers in cages. Sometimes these cages were made of clear plastic with lights strung inside of them; sometimes the lights were synchronized to go on and off with the music.Shivaree(syndicated, 1965–1966), another music show, usually put go-go dancers on scaffolding and on a platform behind the band which was performing.Beat-Club,a German show in the period, also used go-go dancers.[18]Each show of the period had a particular method of bringing the go-go dancers into camera view.

British go-go dancer Sandy Sarjeant became popular performing on theITVmusic showReady Steady Go!.[citation needed]

The US TV crime drama seriesHoney West(1965–1966) included an episode called "The Princess and the Paupers" which featured a go-go dancing sequence.[citation needed]

Go-go dancing became the subject of 1960s pop songs such asLittle Miss Go-Go(1965) byGary Lewis & the PlayboysandGoing to a Go-Go(1965) byThe Miracles.[19]

In gay clubs[edit]

Go-go boys at the June 2008Chicago Pride Parade

Many gay clubs had male go-go dancers, often called go-go boys, from 1965 to 1968, after which few gay clubs had go-go dancers.[20]In the early 1980s New York's Anvil club featured go-go dancers anddrag shows.[21]In 1988 go-go dancing again became fashionable at gay clubs (and has remained so ever since). Nowadays, gay male go-go dancers are a lot more popular and common in American culture, especially in bigger cities such as Los Angeles and New York. There are more gay go-go dancers than female go-go dancers in today's club scene, a big turnaround from the 1960s.[20]

In the 1970s and after[edit]

During the 1970s discotheques became less popular and few nightclubs employed go-go dancers. Opportunities for go-go dancing work mainly continued atstrip clubswhere the audience was all male.[12]Most of the strip clubs in the 1970s abandoned traditional burlesque striptease in favour of livesex showsand go-go dancing which was performed topless[22]or naked.[12]

However, in the late 1970s, there was a nightclub at 128 West 45th Street (the same location where the Peppermint Lounge had been) inManhattan,New York City, calledG.G. Barnum's Room,patronized largely bytransgenderwomen, that had male go-go dancers who danced ontrapezesabove a net over the dance floor.[23][24] In 1978, theXenonnight club in Manhattan became the first night club to provide go-go boxes for amateur go-go dancers to dance on.[25]

During the 1980s go-go dancing continued in strip clubs andpeep shows.Lawmakers in somejurisdictionspassed regulations prohibiting nude dancing, requiring go-go dancers to wearpastiesand aG-string.These laws were challenged under theFirst Amendment to the United States Constitutionusing the argument that naked go-go dancing qualifies asfree speech.[26]

Musical styles such astechno,house musicandtrance musicappeared during the 1990s as part of undergroundraveculture. As these styles became mainstream, an increase in the use of go-go dancing accompanied their rise in popularity. Dancers performing to these musical styles began to appear atmusic festivalsand nightclubs to encourage the crowd to dance.[10]

Today, go-go dancing has also found an outlet in mass media.Horrorpops,a Danish band, is known for featuring go-go dancers in their live performances and their music videos. The music video for "Horrorbeach" was dedicated entirely to the band's go-go dancers. Go-go dancers can be employed to enhance a band's performance, or a DJ's music mix.

InRussia,in the 2013 elections theCivilian Powerparty put forward four female go-go dancers as candidates fordeputies.[27][28]

Go-go dancer

American shows of the 1960s featured dancers that were highly trained, but many modern dancers are not always professional (for example some nightclubs in tourist areas inMagaluforIbiza). However, there are many companies that supply professionally trained dancers to nightclubs for podium work around the world.[citation needed]

Holidays and celebrations[edit]

Currently, the City ofWest Hollywoodcelebrates the history and culture of go-go dancing by hosting an annual "Go-Go Boy Appreciation Day" that includes a street festival and competition.[29]

Performance art dancers[edit]

Go-go dancers that are hired to dance at night clubs, special parties, festivals,circuit partiesorravedances in bright, colorful costumes are called performance art dancers.[30]Most often, go-go dancers are typically women who perform to entertain a crowd in public or at clubs and they often wear sexy clothing or printed clothes.[31]Their costumes often include accessories such asglow sticks,light chasers, toyray gunsthat light up, go-go shorts embedded with battery-operated fiber optic tubes in various colors, strings of battery-operated colored lights in plastic tubes,fire sticks,a musical instrument, or an animal (usually a snake). In the early to mid‑1980s, the performance art dancerJohn Sex,who performed with aPython,played a role in making go-go dancing popular once again at gay and bisexual night clubs along with his life partner Sebastian Kwok.[citation needed]

See also[edit]

Film depictions[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Mish, Frederic C., Editor in ChiefWebster's Ninth New Collegiate DictionarySpringfield, Massachusetts, 1984--Merriam-Webster Page 525
  2. ^Levy, Shawn (2020).The castle on Sunset: life, death, love, art, and scandal at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont(First Anchor books ed.). New York.ISBN978-0-525-43566-2.OCLC1111699686.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^Russell Hall (12 November 2010)."Showtime! The 10 Greatest Rock Venues of All Time".Gibson. Archived fromthe originalon 14 April 2012.Retrieved13 June2015.
  4. ^abcdBaugess, James S.; DeBolt, Abbe Allen, eds. (2011).Encyclopedia of the Sixties: A Decade of Culture and Counterculture.ABC-CLIO. p. 253.ISBN9780313329449.
  5. ^"agog - Alpha Dictionary * Free English On-line Dictionary".Alphadictionary. 13 July 2010.Retrieved13 June2015.
  6. ^"A-go-go | Definition of a-go-go by Merriam-Webster".Merriam-webster.Retrieved13 June2015.
  7. ^Le Petit Robert: GOGO (À), 1440; de l'a. fr.gogue"réjouissance"
  8. ^"For Doing Her Part in Canadian Nationalism".Montreal Gazette.31 December 1966. p. 41 of 52 – via Google newspapers.
  9. ^Mitchell, Claudia; Reid-Walsh, Jacqueline (2007).Girl Culture: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1.Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 330.ISBN9780313339080.
  10. ^abGlass, Nicole (10 April 2013)."Go-Go Dancer Shares Secrets From the Platform".Huffington Post.
  11. ^Mitchell & Reid-Walsh (2007),p. 328–330.
  12. ^abcMitchell & Reid-Walsh (2007),p. 330.
  13. ^Ramos-Zayas, Ana Y. (2012).Street Therapists: Race, Affect, and Neoliberal Personhood in Latino Newark.University of Chicago Press. p. 359.ISBN9780226703633.
  14. ^abcGregory Curtis (August 1974)."Pappy's Girls".Texas Monthly.p. 74.
  15. ^ab"Á Go-Go Girls".Ebony.Vol. 21, no. 6. April 1966. p. 143.ISSN0012-9011.
  16. ^"Diskothek: Irre laut"[Discothèque: Insanely Loud].Der Spiegel(in German). 14 April 1965. pp. 150–151.Retrieved19 May2020.
  17. ^Tremblay, Francine (2020).Organizing for Sex Workers' Rights in Montréal: Resistance and Advocacy.Rowman & Littlefield. p. 34.ISBN9781498593908.
  18. ^"Shindig, Shivaree, Hullabaloo and the great rock & roll shows of 1965".MeTV.Chicago. 2 October 2015.
  19. ^Mitchell & Reid-Walsh (2007),p. 329.
  20. ^ab"Going to a Go Go: Up Close with the Dancers and the Dance"Bay Area ReporterThursday, 2 May 1991, "Arts and Entertainment" section Pages 29–30
  21. ^Lawrence, Tim (2016).Life and Death on the New York Dance Floor, 1980–1983.Duke University Press. p. 260.ISBN9780822373926.
  22. ^White, Rachel Rabbit (3 January 2023)."Between illusion and the studied art of the tease, strip clubs are the last bastion of the American Dream".Document Journal.
  23. ^Miezitis, VidaNight Dancin'New York:1980 Ballantine (Photography by Bill Bernstein) "G.G. Barnum's Room" Pages 94-102--Has pictures of male go-go dancers go-go dancing on trapezes above a net over the dance floor
  24. ^"Identify these NYC Clubs".Disco-disco.Retrieved13 June2015.
  25. ^Anthony Haden-GuestThe Last Party: Studio 54, Disco, and the Culture of the NightNew York:1997 William Morrow Co. See numerous references to Xenon in the index
  26. ^McKeever, Robert J. (1995).Raw Judicial Power?: The Supreme Court and American Society.Manchester University Press. p. 234.ISBN9780719048739.
  27. ^Privolnov, Sergey."Из go-go в депутаты Тольятти: продолжение"[From go-go to deputies of Tolyatti: continued] (in Russian). Arriva.ru. Archived fromthe originalon 5 September 2015.Retrieved13 June2015.
  28. ^ЗАО ИД «Комсомольская правда» (13 August 2013)."В тольяттинскую гордуму баллотируются go-go танцовщицы".Samara.kp.ru.Retrieved13 June2015.
  29. ^"West Hollywood Starts Voting For Go-Go Dancer Appreciation Day".CBS Los Angeles. 3 November 2013.Retrieved13 June2015.
  30. ^"A Revival of Go-Go Dancers".San Francisco Chronicle12 July 1991, People section page B3
  31. ^"How to Make Go-Go Dancer's Costume".costumet. 6 July 2022.Retrieved8 August2022.

External links[edit]

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