Thank You For Supporting The Arts

Yesterday I went to Hollywood Theatre here in Portland to watch a documentary called Thank You for Supporting the Arts about a stripper/writer/singer based out of Portland. I guess it was filmed over the course of several years, following Viva/Liv while she reflects on her different careers but especially the stripping. After all....people are fascinated with strippers. Such mysterious creatures. So many opinions and stereotypes that we are faced with. Stripping is art and strippers are artists. Of course not all stripping is art and not all strippers are artists. Those were the opening words of the documentary. And I agree 100%. Yes....stripping can be art and yes some strippers (or dancers as I usually refer them to) are artists. Absolutely. On the other end of the spectrum....some dancers (strippers) are terrible even after years of dancing and their stage "performances" are awful. It also depends on the stage and the lights.
Right now I am dancing at one club that has a GREAT stage but the pole could use one small improvement. I get to control and pick my own music. I feel super comfortable and pretty on that stage. Half of my sets I glance at myself in the large mirror behind the stage and think....WOW I should record this and sell the footage! The second club has a mediocre stage but a good pole, one of the DJs is average and it is no fun to go on stage there. You kind of just want to get it over with. So it definitely has to do with the club and the stage as well IF you at all care about your stage sets. And I do. Because I do agree and believe that stripping can be art. Depending on the performer. I am glad I ventured outside on a Sunday evening, I went with a fellow dancer. One has to support the arts after all. AND before the documentary started the presenter asked all the strippers in the theatre to stand up and we got a round of applauds. That was nice I think. Afterwards there was a brief Q & A with the people involved in the documentary. I found several similarities between myself and Viva.....where is MY documentary Dammit!? Helllooooooo.....I am waiting! I do think her story is more interesting and more marketable than mine though. Her Dad is a preacher in a small mid western town, she survived breast cancer and continued dancing after the removal of her breasts, she is an activist, she sings and writes and she is now a Mom. Last time I visited Hollywood Theatre (yesterday was my second time) was in February 2019 for a screening of Magic Medicine that had to do with psilocybin. Sheri and Tom Eckert, the couple largely behind Measue 109 which passed here in Oregon were the presenters. I recently found out that Sheri passed away and I was very surprised to read about that. She seemed like one of those amazing humans that grace this Earth once in a while. A true loss.