American striptease, with its roots in nineteenth-century French striptease, came to prominence in the mid-1920s when burlesque theater began to feature it as a way to attract audiences.

By the 1930s, when both G-string-clad chorus girls and police raids on clubs where they performed were common, striptease artists would combine skits and musical performance with elaborate costumes in order to avoid prosecution. Great striptease artists of this period included Gyspy Rose Lee and Ann Corio. Later on, exotic dancers turned showgirls in Las Vegas’ hotels and casinos had begun performing elaborately choreographed and costumed shows.

Dancers in many strip clubs perform stage shows (known colloquially as “airdancing”) as well as “table dances,” in which the dancer performs on a small, more private stage for individual patrons. In the 1990s, clubs in many states began to offer “lap dances,” in which a nude or semi-nude dancer performed gyrations while sitting on the lap of the fully clothed patron. Depending on the clubs where they dance, strippers may work exclusively for tips, receive a minimal “shift pay,” or even be required to pay the club for time spent on stage. In the 1990s, dancers at San Francisco’s Lusty Lady became the first group of exotic dancers to form a union, and this movement to unionize is now growing throughout the country.

Several American movies have focused on strippers, including Gypsy (1962, 1993), based on the life of Gypsy Rose Lee, Showgirls (1995) and Striptease (1996), starring Demi Moore, who received a fee of $12 million for her role in the film. Striptease and burlesque have also served as inspiration for mainstream dancers and choreographers, most notably Bob Fosse, whose jazz choreography drew extensively on the burlesque tradition.

Exotic dancing came under renewed scrutiny in late 1990s New York City, where Mayor Rudolph Giuliani successfully lobbied for legislation to prevent strip clubs and other adult establishments from operating within 500 feet of residences, schools, day-care centers and places of worship. This trend has resulted in a return to shows more in the burlesque tradition, with both more substance and more clothing.