Strip dance has come a long way from the seedy bars and lewd cabarets of the past. As people begin to recognize the physical fitness and other positive characteristics of striptease, it has become a form of dance taught in the same places as traditional ballroom dance.
What are the Benefits of Strip Dance?
Probably the initial reason that anyone would want to try to learn strip dance would be simply because they see it as a way to "spice up" their dance workouts. Many workouts have physical benefits such as:
- Cardio exercise
- Improved range of motion and flexibility
- Toned muscles
- Ability to target specific muscle and joint groups
In addition, many people experience other more psychological benefits of strip dance, such as:
- Increased body confidence
- Better sense of rhythm and grace
- Enjoying the social benefits of their classes
- Enjoying sharing the intimate form of the dance with their partner
- Just having fun moving their bodies to the music
What Happens in a Striptease Dance Class?
The number one fear of someone taking a striptease dance class is that they will have to disrobe - and while naked yoga is a bit of a stretch, it's even harder to imagine a dance class being legit if it required the students to all strip.
The fact is, though, there is no need to get naked when learning strip dance. No more than ballet dancers wear tutus when they practice, strip dancing students wear clothes that they are comfortable moving in, and concentrate on doing the moves that are associated with striptease without actually taking off the clothes.
These forms of movement have some resemblance to other forms of dance such as modern, ballet, or jazz. For example,
- Core strength - With all the contractions, hip gyrations, and pelvic thrusts that are involved in strip dance, the abdominal and other core muscles get a huge workout, and need to be developed through technique and other exercises.
- Variation in Rhythm - Unlike forms of dance such as hip hop or a lot of jazz dance, the ability to slow the body down, focusing attention on the extension of one leg, the sweep of an arm, or something like that is a skill that requires a lot of work and development, in exercises similar to barre work in ballet.
- Poise and Presence - Unlike many dance forms, where the dancer is more the vehicle through which the dance created by a choreographer is expressed, strip dance requires that the dancer herself be present and out there, even if the audience is only their own image in the mirror.
Strip dance also involves a lot of changes in level, from floor work all the way up to dancing high up on a pole and doing acrobatic moves. In fact, pole dance classes and competitions have sprung up all over the world for both women and men, as it becomes more and more recognized that they are amazing expressions of physical prowess.
Why NOT Do Strip Dance?
There are a few reasons strip dancing may not be for you. For one, if the objective of your dance training is to lose weight, strip dance doesn't really burn too many calories, nor do most of the videos, etc recommend specific dietary changes to compliment the workout. Also, there is still a bit of a stigma attached to the idea of a dance form so closely associated with sexual dancing, though this stereotype is swiftly fading.
Another disadvantage is that the form is almost exclusively directed towards women, though some classes do welcome men as long as they are there to actually learn how to dance, as opposed to gawking at their female classmates.
The fact is, even if you never actually use the strip dancing moves in and of themselves to dance, the benefits you get from the workout in general are more than worth trying out this novel form of dance.
