The thought of taking your clothes off for a living tends to polarise opinions a little bit.
Many might be horrified, even judgemental, some might be excited, but deep down there’s probably a part in everyone which would love to seize the limelight and just give it a go, safe in the knowledge that nobody they know will ever find out.
Which might explain why travellers have as good as cornered the Aussie market. The chances of bumping into someone you know are as small as they’re going to get.
At table dancing club Men’s Gallery, 80 per cent of the dancers are travellers – and they’re looking for more.
“There is a high demand for dancers,” says recruiter Kylie Bridge. “We can never have enough girls with a variety of looks.”
And wait, before any of that “oh, but I couldn’t…”, listen to this.
“Earning capacity per shift could be as much as $1,000,” says Bridge, before adding that recent employee bonuses have included holidays to Fiji and Justin Timberlake tickets.
“The girls can make a great earning to support their future travels. Some girls buddy up and travel or live together.”
But while the money is incredible, there’s no getting away from the fact that stripping in front of people can be damn scary. However it’s a situation the clubs are more than used to.
“It is a normal response to be nervous,” says Bridge. “We have a system whereby all new dancers are buddied up with another dancer.”
There’s also plenty of training on offer, while tight security and strict “no touching” policies help create a safe environment. Time to start practising those dance steps?
