How Does a Showgirl Spend a Workday?
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General Overview
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A showgirl is a professional dancer who entertains audiences in stage revues. The term also refers to young women who model in trade shows and bring attention to the sponsors' products by dressing provocatively. Showgirls are known for their outrageous and flashy costumes and elaborate stage routines. In places such as Paris, France and Las Vegas, Nevada, showgirls are extremely popular, with many establishments offering nightly performances.
Earlier in the Workday
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Early in the day, a showgirl spends the workday in rehearsals for the upcoming show, usually later in the evening. The morning before the show, the showgirls spend a few minutes doing stretching exercises to warm up the muscles and prevent injuries. This is followed by learning and perfecting the dance routines to be performed later in the show. Rehearsing new and old routines takes several hours of the workday for a showgirl. Lastly, a dress rehearsal takes place as the showgirls perform the routine in full costume. A showgirl who works at trade shows spends the entire workday standing near a sponsor's products in a bathing suit or gown and encouraging people to stop by to learn more about the product. Most showgirls of this type work at car or boat trade shows.
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Late Workday and Performance
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The later workday for a showgirl consists of preparing for the night's performance. The showgirl must report backstage a few hours before the show in order to get fitted for her costume, get her hair done and apply her makeup. Once the show begins, the showgirl's job is to put on a great performance. Depending on the caliber of the show, the showgirl may perform in a chorus line, parade across the stage displaying the elaborate costumes, perform a choreographed dance, perform a provocative dance that involves stripping off her clothing or give a performance that involves heavy acrobatics and gymnastics. Most showgirls perform either every day of the week or a few select days like the weekend, when more people tend to go out to watch shows.
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- Photo Credit http://www.usm.maine.edu/~susanp/current_images/follies%20showgirl%20for%20webpage.jpg
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Comments
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lary-oly
Aug 31, 2010
...strippers, who also have to do their own hair & make-up. To repeat: Your article describes a day in the life of a stripper, not a showgirl. Please change the photo and the title to reflect this. -
lary-oly
Aug 31, 2010
...the costumes and would greatly shorten their life. It's hard enough on them to be used in two performances a day. The standard is usually to have a weekly rehearsal to smooth out any bits that need work. There will also be periodic additional rehearsals, on an as-needed basis. Also, costume fittings are not a daily thing either. Once the costume is fit to the dancer, it doesn't need to be re-fitted every day. Real showgirls do not have to show up several hours before a show to get their hair & make-up done, be fitted, etc. They arrive about 2 hours before showtime, to do ballet, tap, & jazz warm-ups. Then, they do their own hair (in a bun, to accommodate the headdresses & hairpieces, and to create a uniform look amongst all performers) and their own make-up. There are no hairdressers & make-up artists to do it for them. This is one thing they have in common with...
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lary-oly
Aug 31, 2010
First of all, there is a BIG difference between a proper showgirl, and a stripper. The movie "Showgirls" is responsible for this confusion, as it caused many strippers to refer to themselves as "showgirls". A day in the life of a REAL showgirl, is NOT what you describe in your article. Your article describes a day in the life of a stripper. A day in the life a real showgirl, in a big Vegas show like "Jubilee" is very different. They perform two shows a night, every day but Friday (when there is no show). Each show lasts for 1 hour & 40 minutes, with no intermission. Each performer has 10 costume changes---and some changes must be done in under 3 minutes, including the dashes up & down 2 flights of stairs to the dressing room. They don't have rehearsals every day, and they certainly don't have DRESS rehearsals every day. For one thing, it would mean additional wear & tear on...
