Lap dancing night is ‘just good clean fun’

LAP dancing came to Guernsey for the first time last night.

A dancer gyrates at Rogues last night. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0416001)
A troupe of 15 professional dancers entertained a sell-out crowd of hundreds at Rogues.
The girls from the Laptastic agency are used to dancing for the rich and famous all over Europe but all were in the island for the first time.
Police said this morning the event had been trouble-free and they had received no complaints.
Some pole dancing girls went topless – others kept their clothing on.
The lap dancing was conducted in private sessions for extra payment on top of the £20 admission.
‘I came out of curiosity – I was interested to see how it works. I think it’s a good idea – it’s an interesting concept,’ said Deputy John Gollop.
‘It perhaps needs a weekend audience. I think it’s quite expensive and the Guernsey punter does not like to be approached all night trying to get him to spend more money.
‘I’m not sure it works just as a lads-only thing, but it could attract more stag parties to the island.’
Trev Le Marchant, 22, who went to Rogues with a friend, said: ‘We came in here for a laugh. It’s a one-off opportunity that we could not miss. I think Guernsey needs more nights like this.
‘It’s good, clean fun and there was no harm in it. I feel there were a lot of people who were nervous to come to this but I’m sure they would have had a good time if they had.’
One local girl, who did not wish to be named, took her boyfriend to the event.
‘I came to treat my boyfriend and I wanted to see what it was like for myself. It’s not as trashy as I thought and it’s not offensive to women,’ she said.
But not everybody was happy with the women coming to the island.
Harshest critic was 19-year-old filing administrator Rebecca Norman.
‘I don’t think you can put it up against the Chippendales because it’s a totally different situation and I’m completely opposed to lap dancing,’ she said before the show.
‘I don’t believe in any form of exploitation and that is what I believe it is. It angers me they are bringing it to such a parochial, traditional island.
‘It’s totally wrong to bring over 15 beautiful women to exploit them for men to gawp over. I just think it’s morally wrong,’ said Miss Norman.
She said yesterday she had intended taking photos of the men entering the club because she thought it was a seedy event.
‘I can’t believe 450 men will tell their wives and girlfriends that they are going to a lap dancing night tonight.’
She claimed the flyers ‘insinuate there will be naked ladies with no underwear’.
Miss Norman could not be contacted before going to press this morning.

* TOWN constables had no advance notice of the island’s first lap dancing event at Rogues last night.
Had they been, they would probably have insisted on the same criteria as for the Chippendales’ visit last year.
‘What we did with the Chippendales was ensure there was only 'entry for' over 18s and there was sufficient distance between the audience and performers,’ said senior constable Jenny Tasker.
‘Probably, had we had notice and been able to speak to the venue, we might have asked for the same criteria.
‘We would expect a distance between the performers and audience to ensure indecency did not occur.’
 

 Dundalk - December 2003

Just returned from 3 week stay in Dundalk & wanted to say thanks for your phone calls & support whilst i was out there. Dundalk itself is quiet during the day so it can be a little boring but its great for saving money cos there's not much to spend it on! The club itself was great to work in- nice atmosphere & good earnings potential for this time of year. Also the managers are probably the best I've ever worked for. I'd definitely recommend Dundalk to anyone who wants to work in Ireland.


hope this is ok. i won't be working for about a month now but I'm hoping to go to Norway in jan or feb next year, will let u know exact dates asap,

thanks :)

Sarah Kendric 

Dominican Republic – October 2003

When anyone asks me how the Dominican Republic was I say it was an experience. The beach was lovely that just about made up for the evenings. The club was full of prostitutes, that was the culture of the area, it is in the travel guides, Boca Chica is a big brothel. So we had no chance of making any money from day 1.

The owner of the club was a complete liar. At first we had to stay in his grotty house. For three days we had no running water and no electricity. After having to shower in the rain and washing in a bucket of cold water in the garden with the insane dog biting our ankles we asked to be moved to a hotel.

From there things improved slightly. We had a good week, went to the beach everyday and went and satin work at night, drank all the free alcohol and danced when asked to for our average £3 stage tips.

Of course we considered bailing out, everyday we dreamt of just going home, but we’d already paid out our £450 for the flight out there, half of which was due to be paid back at the end of our one month contract. We couldn’t really afford to pay out another £600 to pay for the flight home, it just wasn’t viable.

However soon Jason’s 2-week trip was up and we waved goodbye to a rather shaken up man. The owner of the club had not paid Jason his airfare, so immediately we started to get suspicious. So our day to leave grew nearer.

Tension was rising. We asked to be paid by Thursday night (we left Sunday) as we had souvenirs to buy. He said that wasn’t a problem, we were relived but still on our guard.

Thursday came and went, no money. Friday lunch we were give $200 each. He should have given us $321. We know this guy had no intentions of paying us anymore and would find anyway of getting out of it. All month we had basically worked for free, made him lots of business and he was considering not giving us our airfare. We weren’t happy bunnies.

That day it had rained heavily so the stage was soaking wet. l any dancer knows a stage and water do not match. So we refused to dance until it was dried, we asked for it to be counted as our night off. One lesson from this we all appreciate our homes and lifestyle no matter what we have,

Love Abi Silvester.