A trip from Rye to see – what’s the best way to say it? – erotic dancers in Hastings would once have been the perfect night out for reader Petra Tissé. New she’s older, it really isn’t…
Good girls go to heaven – bad girls go down under!
This is the tag line used by Australian, erotic male dance troupe, Thunder from Down Under, and boy, oh boy, is it erotic (very), and immersive (very), and inclusive (very), and interactive (very), and for women of a certain age, just a little bit terrifying!
During every beat thumping musical number at the White Rock Theatre, Hastings, the “dancers” acrobatically left the stage to enthusiastically gyrate and grind in front of a “willing” member of the predominately female audience, and each time this happened my co-conspirator at this particular night out edged nearer to me, muttering “Oh no, no, no, don’t come over here,” or words to that effect. Worse still was the thought of being “chosen” to be led up onto the stage to be party to a simulated act of erotica. Trust me, I’m trying really hard to find the right words here, whilst remaining publishable.
And, I would like to stress that in no way are we prudish, far from it. We have definitely not led sheltered lives, yet somehow Thunder from Down Under did not have the desired effect they are aiming for. It wasn’t their fault, they were sexy, synchronised, sensational, and did I mention sexy, but somewhere along the line I guess we just got old. Maybe some of the nervous fear we felt came in part also from the wild frenzied screaming of 200 plus women baying for nakedness, with the excellent compere offering impassioned encouragement along the lines of, “Girls, the louder you shout, the quicker the clothes come off.”
At Thunder from Down Under there is no shortage of innuendo or semi-naked men with toned, and, I believe the modern word is, ripped bodies.
So, is this what happens when you try to relive your youth? Instead of screaming along with the rest of the women you find yourself cowering against your partner in crime, hoping and praying they don’t pick you!
We had booked on a whim and reserved upstairs “safe” seating, only to be “upgraded” to the second row of the stalls, so the fear was real; the fear of having some 20 something male perform a lap dance on you, when you are clearly old enough to be his mum or even grandma!
Rewind 40 odd years and let’s remember fondly, The Chippendales! The all-American male strippers who began life in Los Angeles circa 1979 in a bid to rescue a nightclub on its last legs, and still have a Las Vegas residency to this day. The ones who started it all, the ones who made it acceptable for women to ogle at beautiful and pretty much naked men.
And, I was one of those women, screaming along with a packed theatre for some nakedness. And, it should be said on several occasions, not just once or twice! Understanding and appreciating the female camaraderie that existed way back then and is still very much evident today. Girls boosting each other’s confidence and fixing each other’s crowns, no jealousy, every single one of them there for the same reason, to have a good time and see some bare bottoms, or possibly more.
The Chippendales completely shook up the erotic entertainment industry. No longer was it solely male orientated, it was now acceptable for women to also get an “eyeful” and packed venues world-wide are testament to that to this day.
So, what did the UK offer in return I hear you ask? Well, we have our very own Dream Boys. The Dream Boys began life in Stringfellows night club back in 1987 and were a huge success. Several television appearances followed, they were even part of the Spiceworld movie in 1997, but then who wasn’t… Also in 1997 and definitely worthy of a mention, the UK gave the world The Full Monty! Where a “normal” group of men, having been made redundant from the Sheffield steel industry, turn their hand to stripping, for one night only.
The Dream Boys founder Bari Bacco is quoted on their website as saying, “The g-string is the dividing line between obscenity and eroticism.” Imagination is clearly the name of the game here, the not quite totally nakedness fuels thoughts of what is underneath and in this area of the entertainment industry that alone, is worth billions. Add in both performance revenue and merchandise, and trust me, they sell everything you could ever imagine, this is a form of adult entertainment that is set to continue, so thank heavens for the younger generation of mostly women getting out to these shows and showing their appreciation for a little or, in some cases, a lot of nakedness.
For the conclusion of this article may I take you back to Thunder from Down Under? You’re probably wondering, did the boys do the full monty? Unfortunately, we’ll never know as these two “old” girls decided they’d had enough excitement and nudity for one night so cleared off at the interval for a nice cup of cocoa. Oh, how times have changed.
Rye News invites letters and opinions from readers on all aspects of local life. If you would like to write for us email info@ryenews.org.uk
Image Credits: Rye News .