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Go-Go dancers are dancers who are "employed to entertain at a discotheque"^[1]. Go-go dancing originated in the early 1960s when women at the Peppermint Lounge in New York City began to get up on tables and dance the twist. ^[2] There were many 1960s-era miniskirted clubgoers who wore what came to be called go-go boots to night clubs, so night club promoters in the mid 1960s conceived the idea of hiring them to entertain the patrons.

Contents 1 Etymology 2 Early evolution of go-go dancing in the 1960s 3 Gay go-go dancers 4 Performance art dancers 5 Go-Go dancing since the 1970s 6 References 7 See also 8 External links

The etymology of Go-Go may be the noun go, one of whose meanings is "power of going, energy, vigor". Or it may come from the names of the nightclubs, which ultimately come from the French à gogo, meaning "in abundance, galore". The word "gogo" also means "night" in Japanese, so literally a "Go-Go dancer" is one who dances at night.

On 19 June 1964, Carol Doda began go-go dancing topless (after having had her breasts treated with silicone to enlarge them) at the Condor Club on Broadway and Columbus in the North Beach neighborhod of San Francisco. She became the world's most famous go-go dancer, dancing at the Condor for 22 years.

Go-go dancers began to be hired on a regular basis at the Whisky a Go Go on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood in the Los Angeles area in July 1965. The Whisky a Go Go was also the first go-go club to have go-go cages suspended from the ceiling (they were there from the very beginning in 1965).

The phrase Go-Go was adopted by bars in the 1960s in Tokyo, Japan. It was of lesser reputation until it was abandoned by a majority of clubs and appropriated by burlesque and striptease establishments, which in turn became known as go-go bars and the women working there known as Go-Go dancers. During the Vietnam War there were many go-go bars in Saigon, South Vietnam to entertain U.S. troops. A synonym used in Vietnam for go-go dancers is table dancer.

Many Gay clubs had male go-go dancers (called go-go boys) during the period 1965-1968. After that, few gay clubs had go-go dancers until 1988, when go-go dancing again became fashionable at gay clubs (and has remained so ever since).

Go-Go dancers that perform at night clubs, special parties, circuit parties or rave dances in colorful bright costumes (which may include glow sticks, light chasers, toy ray guns that light up, or strings of battery operated lights), with fire sticks, or with a snake are called performance art dancers. In the early to mid 1980s, the performance art dancer John Sex, who performed with a python, played a role in making go-go dancing popular once again at gay and bisexual night clubs.

There were many go-go bars in Thailand during the Vietnam War and they continued (on a smaller scale) after the war ended. By the 1980s, Thailand was a leading center for the sex industry and this industry has been one of Thailand's prime tourist attractions ever since. Many go-go bars are located in the Patpong neighborhood of Bangkok, Thailand

Not very many nightclubs had go-go dancers in the 1970s. However, in the late 1970s, there was a nightclub in Manhattan called G.G. Barnum's, patronized mostly by transsexuals, that had male go-go dancers who danced on trapezes above a net over the dance floor. 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. This got many people interested in go-go dancing.

In the early 1980s go-go dancing again became popular in New York City clubs inspired by the music of Madonna. Madonna included go-go dancers in her MTV music videos. By the late 1980s, go-go dancing had spread once more to night clubs throughout the Western world and East Asia.

Go-Go dancing has made a comeback in recent years, particularly on the West Coast of the United States and Hawaii. Models such as Christine Mendoza, Sasha Singleton and Jeri Lee have made Go-Go appearances in cities that host Import Tuners Shows (like HIN, Driven To Perform DTP, and NOPI). In Honolulu, Go-Go dancing is in full swing at various nightclubs like O Lounge, Venus Nightclub and Fashion 45. Club 939, a strip club, turns into a Go-Go only night on Sundays. The gay night club Hula's in the Waikiki Beach area has male go-go dancers. As it was in the beginning, go-go dancers usually do not strip, but sometimes receive tips.

1. ^ Mish, Frederic C., Editor in Chief Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary Springfield, Massachuetts, U.S.A.:1984--Merriam-Webster Page 525
2. ^ Video, The Twist (A film by Ron Mann) 1993

• Discothèque

• "Go-Go Dancers" in Dancer Magazine
• Go-Go clubs and dancers of Honolulu at islandsizzle.com