Dancer Archive

When I first created my character, I already had it set in my mind I wanted to be a dancer. I don't even remember my reasons, or if I even had reasons. I could have created a female,I have no problems playing a cross gender character. I both am glad I make that choice and regret it, but I won't get into that yet.

So I start out day 1 with a new entertainer. I know nothing about the game yet, so it takes me awhile to figure out I can flourish. I got my first tell asking to dance for someone that day. The tipped decently, 500cr.

The next day I rerolled on a different server that friends play on. Pretty much the same character. I get started dancing. After a few days, I encounter my first homophobic griefer. He is taken care of with little incident with the help of the other dancers. This was actually overall a morale booster for me, because I learned I can count on other entertainers to provide support.

The next dayI move to a different planet and find Theed. I'm almost to novice dancer at this point. I'm making friends with other dancers. Finally I get to novice, but I don't have the money to pay for it. Luckily a few of the dancers I made friends with were kind enough to cover most the cost for me. I also start to discover many of the annoyances in cantinas.

A couple weeks work, and I've maxxed out my knowledge line. I have exotic now, and so I use it. This is when I encountered my first real "dancers crisis" and almost quit the profession. The only thing that kept me was that I'd just landed a regular gig with a private cantina, and I didn't want to abandon that. The crisis occurred when I was showing off my skill to someone who had been a friend, and she told me I should never do exotic because I'm a guy. When I realized that the rest of the dances I got was lyrical again, then two new dances (In so much as they have different flourishes) that people don't think I should use because I'm a guy, it really started to make me question why I was a dancer.

I stuck through it, though I pretty much lost my taste for big cantinas. So the last bit of this took much longer than the first bit. I found there are people who appreciate a guy who can dance exotic. Even guys that appreciate it, and not because they are gay. At least, I don't think so. I dance whatever dance fits the music being played. If that happens to be exotic, so be it. I learned to deal with the negative comments. Some people don't appreciate it, but I don't dance for them, I dance for the ones who do.

Up to this point, my style was pretty flirty. The fun flirty that makes people feel good but doesn't actually mean anything. However, I ran into someone who took it wrong, and it made quite a difficult situation all around. I backed off a little bit on the flirtiness, and instead just smile at someone I don't know.

After much work, I finally reach master status with the help and support of many of my friends I've made along the way. I spent that whole day with an ear to ear grin on my face. I now hold a title that very few guys ever will. The whole day was wonderful.....

... until once again it came crashing down. I have a friend who likes to dance exotic with me. So I obliged her and we started dancing together. Then another dancer walks in and crinches at the sight. She mentioned in an OOC comment about the dance being based on something that is a female only dance that no guy should ever be doing. I couldn't just brush this off as another close minded person. So once again, there I am with my nice new Master Dancer title, wondering why.

Then it occurred to me why people are so hard on male dancers. The entire profession is sexist. The dances are almost all dances more intended for how your typical female would move. The only possible exceptions are poplock, whos style is possibly more male, and popular, which is at least passable for guys. Maybe footloose but I can't stand that dance enough to actually analyze it. Rhytmic I've learned not to like as well, and basic is somewhat femenine in it's movements as well. So if I want to stick to dances that are acceptable for guys, I get 2 dances, both of which can be done since novice dancer. Formal can be salvaged by equipping a big impressive looking sword. But it doesn't stop there. Not only am I limited to 2 dances, but my clothes selection is similarly limited. Go look at what tailors can make. Every single piece can be worn by women (Ignoring racial limitations), but there are entire skill boxes in tailoring where you get almost no clothes guys can wear. And the formula for clothes for guys is also very limited. Shirt, pants, jacket, maybe a cloak, gloves. Women get all that plus revealing tops, skirts, dresses, lekku wraps (For the twi'lek)various cuts of body suits/leotards (Guys can wear some body suits, but only ones that cover every inch of skin) and more.

Most the time I'm glad I didn't go with a female.. There are so many of them, but a guy who is a master dancer really stands out, even a twi'lek. But it is times like these I regret it, because I feel pressure to severely limit what part of my skills I can use. It would be like creature handlers being told they can only use chubas because it's not right to use other creatures.

This leaves me feeling like an afterthought. And whats more, I'm in a very small minority of guys who actually consider dancing, so the chance of my voice being heard, and something being done about it, is fairly small. Basically a feeling of being underappreciated and being powerless to do anything about it.

I did talk to the person whom started all this. She apologized for some of her comments, and told me where she was coming from. The exotic line obviously is inspired by various middle-eastern dances (Or "belly dances" as they are commonly known) and she was familiar with one specific one. I'm not familiar with it, but she mentioned that it is not accepted for guys to do this dance at all. However, it is not "the dance" that the exotics are based on, and there probably isn't any one dance.

Doing a bit of research on my own, I learned a little bit about middle eastern dances and guys doing them. Of course, it varies based on dance. A lot of the dances have to do with fertility rites and childbirth. This is the suspected to be the origin of many of this style of dance, even though many have different meanings now. As such, the dance is by it's nature feminine. However, a lot of them it is perfectly acceptable, even sometimes expected, for guys to do them. Furthermore, these dances are not sexual, and in fact treating them that way can be very offensive to some cultures. So me dancing exotic is no worse than how half the females dance exotic from that point of view. If you take it from the point of view that the dances are more based on the cabaret style western entertainment which has drawn influence from middle eastern dances, then there is still absolutely nothing wrong with a guy doing it.

So in the end, I feel more justified doing whatever dance I want. I'm not going to give up dancer.. It all comes down to aesthetics however, and theres no one formula to what people like to watch. I just wish I had more to work with, maybe a few new dance styles from traditional male dances as the counter point to the traditional female dance of exotic. Give those at Knowledge IV and master. Maybe we'll see that in the next MC session.

You are absolutely right. I play a male dancer on Flurry and have had many experiences very similar to yours. No tot mention the fact that I've only received about 2k credits in tips from my trip of Novice Entertainer to 1-3-2-1 Dancer.

GOOD FOR YOu

I have been a master dancer for about a month now. People say I should get crazy tips. The only way I make tips is demanding them in far out places.

I'm thinking of selling my skill points

There will always be those who think less of you for being what you are. There will be those who appreciate you. There are those who think the male body is ugly and should be hidden. Then there are those who appreciate it.

You need a thick skin to be a male dancer, you need to be able to shrug comments off and continue doing what you love to do. The only dances I dislike on a male are the exotics where the arms are overhead, and it's simply because it does not look realistic with muscular shoulders. Every other dance to me looks fine. Men dance ballet. Men also hula dance (which is what the exotics remind me of). Men can pull it off and look fantastic to the eye that appreciates the male form.

Both female and male dancers are subject to verbal abuse, just in different ways. Myself, I'd rather have to shrug off a person who thinks I look dumb while dancing than a person making unwanted sexual advances.

The worst part of your story is the part where another entertainer made a comment. I realize entertainers are just players too, but we rely on each other for support. I've had a few entertainers make similar comments, and it made me very sad. Very shallow of them to do that.

Keep up the good work, Tiaga, you are not alone.

- J

It's kind of funny.. In one cantina there are two dancers.. One is the one that doesn't like to see men doing exotic, but tries to get me in hot pants and a muscle shirt. The other is repulsed by that outfit, but wants me to dance exotic more. I guess the old adage is true, you can please some of the people some of the time.

The entertainer who made the comment about exotic did apologize and has since become a friend. She even lets me dance exotic now. *grin*

We as male dancers should demand more acceptable male dances, perhaps some super athletic break dancing type things and more advanced poplock, and perhaps some Gene Kelly or Fred Astair Style tap dancing, softshoe, broadway, and stuff like that. We also desperately need more choices in wardrope, like suits and formal wear, as well as some more revealing tanks, muscle shirts, and other things of that nature. We are just such as small number we cannot make our voices heard. It makes me sick.

"Up to this point, my style was pretty flirty. The fun flirty that makes people feel good but doesn't actually mean anything."

Being a male dancer is difficult. Trying to roleplay with other characters is an adventure unto itself. You never know if they're going to respond positively, or just completely freak out. And the dances don't help any. I don't object to the feminine aspect of the dances. Most are just fine, to me. But the fact that it doesn't have an equal masculine aspect is a bit irritating. It would be FAR less annoying if we had as many cool male-only clothes as female-only, but that inequality just pushes it more.Males should be able to show just as much skin as females. I demand loincloths and mesh shirts! hehe... (though this definitely wouldn't help the harassment issue)

I've been trying to figure out if they're attempting to attract more female players to the game by going "look! we've got girly things! We cater to you!" Though I know females who's opinion of that is more along the lines of "oh, so you put 'girly' aspects in the game in the dancing and clothes...way to oppress/objectify me."

But we just gotta keep at it. I always outweigh the good in situations rather than the bad. Don't change the way you do things because of a couple of closed-mindedignorants. (and the fact that one realized the error of their ways is a good sign that it's not all bad)

And we all know that StarWars would have been infinitely more popular with the ladies if there had been a hot male twi'lek dancing aboutin Jabba's palace instead of that hideous loomingBib Fortuna

I've had a good time male dancing...

Sure, i get my share of hobags who call me names and whatnot, but i have fun, meet new people, make clothes (master tailor/master dancer), and that's all that matters...

As for looking odd dancing, try wearing some "absurd" clothes - i play a blue rodian who wears orange, and it is awesome, and i've sorta trademarked myself, i'm easily recognized and have a good reputation. Don't be mr human male black duster no shirt black pants black boots. What fun is that? Wear hotpants, wear tactical skinsuits, you'd also be surprised how many skirts you can wear. Wear full composite armor while doing poplock and sing mr roboto.

Males aren't as easy to play granted, but i think they're a lot more interesting because you really can break the norms of dancing and nobody gives a **edit**.

Some of the traditional dances from different countries could be fun too.

Cossak dancing, Greek dances, Scottish saber dance, German folk dance, etc...

I would also love to be able to do partnered dancing, like ballroom.

The developers have plenty of material to draw from if they ever decide to help male dancers take a more masculine role.

here here fellas,

i agree. sorry i dont have a male char made, much less a male master dancer. but i dont care what dance u do or how u look as long as u can do ur job well and get me out of the cantina, hotel or what ever lickety split.

p.s. ya ya'll do need some more clothes. maybe make them a part of the uniform tree in tailor

Great write up, Tiaga. On Starsider I am a part time, male dancer. Right now I have the first box in special effects and that's as far as I want to go for now. Maybe, after I retire from crafting, I will go for exotic. I'd like to see what I would look like doing some of those moves.

I think all dances look fine for males, but NOT all flourishes. Not all flourishes look good for a female in my eyes (the footloose flourish where you slap the floor comes to mind).

We do need more clothes and an un-nerfing of part of the human male model. For the clothes we do have one ally, though- the Tailors! They would like to sell us some new stuff, too.

Anyway, keep your spirits up!

Jathan

This is a little off topic but concerning revealing clothes: I think hotpants are as revealing as i want to get. If the devs just let us take our shirts off rather than wearing that dingy wife beater, we'd probably be satisfied.

Outfits you can wear now, can easily make a mlae dancer look good, im fond of a bright red sidebutton shirt, black pants, white boots and gloves. I like the idea of blueflesh wrapped in orange too. At a party the other night i was dressed as a pink aladin, thats not a bad outfit (minus the pink) us men can wear those bikini see through leggings if you all hadnt noticed yet.

Thats my typo filled comment for now.

Datho Imilli

Male Dancer (Valcyn Server)

I don't see how you could get more revealing than hotpants and keep it decent...

However more options would be nice. Also, I'd been going back and forth on gender restricted clothes. At first, I thought they should just do away with it, then I thought but maybe some of the stuff really just would look silly on guys... Then I saw a trandoshan wearing a bra and realized it looked no less silly than a guy of any species would look. So my current thought is no gender restrictions on clothes unless absolutely necessary (IE it is "too" revealing on one gender)

Being able to go shirtless.. Mesh shirts.. That kind of stuff.. Thats what I want to see. Also loose short sleeve shirts that don't look blousy like the "short sleeve shirt". Give us some options!

I'd known about the bikini leggings actually.. Hadn't bothered to actually see if I could do anything with them yet though. My first reaction is no.. But on the other hand, it might not go bad with a trim lined shirt. The problem is they beg some skin to show, and guys have no way to show much skin on the torso aside from a vest, whereas girls have at least a dozen ways to show lots of skin on the torso.