Taxi dancing halls detroit
Quote:
Originally Posted by
RickBeall
I'd love to hear more about the taxi-dancing. That is the kind of thing I would like to write a song about [[I'm an amateur musician). Where did you see the article on taxi dancing? Its hard to believe it survived on into the late 1970's.
Taxi-dancing in Detroit was alive and "well' until Go-go dancing, topless bars etc. became popular. The "studios" were all on Woodward Ave. The Artison, Hollywood, Moulin Rouge, Trianon, and Trees were all on the second floor as were most all of the ballrooms. Downstairs was usually a bar but sometimes a restaurant. Girls from all walks of life worked there; from the inner city to the best suburbs. A variance of economic status, ethnic background, education and religion existed but the girls basically learned to get along with each other.
The clients were mostly professional men, especially lawyers. One of the advantages of working there was the flexibility in hours. If a girl needed to be off work for any reason for any length of time, she could do so without penalty from the managers. That is the biggest difference between Taxi-dancing and a "regular job." Obviously, there are others.
The neighborhood bars gave the girls discounts on drinks to encourage their patronage [[to attract more male customers). Connie's Showbar, Chez Bernie, Alwood, Arturo.s, Pate's, Garden Bowl, Brother's all on Woodward. The "higher class - [[higher cost)" prostitutes perched on stools in the Woodward Avenue bars. Cass Avenue bars, the price of the drinks and the hookers was a bit lower. Second Avenue again lower and Third Avenue still lower. After that, the price went down again for the street hustlers.