Editing Go-go dancing

{{short description|Form of nightclub entertainment}}
{{distinguish|text=[[Go-go]], an unrelated subgenre of funk music}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{more citations needed|date = April 2020}}
[[File:Gogo_Dancer_Cherry_Lei_by_Photocyclone.jpg|thumb|Modern go-go dancer Cherry Lei at ''The Fix'', in [[Honolulu]], [[Hawaii]] in 2014]]
[[File:Lead Photo For Go-go boot0-6405956067610532.JPG|thumb|Go-go boot]]

'''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 bar's name was taken from the French title of the Scottish comedy film ''[[Whisky Galore! (1949 film)|Whisky Galore!]]''&thinsp;<ref>{{Cite book|last=Levy|first=Shawn|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1111699686|title=The castle on Sunset : life, death, love, art, and scandal at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont|date=2020|isbn=978-0-525-43566-2|edition=First Anchor books|location=New York|oclc=1111699686}}</ref> 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<ref name=Baugess-DeBolt>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the Sixties: A Decade of Culture and Counterculture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JscEZeXBsZYC&pg=PA253|editor1-first=James S.|editor1-last=Baugess|editor2-first=Abbe Allen|editor2-last=DeBolt|publisher=ABC-CLIO|date=2011|isbn=9780313329449|page=253}}</ref> 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==
The term ''go-go'' derives from the phrase "go-go-go" for a high-energy girl,<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 &#124; 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.

==In the 1960s==
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>

In 1964 the [[Los Angeles Metropolitan Area|Los Angeles]]–based club [[Whisky a Go Go]] began suspending go-go dancers above the audience in glass cages.<ref name=Glass>{{cite news|title=Go-Go Dancer Shares Secrets From the Platform|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/go-go-dancer-shares-secret-from-the-platform_b_3049522|website=Huffington Post|first=Nicole|last=Glass|date=10 April 2013}}</ref> 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 boot]]s which inspired them) and mini skirts or mini [[flapper dress]]es.{{sfnp|Mitchell|Reid-Walsh|2007|page=328–330}} The club began to hire go-go dancers regularly in July 1965.

Go-go discotheques began to open across the United nations
.<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  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.<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===
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 – 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,&nbsp;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.

British go-go dancer Sandy Sarjeant became popular performing on the [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] music show ''[[Ready Steady Go!]]''.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

The US TV crime drama series ''[[Honey West (TV series)|Honey West]]'' (1965–1966) included an episode called "The Princess and the Paupers" which featured a go-go dancing sequence.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

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 gay clubs==
[[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 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> 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.<ref name=BAR/>{{bsn|reason=Outdated source, and likely never true to begin with.|date=March 2025}}

==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}}

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&nbsp;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 [[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/>

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.

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>
[[File:Go-Go Dancer.jpg|thumb|Go-go dancer at the Revolution Lounge, [[The Mirage]], [[Las Vegas]] in 2009.]]
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 in [[Magaluf]] or [[Ibiza]]). However, there are many companies that supply professionally trained dancers to nightclubs for podium work around the world.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

==Holidays and celebrations==
Currently, the City of [[West Hollywood]] celebrates the history and culture of go-go dancing by hosting an annual "Go-Go Boy Appreciation Day" that includes 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>

==Performance art dancers==
Go-go dancers that are hired to dance at night clubs, special parties, festivals, [[circuit parties]] or [[rave]] dances in bright, colorful costumes are called performance art dancers.<ref>"A Revival of Go-Go Dancers". ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' 12 July 1991, People section page B3</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.costumet.com/misc/go-go-dancer/|title=How to Make Go-Go Dancer's Costume|publisher=costumet.com|date= 6 July 2022|accessdate=2022-08-08}}</ref> {{bsn|reason=This is just an commercial site with no credibility, surely a cultural magazine has covered this?|date=March 2025}}Their costumes often include accessories such as [[glow stick]]s, light chasers, toy [[ray gun]]s that 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 dancing|fire sticks]], a musical instrument, or an animal (usually a snake). In the early to mid‑1980s, the performance art dancer [[John Sex]], who performed with a [[Pythonidae|python]], 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|date=March 2012}}

==See also==
*[[Erotic dance]]
*[[Fire performance]]
*[[Go-go bar]]
*[[Pole dance]]
*[[Stripper]]

===Film depictions===
*''[[Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!]]'' (1965)
*''[[Monster a Go-Go|Monster a Go-Go!]]'' (1965)
*''[[Girl in Gold Boots]]'' (1968)
*''[[Go Go Tales]]'' (2007)
*[[It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie|''It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie'']] (2002)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{wiktionary|go-go}}
* [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) (archived 12 January 2015)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Go-Go Dancing}}
[[Category:Erotic dance]]
[[Category:1960s fads and trends]]