Monday, March 8, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section A·Page 11
Chippendales show off talents
By Dan Curry
dcurry@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
It's not a bad dream.
Six nights a week he turns around and bam — there's a sea of screaming women and a hot-pink light — and he is wearing nothing but a g-string. We don't know where it goes.
Or a good dream.
Austin McKinney, Chippendale dancer, orders a drink after his performance at Tremors night club, 729 New Hampshire St. McKinney and other Chippendales danced at the crowded club on Saturday night. **Magus Magnus Andersson/KANSAN**
"If you're already warm, we're going to make you hot," the announcer says.
"Remember ladies, the more noise you make, the more clothes fall off," the announcer says.
For Austin McKinney, it's the very real nightly grinder of being a Chippendales' dancer.
Beetcake bouncers had scrounged up every chair in the club, had stretched vinyl over old seats, and still every table was full as women scrambled for a place to sit before the show.
"We want to see some buns!" shouted one eager audience member.
As women milled about among the purple, neon lights and faux marble pillars, McKinney leaned against the bar after his show and talked about the life of a traveling dancer.
"It's really very flattering," said McKinney, who has been dancing with the Chippendales for four years. "I admit it. I like it when the girls are having a good time — that's what it's all about because that's my job."
"You really have to put your heart and soul into it—all the energy you put into the routine and the exercise," he said.
They try to work out everyday, practice dancing for at least two hours and keep a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet, he said.
During the show they usually dance for about 45 minutes, and burn a lot of calories in the process, he said.
Tours last about six weeks each, and McKinney said he usually took in about $2,000 a week.
McKinney said he was saving up his money so that he could return to Hollywood and wait for acting agents to call him back.
Traveling with seven men in one van for that long can get touchy,he said.
"You try to keep your sanity," he said.
After most shows the dancers go find someplace good to eat, and then they usually pack up and head out for the next city that same night, he said.
McKinney said many of the dancers had girlfriends that they called after the show, but that relationships rarely worked out because they were always traveling.
"I don't have a social life." he said.
Because of the exhaustive dancing and traveling, dancers in America can not get as physically built as the dancers in Europe, who tend to stay in one place longer.
"As long as you're really cut, the girls don't mind," he said.
Minda Ryan, Kansas City, Kan.,
junior, did not mind.
"I really liked Austin," she said. "He was very smooth. Whenever he got up on stage the females were mesmerized. He seemed sensual. He was very good looking."
"I don't really get out much because I have such a busy schedule," she said. "But my friend was celebrating her birthday. We wanted to have some fun."
Ryan said she never pictured herself going to a Chimpendows show.
Her favorite part of the show, she said, was when the announcer entered, lip-synching the Bon Jovi song, Days of Glory.
The highlight of the evening was the raffle. Ryan said.
"He came out and he was wearing a cowboy outfit and started a fire on stage," she said.
"The final prize was to rub down one of the dancers with baby oil," she said. "The girl who won was at her bachelorette party. She had on a giant, stuffed penis from Priscilla's. She wore it the whole night."
During the show, women exposed their stomachs and asked the dancers to simg their bodies.
"You get to asking yourself 'is this all I'm worth?' McKinney said. "This isn't going to last forever. I admit it."
— Edited by Jodi Smith
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Two Wings
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"The world of humanity is possessed of two wings: the male and the female. So long as these two wings are not equivalent in strength the bird will not fly."
The Equality of Women & Men
A Presentation Sponsored by KU Baha'i Club
When: Monday March 8 7:30 p.m.
Where: Kansas Union Regional Room
Tuesday, March 9, 1999
Maltott Room, Kansas Union
7-9 p.m.
SEXUALITY
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Communication between the sexes can be confusing. By examining male/female stereotypes, this program will address how men and women can work together to stop the problem of date rape.
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