Go-go dancing: Difference between revisions
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{{ | {{Short description|Form of nightclub entertainment}} | ||
{{ | {{Distinguish|text=[[Go-go]], an unrelated subgenre of funk music}} | ||
{{More citations needed|date = April 2020}} | |||
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} | {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} | ||
[[File:Gogo_Dancer_Cherry_Lei_by_Photocyclone.jpg|thumb|Modern go-go dancer Cherry Lei at ''The Fix'', in [[Honolulu]], Hawaii, in 2014]] | |||
[[File:Gogo_Dancer_Cherry_Lei_by_Photocyclone.jpg|thumb|Modern go-go dancer Cherry Lei at ''The Fix'', in [[Honolulu]], | |||
'''Go-go dancers''' are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at [[nightclub]]s<ref>Mish, Frederic C., Editor in Chief ''Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary'' Springfield, Massachusetts, 1984--Merriam-Webster Page 525</ref> 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 of [[Juan-les-Pins]]. The French bar then licensed its name to the West Hollywood rock club [[Whisky a Go Go]], which opened in January 1964 and chose the name to reflect the already popular craze of go-go dancing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/greatest-rock-venues-1112.aspx |title=Showtime! The 10 Greatest Rock Venues of All Time |publisher=Gibson.com |date=12 November 2010 |access-date=13 June 2015 |author=Russell Hall |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414065042/http://www2.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/greatest-rock-venues-1112.aspx |archive-date=14 April 2012 }}</ref> Many 1960s-era nightclub dancers wore short, fringed skirts and high boots which eventually came to be called [[go-go boot]]s. Nightclub [[Promoter (entertainment)|promoter]]s in the mid‑1960s then conceived the idea of hiring women dressed in these outfits to entertain patrons. | '''Go-go dancers''' are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at [[nightclub]]s<ref>Mish, Frederic C., Editor in Chief ''Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary'' Springfield, Massachusetts, 1984--Merriam-Webster Page 525</ref> 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 of [[Juan-les-Pins]]. The French bar then licensed its name to the West Hollywood rock club [[Whisky a Go Go]], which opened in January 1964 and chose the name to reflect the already popular craze of go-go dancing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/greatest-rock-venues-1112.aspx |title=Showtime! The 10 Greatest Rock Venues of All Time |publisher=Gibson.com |date=12 November 2010 |access-date=13 June 2015 |author=Russell Hall |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414065042/http://www2.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Features/en-us/greatest-rock-venues-1112.aspx |archive-date=14 April 2012 }}</ref> Many 1960s-era nightclub dancers wore short, fringed skirts and high boots which eventually came to be called [[go-go boot]]s. Nightclub [[Promoter (entertainment)|promoter]]s in the mid‑1960s then conceived the idea of hiring women dressed in these outfits to entertain patrons. | ||
==Etymology== | ==Etymology== | ||
The term ''go-go'' derives from the phrase "go-go-go" for a high-energy person,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alphadictionary.com/goodword/date/2010/07/12 |title=agog - alphaDictionary * Free English On-line Dictionary |publisher=Alphadictionary.com |date=13 July 2010 |access-date=13 June 2015}}</ref> and was influenced by the French expression ''[[wikt:à gogo|à gogo]]'', meaning "in abundance, galore",<ref name="mw">{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gogo |title=A-go-go | Definition of a-go-go by Merriam-Webster |publisher=Merriam-webster.com |access-date=13 June 2015}}</ref> which is in turn derived from the ancient French word ''la gogue'' for "joy, happiness".<ref name="robert">Le Petit Robert: GOGO (À), 1440; de l'a. fr. ''gogue'' "réjouissance"</ref> The term ''go-go dancer'' originated from the French bar Whisky a Gogo located in Juan-les-Pins, a seaside town near [[Cannes]], 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. The bar's name was taken from the French title of the Scottish comedy film ''[[Whisky Galore! (1949 film)|Whisky Galore!]]''<ref>{{Cite book|last=Levy|first=Shawn| | The term ''go-go'' derives from the phrase "go-go-go" for a high-energy person,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alphadictionary.com/goodword/date/2010/07/12 |title=agog - alphaDictionary * Free English On-line Dictionary |publisher=Alphadictionary.com |date=13 July 2010 |access-date=13 June 2015}}</ref> and was influenced by the French expression ''[[wikt:à gogo|à gogo]]'', meaning "in abundance, galore",<ref name="mw">{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gogo |title=A-go-go | Definition of a-go-go by Merriam-Webster |publisher=Merriam-webster.com |access-date=13 June 2015}}</ref> which is in turn derived from the ancient French word ''la gogue'' for "joy, happiness".<ref name="robert">Le Petit Robert: GOGO (À), 1440; de l'a. fr. ''gogue'' "réjouissance"</ref> The term ''go-go dancer'' originated from the French bar Whisky a Gogo located in Juan-les-Pins, a seaside town near [[Cannes]], 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. The bar's name was taken from the French title of the Scottish comedy film ''[[Whisky Galore! (1949 film)|Whisky Galore!]]''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Levy |first=Shawn |date=2020 |title=The Castle on Sunset: Life, Death, Love, Art, and Scandal at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont |edition=First Anchor Books |location=New York |publisher=Anchor Books |isbn=978-0-525-43566-2 |oclc=1111699686}}</ref> | ||
==In the 1960s== | ==In the 1960s== | ||
[[File:Lead Photo For Go-go boot0-6405956067610532.JPG|thumb|Go-go boot]] | [[File:Lead Photo For Go-go boot0-6405956067610532.JPG|thumb|Go-go boot]] | ||
On 19 June 1964, [[Carol Doda]] began go-go dancing [[Toplessness|topless]] at the [[Condor Club]] on Broadway and Columbus in the [[North Beach, San Francisco|North Beach]] neighborhood of [[San 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=O5UtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4p8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=6003%2C6201208|title=For Doing Her Part in Canadian Nationalism|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=31 December 1966|page=41 of 52|via=Google newspapers}}</ref> In general, however, go-go dancers in the 1960s did not work topless.<ref>{{cite book|title=Girl Culture: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LLbZ8Q2PFb8C&pg=PA330|first1=Claudia|last1=Mitchell|first2=Jacqueline|last2=Reid-Walsh|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|date=2007|isbn=9780313339080|page=330}}</ref> | On 19 June 1964, [[Carol Doda]] began go-go dancing [[Toplessness|topless]] at the [[Condor Club]] on Broadway and Columbus in the [[North Beach, San Francisco|North Beach]] neighborhood of [[San 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=O5UtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4p8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=6003%2C6201208|title=For Doing Her Part in Canadian Nationalism|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|date=31 December 1966|page=41 of 52|via=Google newspapers}}</ref> In general, however, go-go dancers in the 1960s did not work topless.<ref>{{cite book|title=Girl Culture: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LLbZ8Q2PFb8C&pg=PA330|first1=Claudia|last1=Mitchell|first2=Jacqueline|last2=Reid-Walsh|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|date=2007|isbn=9780313339080|page=330}}</ref> | ||
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Go-go discotheques began to open across the United States.<ref name=Baugess-DeBolt/> In 1967 an article in ''[[Newsweek]]'' estimated that there were 8000 go-go dancers working in the US, aged mostly between 18 and 21.{{sfnp|Mitchell|Reid-Walsh|2007|page=330}} The majority of go-go dancers in the [[New York metropolitan area]] were migrants from Brazil.<ref>{{cite book|title=Street Therapists: Race, Affect, and Neoliberal Personhood in Latino Newark|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gzmPhtmRZiAC&pg=PA359|first=Ana Y.|last=Ramos-Zayas|publisher=University of Chicago Press|date=2012|isbn=9780226703633|page=359}}</ref> Go-go dancing was generally performed to recorded music rather than a live band.<ref name=Curtis>{{cite magazine|magazine=Texas Monthly|date=August 1974|title=Pappy's Girls|author=Gregory Curtis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TCwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA74|page=74}}</ref> The go-go dancers danced on tables, in cages, on dance floors<ref name=Ebony>{{cite magazine|magazine=Ebony|title=Á Go-Go Girls|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kUBLURuzOxEC&pg=PA143|date=April 1966|volume=21|issue=6|issn=0012-9011|page=143}}</ref> or on small go-go stages.<ref name=Curtis/> Their role was to entertain the audience and demonstrate dance moves.<ref name=Ebony/> Many dancers hoped that go-go dancing would provide them a way into [[show business]].<ref name=Baugess-DeBolt/> Others simply earned money while travelling around the US as part of the [[counterculture of the 1960s]].<ref name=Curtis/> Earnings from go-go dancing in the mid-1960s were around $125–$200 per week.<ref name=Baugess-DeBolt/> | Go-go discotheques began to open across the United States.<ref name=Baugess-DeBolt/> In 1967 an article in ''[[Newsweek]]'' estimated that there were 8000 go-go dancers working in the US, aged mostly between 18 and 21.{{sfnp|Mitchell|Reid-Walsh|2007|page=330}} The majority of go-go dancers in the [[New York metropolitan area]] were migrants from Brazil.<ref>{{cite book|title=Street Therapists: Race, Affect, and Neoliberal Personhood in Latino Newark|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gzmPhtmRZiAC&pg=PA359|first=Ana Y.|last=Ramos-Zayas|publisher=University of Chicago Press|date=2012|isbn=9780226703633|page=359}}</ref> Go-go dancing was generally performed to recorded music rather than a live band.<ref name=Curtis>{{cite magazine|magazine=Texas Monthly|date=August 1974|title=Pappy's Girls|author=Gregory Curtis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TCwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA74|page=74}}</ref> The go-go dancers danced on tables, in cages, on dance floors<ref name=Ebony>{{cite magazine|magazine=Ebony|title=Á Go-Go Girls|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kUBLURuzOxEC&pg=PA143|date=April 1966|volume=21|issue=6|issn=0012-9011|page=143}}</ref> or on small go-go stages.<ref name=Curtis/> Their role was to entertain the audience and demonstrate dance moves.<ref name=Ebony/> Many dancers hoped that go-go dancing would provide them a way into [[show business]].<ref name=Baugess-DeBolt/> Others simply earned money while travelling around the US as part of the [[counterculture of the 1960s]].<ref name=Curtis/> Earnings from go-go dancing in the mid-1960s were around $125–$200 per week.<ref name=Baugess-DeBolt/> | ||
In Germany, ''[[Der Spiegel]]'', in an article on discotheque trends in April 1965, described the ''Scotch Kneipe'' and the ''Pussycat'' in [[Munich]] as the first discotheques in the country to feature go-go dancers performing in cages above the audience.<ref name="spiegel_04_1965">{{cite web |url=https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-46272248.html|title=Diskothek: Irre laut |trans-title=Discothèque: Insanely Loud |language=de |date=14 April 1965 |work=[[Der Spiegel]] |pages=150–151 | access-date=19 May 2020}}</ref> In Canada in 1967, a club in Montreal's | In Germany, ''[[Der Spiegel]]'', in an article on discotheque trends in April 1965, described the ''Scotch Kneipe'' and the ''Pussycat'' in [[Munich]] as the first discotheques in the country to feature go-go dancers performing in cages above the audience.<ref name="spiegel_04_1965">{{cite web |url=https://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-46272248.html|title=Diskothek: Irre laut |trans-title=Discothèque: Insanely Loud |language=de |date=14 April 1965 |work=[[Der Spiegel]] |pages=150–151 | access-date=19 May 2020}}</ref> 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 club]]s. The dancers initially wore [[pasties]] but over the years the amount of nudity shown increased.<ref>{{cite book|title=Organizing for Sex Workers' Rights in Montréal: Resistance and Advocacy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m6nODwAAQBAJ&pg=PA34|first=Francine|last=Tremblay|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|date=2020|isbn=9781498593908|page=34}}</ref> | ||
===Television and media=== | ===Television and media=== | ||
Go-go dancers were employed as background dancers accompanying performances (real or lip-synced) by [[rock and roll]] bands on teen music programs in the mid-1960s. ''[[Hullabaloo (TV series)|Hullabaloo]]'' was a musical variety series that ran on [[NBC]] from 12 January 1965 | Go-go dancers were employed as background dancers accompanying performances (real or lip-synced) by [[rock and roll]] bands on teen music programs in the mid-1960s. ''[[Hullabaloo (TV series)|Hullabaloo]]'' was a musical variety series that ran on [[NBC]] from 12 January 1965 to 29 August 1966. ''The Hullabaloo Dancers''—a team of four men and six women—appeared on a regular basis. Another female dancer, model/actress [[Lada Edmund, Jr.]], was best known as the caged "go-go girl" dancer in the ''Hullabaloo A-Go-Go'' segment near the closing sequence of the show. Other dance TV shows during this period such as [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s ''[[Shindig!]]'' (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 (TV series)|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.<ref>{{cite web|website=MeTV|location=Chicago|date=2 October 2015|title=Shindig, Shivaree, Hullabaloo and the great rock & roll shows of 1965|url=https://www.metv.com/lists/shindig-shivaree-hullabaloo-and-the-great-rock-roll-shows-of-1965}}</ref> Each show of the period had a particular method of bringing the go-go dancers into camera view. | ||
Go-go dancing became the subject of 1960s pop songs such as "Little Miss Go-Go" (1965) by [[Gary Lewis & the Playboys]] and "[[Going to a Go-Go (song)|Going to a Go-Go]]" (1965) by [[the Miracles]].{{sfnp|Mitchell|Reid-Walsh|2007|page=329}} | |||
==In the 1970s and after== | ==In the 1970s and after== | ||
During the 1970s discotheques became less popular and few nightclubs employed go-go dancers. Opportunities for go-go dancing work mainly continued at strip clubs where the audience was all male.{{sfnp|Mitchell|Reid-Walsh|2007|page=330}} Most of the strip clubs in the 1970s abandoned traditional [[burlesque]] striptease in favour of live [[sex show]]s and go-go dancing which was performed topless<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Between illusion and the studied art of the tease, strip clubs are the last bastion of the American Dream|url=https://www.documentjournal.com/2023/01/between-illusion-and-the-studied-art-of-the-tease-strip-clubs-are-the-last-bastion-of-the-american-dream/|magazine=Document Journal|first=Rachel Rabbit|last=White|date=3 January 2023}}</ref> or naked.{{sfnp|Mitchell|Reid-Walsh|2007|page=330}} | |||
During the 1970s discotheques became less popular and few nightclubs employed go-go dancers. Opportunities for go-go dancing work mainly continued at | |||
However, in the late 1970s, there was a nightclub at 128 West 45th Street (the same location where the Peppermint Lounge had been) in [[Manhattan]], New York City, called ''G.G. Barnum's Room'', patronized largely by [[transgender]] women, that had male go-go dancers who danced on [[trapeze]]s above a net over the dance floor.<ref>Miezitis, Vida ''Night 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</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.disco-disco.com/clubs/identify-clubs.shtml |title=Identify these NYC Clubs |publisher=Disco-disco.com |access-date=13 June 2015}}</ref> | However, in the late 1970s, there was a nightclub at 128 West 45th Street (the same location where the Peppermint Lounge had been) in [[Manhattan]], New York City, called ''G.G. Barnum's Room'', patronized largely by [[transgender]] women, that had male go-go dancers who danced on [[trapeze]]s above a net over the dance floor.<ref>Miezitis, Vida ''Night 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</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.disco-disco.com/clubs/identify-clubs.shtml |title=Identify these NYC Clubs |publisher=Disco-disco.com |access-date=13 June 2015}}</ref> | ||
In 1978, the [[Xenon (nightclub)|Xenon]] night club in Manhattan became the first night club to provide go-go boxes for amateur go-go dancers to dance on.<ref>Anthony Haden-Guest ''The Last Party: Studio 54, Disco, and the Culture of the Night'' New York:1997 William Morrow Co. See numerous references to Xenon in the index</ref> | In 1978, the [[Xenon (nightclub)|Xenon]] night club in Manhattan became the first night club to provide go-go boxes for amateur go-go dancers to dance on.<ref>Anthony Haden-Guest ''The Last Party: Studio 54, Disco, and the Culture of the Night'' New York:1997 William Morrow Co. See numerous references to Xenon in the index</ref> | ||
During the 1980s go-go dancing continued in strip clubs and [[peep show]]s. Lawmakers in some [[Jurisdiction (area)|jurisdiction]]s passed regulations prohibiting nude dancing, requiring go-go dancers to wear | During the 1980s go-go dancing continued in strip clubs and [[peep show]]s. Lawmakers in some [[Jurisdiction (area)|jurisdiction]]s passed regulations prohibiting nude dancing, requiring go-go dancers to wear pasties and a [[G-string]]. These laws were challenged under the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution]] using the argument that naked go-go dancing qualifies as [[free speech]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Raw Judicial Power?: The Supreme Court and American Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D-nBAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA234|first=Robert J.|last=McKeever|publisher=Manchester University Press|date=1995|isbn=9780719048739|page=234}}</ref> | ||
Musical styles such as [[techno]], [[house music]] and [[trance music]] appeared during the 1990s as part of underground [[rave]] culture. 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 at [[music festival]]s and nightclubs to encourage the crowd to dance.<ref name=Glass/> | [[File:Bui Vien Street, Ho Chi Minh City, at night, 2023 (17).jpg|thumb|right|alt=Go-go dancers outside a nightclub|Go-go dancers outside a nightclub in [[Ho Chi Minh City]], Vietnam, in 2023]] | ||
Musical styles such as [[techno]], [[house music]] and [[trance music]] appeared during the 1990s as part of underground [[rave]] culture. 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 at [[music festival]]s and nightclubs to encourage the crowd to dance. In the 21st century professional go-go dancers, mostly female, are paid to dance at these events in elaborate, brightly coloured costumes.<ref name=Glass/> They are sometimes called performance art dancers.<ref>"A Revival of Go-Go Dancers". ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' 12 July 1991, People section page B3</ref> | |||
Today, go-go dancing has also found an outlet in mass media. [[ | 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. | ||
In [[Russia]], in the 2013 elections the [[Civilian Power]] party put forward four female go-go dancers as candidates for [[deputies]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tol.arriva.ru/publications/news/19928/|title=Из go-go в депутаты Тольятти: продолжение|language=ru|trans-title=From go-go to deputies of Tolyatti: continued|publisher=Arriva.ru|last=Privolnov|first=Sergey|access-date=13 June 2015|archive-date=5 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905083726/http://tol.arriva.ru/publications/news/19928/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=ЗАО ИД «Комсомольская правда» |url=http://www.samara.kp.ru/daily/26118/3012669/ |title=В тольяттинскую гордуму баллотируются go-go танцовщицы |date=13 August 2013 |newspaper=Samara.kp.ru |access-date=13 June 2015}}</ref> | In [[Russia]], in the 2013 elections the [[Civilian Power]] party put forward four female go-go dancers as candidates for [[Deputy (legislator)|deputies]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tol.arriva.ru/publications/news/19928/|title=Из go-go в депутаты Тольятти: продолжение|language=ru|trans-title=From go-go to deputies of Tolyatti: continued|publisher=Arriva.ru|last=Privolnov|first=Sergey|access-date=13 June 2015|archive-date=5 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905083726/http://tol.arriva.ru/publications/news/19928/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=ЗАО ИД «Комсомольская правда» |url=http://www.samara.kp.ru/daily/26118/3012669/ |title=В тольяттинскую гордуму баллотируются go-go танцовщицы |date=13 August 2013 |newspaper=Samara.kp.ru |access-date=13 June 2015 |language=ru}}</ref> | ||
== | ==LGBTQ== | ||
[[File:Go-go boys.jpg|thumb|Go-go boys at the June 2008 [[Chicago 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.<ref name=BAR>"Going to a Go Go: Up Close with the Dancers and the Dance". ''[[Bay Area Reporter]]'' Thursday, 2 May 1991, "Arts and Entertainment" section Pages 29–30</ref> In the early 1980s New York's gay [[The Anvil (gay club)|Anvil club]] featured go-go dancers and [[drag show]]s.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sY4BDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT260|title=Life and Death on the New York Dance Floor, 1980–1983|first=Tim|last=Lawrence|publisher=Duke University Press|date=2016|isbn=9780822373926|page=260}}</ref> By the 1990s go-go dancing was taking place in the city's lesbian bars and clubs<ref>{{cite book|title=Impossible Dance: Club Culture and Queer World-Making|first=Fiona|last=Buckland|publisher=Wesleyan University Press|date=2012|isbn=9780819570543|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o3Dz_fwOQ5kC&pg=PA114|page=114}}</ref> and male go-go dancers had become fashionable again at gay clubs in big US cities.<ref name=BAR/> | |||
During the early 2010s, the City of [[West Hollywood]] celebrated the history and culture of go-go dancing by hosting an annual "Go-Go Boy Appreciation Day" that included a street festival and competition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/11/03/west-hollywood-starts-voting-for-go-go-dancer-appreciation-day/ |title=West Hollywood Starts Voting For Go-Go Dancer Appreciation Day |publisher=CBS Los Angeles |date=3 November 2013 |access-date=13 June 2015}}</ref> The event also served to promote West Hollywood as a gay destination.<ref>{{cite web|title=Real Story Behind West Hollywood Go-Go Dancer Appreciation Day Festival and Competition|url=https://thebluntpost.com/real-story-behind-west-hollywood-gogo-dancer-appreciation-day-festival-competition/|first=Vic|last=Gerami|access-date=11 November 2025|website=The Blunt Times}}</ref> | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
*[[Erotic dance | * [[Erotic dance]] | ||
* [[Go-go bar]] | |||
*[[Go-go bar]] | * [[Pole dance]] | ||
*[[Pole dance]] | * [[Stripper]] | ||
*[[Stripper]] | |||
===Film depictions=== | ===Film depictions=== | ||
*''[[Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!]]'' (1965) | * ''[[Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!]]'' (1965) | ||
*''[[Monster a Go-Go|Monster a Go-Go!]]'' (1965) | * ''[[Monster a Go-Go|Monster a Go-Go!]]'' (1965) | ||
*''[[Girl in Gold Boots]]'' (1968) | * ''[[Girl in Gold Boots]]'' (1968) | ||
*''[[Go Go Tales]]'' (2007) | * ''[[Go Go Tales]]'' (2007) | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
| Line 67: | Line 64: | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
{{ | {{Commons category}} | ||
{{ | {{Wiktionary|go-go}} | ||
* [http://www.sixtiescity.net/Culture/dance.htm "Sixties Dances and Dance Crazes"] | * [http://www.sixtiescity.net/Culture/dance.htm "Sixties Dances and Dance Crazes"]—The origin of go-go dancing, with step-by-step instruction | ||
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150112092513/http://www.tofu-magazine.net/newVersion/pages/gogogo.html ''Go! Go! Go!''] by Marie Menken (1964 | * [https://web.archive.org/web/20150112092513/http://www.tofu-magazine.net/newVersion/pages/gogogo.html ''Go! Go! Go!''] by Marie Menken (1964; archived 12 January 2015) | ||
{{DEFAULTSORT:Go-Go Dancing}} | {{DEFAULTSORT:Go-Go Dancing}} | ||
[[Category:1960s fads and trends]] | |||
[[Category:Erotic dance]] | [[Category:Erotic dance]] | ||
Latest revision as of 11:40, 1 January 2026
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Go-go dancers are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at nightclubs[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 of Juan-les-Pins. The French bar then licensed its name to the West Hollywood rock club Whisky a Go Go, which opened in January 1964 and chose the name to reflect the already popular craze of go-go dancing.[2] Many 1960s-era nightclub dancers wore short, fringed skirts and high boots which eventually came to be called go-go boots. Nightclub promoters in the mid‑1960s then conceived the idea of hiring women dressed in these outfits to entertain patrons.
Etymology
The term go-go derives from the phrase "go-go-go" for a high-energy person,[3] and was influenced by the French expression à gogo, meaning "in abundance, galore",[4] which is in turn derived from the ancient French word la gogue for "joy, happiness".[5] The term go-go dancer originated from the French bar Whisky a Gogo located in Juan-les-Pins, a seaside town near Cannes, 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. The bar's name was taken from the French title of the Scottish comedy film Whisky Galore![6]
In the 1960s
On 19 June 1964, Carol Doda began go-go dancing topless at the Condor Club on Broadway and Columbus in the North Beach neighborhood of San 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.[7] In general, however, go-go dancers in the 1960s did not work topless.[8]
In 1964 the Los Angeles–based club Whisky a Go Go began suspending go-go dancers above the audience in glass cages.[9] Located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, the club hired scantily clad dancers wearing knee-high vinyl go-go boots (or occasionally the Courrèges boots which inspired them) and mini skirts or mini flapper dresses.[10]Template:Sfnp The club began to hire go-go dancers regularly in July 1965.
Go-go discotheques began to open across the United States.[10] In 1967 an article in Newsweek estimated that there were 8000 go-go dancers working in the US, aged mostly between 18 and 21.Template:Sfnp The majority of go-go dancers in the New York metropolitan area were migrants from Brazil.[11] Go-go dancing was generally performed to recorded music rather than a live band.[12] The go-go dancers danced on tables, in cages, on dance floors[13] or on small go-go stages.[12] Their role was to entertain the audience and demonstrate dance moves.[13] Many dancers hoped that go-go dancing would provide them a way into show business.[10] Others simply earned money while travelling around the US as part of the counterculture of the 1960s.[12] Earnings from go-go dancing in the mid-1960s were around $125–$200 per week.[10]
In Germany, Der Spiegel, in an article on discotheque trends in April 1965, described the Scotch Kneipe and the Pussycat in Munich as the first discotheques in the country to feature go-go dancers performing in cages above the audience.[14] 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.[15]
Television and media
Go-go dancers were employed as background dancers accompanying performances (real or lip-synced) by rock and roll bands on teen music programs in the mid-1960s. Hullabaloo was a musical variety series that ran on NBC from 12 January 1965 to 29 August 1966. The Hullabaloo Dancers—a team of four men and six women—appeared on a regular basis. Another female dancer, model/actress Lada Edmund, Jr., was best known as the caged "go-go girl" dancer in the Hullabaloo A-Go-Go segment near the closing sequence of the show. Other dance TV shows during this period such as ABC's Shindig! (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.[16] Each show of the period had a particular method of bringing the go-go dancers into camera view.
Go-go dancing became the subject of 1960s pop songs such as "Little Miss Go-Go" (1965) by Gary Lewis & the Playboys and "Going to a Go-Go" (1965) by the Miracles.Template:Sfnp
In the 1970s and after
During the 1970s discotheques became less popular and few nightclubs employed go-go dancers. Opportunities for go-go dancing work mainly continued at strip clubs where the audience was all male.Template:Sfnp Most of the strip clubs in the 1970s abandoned traditional burlesque striptease in favour of live sex shows and go-go dancing which was performed topless[17] or naked.Template:Sfnp
However, in the late 1970s, there was a nightclub at 128 West 45th Street (the same location where the Peppermint Lounge had been) in Manhattan, New York City, called G.G. Barnum's Room, patronized largely by transgender women, that had male go-go dancers who danced on trapezes above a net over the dance floor.[18][19] In 1978, the Xenon night club in Manhattan became the first night club to provide go-go boxes for amateur go-go dancers to dance on.[20]
During the 1980s go-go dancing continued in strip clubs and peep shows. Lawmakers in some jurisdictions passed regulations prohibiting nude dancing, requiring go-go dancers to wear pasties and a G-string. These laws were challenged under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution using the argument that naked go-go dancing qualifies as free speech.[21]
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Musical styles such as techno, house music and trance music appeared during the 1990s as part of underground rave culture. 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 at music festivals and nightclubs to encourage the crowd to dance. In the 21st century professional go-go dancers, mostly female, are paid to dance at these events in elaborate, brightly coloured costumes.[9] They are sometimes called performance art dancers.[22]
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.
In Russia, in the 2013 elections the Civilian Power party put forward four female go-go dancers as candidates for deputies.[23][24]
LGBTQ
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.[25] In the early 1980s New York's gay Anvil club featured go-go dancers and drag shows.[26] By the 1990s go-go dancing was taking place in the city's lesbian bars and clubs[27] and male go-go dancers had become fashionable again at gay clubs in big US cities.[25]
During the early 2010s, the City of West Hollywood celebrated the history and culture of go-go dancing by hosting an annual "Go-Go Boy Appreciation Day" that included a street festival and competition.[28] The event also served to promote West Hollywood as a gay destination.[29]
See also
Film depictions
- Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)
- Monster a Go-Go! (1965)
- Girl in Gold Boots (1968)
- Go Go Tales (2007)
References
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- ↑ Mish, Frederic C., Editor in Chief Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary Springfield, Massachusetts, 1984--Merriam-Webster Page 525
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- ↑ Le Petit Robert: GOGO (À), 1440; de l'a. fr. gogue "réjouissance"
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- ↑ Miezitis, Vida Night 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
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- ↑ Anthony Haden-Guest The Last Party: Studio 54, Disco, and the Culture of the Night New York:1997 William Morrow Co. See numerous references to Xenon in the index
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- ↑ "A Revival of Go-Go Dancers". San Francisco Chronicle 12 July 1991, People section page B3
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- ↑ a b "Going to a Go Go: Up Close with the Dancers and the Dance". Bay Area Reporter Thursday, 2 May 1991, "Arts and Entertainment" section Pages 29–30
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External links
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- "Sixties Dances and Dance Crazes"—The origin of go-go dancing, with step-by-step instruction
- Go! Go! Go! by Marie Menken (1964; archived 12 January 2015)