Behind closed doors

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jun 22, 2003 by Ric Anderson Capital-Journal

Allure of exotic dancing is enough to keep seven Topeka-area bars open; for the performers, the job brings good money

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By Ric Anderson

The Capital-Journal

s the sound of Jimi Hendrix's guitar washes over her in a bluesy flood, the dancer begins a Thursday night on the job at Snafu's Country Club.

"There's a red house over yonder," the lyrics begin, "that's where my baby stays."

The dancer, who identifies herself only by her stage name, Britney, sways slowly around the lone brass pole on the stage at Snafu's, 4216 N.E. Seward Ave. Her torso is bare. Her white bikini bottom --- a "T-bar," in stripper-speak --- glows under black light.

Tomorrow, she says, she will be back at her daily job as a flower arranger for an area florist. But tonight, she is immersed in a business that has saturated Topeka to the extent that her dance will be just one of dozens performed in and around the capital city.

There are seven exotic dance clubs in or near Topeka, the western gateway of a collection of topless and nude bars that stretches through metropolitan Kansas City and includes no fewer than four spots in or near Lawrence.

Depending on the viewpoint, the clubs are playgrounds of flesh and harmless fun or dumping grounds of moral decay and exploitation.

But there is no arguing one point: Topeka is big on stripping, so much so that exotic dancing has even become something of a calling card for the city. Just ask NHRA Funny Car driver John Force, who cited Baby Dolls, 5300 S.W. Topeka Blvd. --- or Doll Babies, as he mistakenly referred to it --- as a reason he enjoys competing at nearby Heartland Park Topeka.

Britney, who lists her age at 25 and says she performed her first dance at 17 when she bought a fake ID and accompanied a friend to a Kansas City nightclub, says dancing has provided her with a lucrative income.

"Back when I was working all the time, I was making at least $70 each time I'd go on stage, and I'd go on three times a night," she says. "With the table dances and the VIP room, I could make $300 or $400 easy. On my best night, I made $1,300."

Since Britney declined to reveal her full, given name, her comments should be taken with a grain of salt.

But the fact that the number of clubs in Topeka exceeds the offerings of some similar-sized communities suggests there is money to be made. Not just from locals, either. On one recent afternoon, various lots contained cars from Brown, Pottawatomie and Jefferson counties, including a vehicle bearing a bumper sticker reading "Proud parent of a McLouth honor student."

Peek inside

It's a Sunday night at Club Orleans, 8249 S.W. 10th, and business is slow. A tall brunette grinds on stage, topless but having yet to shed her T-bar.

"Come on, guys, let's get some money up here for this lovely lady," the disc jockey implores. "Amazing how this works. You give 'em money, and they get naked. Beats buying them dinner."

Speaking more technically, strippers generally work as independent contractors who pay either a flat fee or a percentage of their tips to lease space in the bar.

Their income is based on the amount of tips they receive from three different acts --- dancing on stage, performing table or lap dances, and conducting sessions in a secluded area known as the VIP room.

As a general rule, clubs limit touching of dancers performing stage and table dances. In most VIP rooms, though, rules are more relaxed.

Another Snafu's dancer, who reveals only her stage name, Starr, describes dancing one-on-one as a balancing act of keeping customers entertained but maintaining control.

"I think there's a lot more decent guys than perverts, but we do have the perverts --- guys who want to lick you or get real handsy," she says. "A lot of guys think we're just big partiers and that we'll go home with anybody, and it's totally the opposite. When I'm in there, I'm performing. I'm there to get paid. When you do your job, you expect to get paid, and it's the same for me. It's just a big fantasy world."

But for Starr and Britney, like dozens of young women in the area, overeager customers can't overpower the lure of money.

Jim Bogner, managing partner of Snafu's, has contracts with as many as 40 women at any given time. Many of them operate in a circuit, alternating between clubs in the Kansas City area, Lawrence and Topeka.

Starr says she was working as a debt collector when a co-worker who previously had worked as a dancer decided to get back into the business. The co-worker invited Starr to join her, and Starr has been dancing regularly now for two years.

"It's a little bit of both," she says when asked whether she truly enjoys the job or is merely drawn to it by the money. "I like dancing and stuff, but then there's the nights that you have to deal with all the drunks. It pays the bills, though."

Sometimes, the money goes much further. Starr dances four to five nights a week and says she has made as much as $300 in a seven-hour shift.

"You can't go to a minimum wage job and make that kind of money," she said. "And a lot of girls who are dancing haven't gone to college, so that's what they'd be looking at."