A striptease or exotic dance is a performance, usually a dance, in which the performer "strips off clothing to arouse sexual desire by displaying the naked body in motion to music. Stripteases are usually performed compered by a Comedian in pubs,football,rugby,and social clubs. The "teasing" part involves the slowness of undressing, while the audience is eager to see more nudity. Delay tactics include additional clothes under clothes being removed, putting clothes or hands in front of just undressed body parts, etc. Emphasis is on the act of undressing along with sexually suggestive movement, not on the state of being undressed: in some cases the performance is finished as soon as the undressing is finished. (Before the sexual revolution, striptease performance often ended with the performer wearing a g-string and pasties). Along with physical attractiveness and appropriate clothing, the main asset and tool used by the exotic dancer in recent years is the stripper pole. Almost all exotic dancers are drawn to the profession by the potential for high earnings in the form of tips and commissions from lap/table dances and champagne rooms.
Gypsy Rose Lee is probably one of the most famous strippers in history and her name is synonymous with burlesque entertainment. Lee was born Rose Louise Hovick in Seattle, WA in 1914, the eldest daughter of a newspaper reporter and a restless, fiery woman named Rose who was a classic example of a smothering show business mom. Her mother would push Louise and her older sister June into performing at a young age. Eventually June would rebel against the mother and ran off to get married; Louise remained with her mother who continued pushing her remaining daughter to perform. Lee stripped at Minsky's Burlesque Theater for four years where she was frequently arrested and had relationships with unsavory characters such as Rags Ragland and Eddy Braun. Lee also traveled extensively and became popular in burlesque houses across the country, setting attendance records wherever she performed, and become a well-known celebrity in mainstream America. She attended the best parties, her name was often mentioned in gossip columns and, even if people hadn't seen her act, they knew who she was. With her fame growing, Lee decided to try performing in films.
Gypsy Rose Lee died in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 59 from cancer and was buried in Inglewood Park Cemetery, Inglewood, California.

The ancient art of the strip tease traces its origins in the Sumerian tablets, on which were written the myth of the descent of the goddess Inanna into the Underworld (or Kur). At each of the seven gates, she removed an article of clothing or a piece of jewelry. As long as she remained in hell, the earth was barren. When she returned, fecundity abounded. Some believe this myth was reincarnated as the dance of the seven veils of Salome, who danced for King Herod as mentioned in the New Testament. Many forms of the strip tease made their way throughout Sumer, Mesopotamia, into Asia and west into the near east and southern Europe, via Gypsies.

In the nineteenth century, French colonist's in North Africa and Egypt "discovered" and seized upon the dances of the Ghawazee, especially a courtesan dancer known as Kuchuk Hnem, and exoticized the image of the nonwestern woman as one who would disrobe as part of a dance performance. It is likely that the women performing these dances did not do so in an indigenous context, but rather, responded to the commercial climate for this type of entertainment.

American strip tease nurtured its roots in carnivals and Burlesque theatres. The art and business enjoyed prosperity as the United States economy grew out of the depression of the 1930s through the fifties. In the sixties and seventies, with changing cultural expressions of sexuality, it declined in profitability and status. In the eighties and technology boom of the nineties, those in the profession enjoyed better acceptance and better working conditions.

In December 2006, a Norwegian court ruled that striptease is an art form and made strip clubs exempt from value added tax.

Laura Hawkins Striptease

The People's Almanac credited the origin of striptease as we know it to an act in 1890s Paris in which a woman slowly removed her clothes in a vain search for a flea crawling on her body. Striptease enjoyed a revival with the advent of burlesque theatre, with famous strippers such as Gypsy Rose Lee.

In 1940, humorist H. L. Mencken coined the term ecdysiast as a euphemism for strippers; it derives from the Greek ekdusis meaning "to molt."

In the 20th century, the exotic dance club grew to become thriving sector of the Canadian economy. The artistes are affectionately referred to as "peelers" by the men of Canada. In the latter 1990s, a number of performers and dance groups have emerged to create New Burlesque, a revival of the classic burlesque of the early half of the twentieth century. New Burlesque focuses on dancing, costumes and entertainment (which may include comedy and singing) and generally eschews full nudity or toplessness. Some burlesquers of the past have become instructors and mentors to New Burlesque performers such as Velvet Hammer and the Pontani Sisters. The pop group Pussycat Dolls began as a New Burlesque troupe.

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