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What Do You Call "Dancer" Characters? - Printable Version

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RE: What Do You Call "Dancer" Characters? - Madda - 10-27-2015

(10-27-2015, 07:57 PM)McBeefâ„¢ Wrote: Professional Twerkologist
Brb dying


RE: What Do You Call "Dancer" Characters? - Ignacius - 10-27-2015

[youtube]RM31xJzLtYw[/youtube]


RE: What Do You Call "Dancer" Characters? - Pastry Army - 10-27-2015

[youtube]vTIIMJ9tUc8[/youtube]Dancers you say? Obviously this song needs to make a comeback for those shenanigans.


RE: What Do You Call "Dancer" Characters? - Telluride - 10-28-2015

I call this one dancer... because it's the second part of her name... and she can dance... and do, ah, other things... and mix drinks?

[Image: 3229339.jpg]


RE: What Do You Call "Dancer" Characters? - K'nahli - 10-28-2015

Not once did I ever fall under the impression that they were anything more than low-income entertainers. Aside from the aforementioned example of the Ball Dance quest not so much as implying anything of the sort, I also find it a little difficult to believe that such people would be hired to remain present in a private and very well-established residential district; a subjective opinion perhaps, but that's my impression nonetheless.

Also the middle of the markets seems like an unusual venue for me. At least for mere dancers - who are scraping for any coin at all to be thrown their way - it seems perfect since it ought to be consistently crowded with people who obviously have money.


RE: What Do You Call "Dancer" Characters? - Flashhelix - 10-28-2015

As far as lore goes, all the dancers I've seen seem to be prostitutes as well. The prostitute you guide for the Costa FATE is wearing the same outfit as the dancers at Hidden Falls, and I can vaguely remember flavor text about the dancers you see at the Ruby Road Exchange also being prostitutes, so it seems dancing and prostitution go hand-in-hand, at least. If they're not a prostitute but dance for a living, I figure they'd just be a dancer.

Or "Courtesan" if you wanna sound a bit cooler about it.


RE: What Do You Call "Dancer" Characters? - Blue - 10-28-2015

The connection between dancing and prostitution is due to very ancient real world traditions in the courts, going as far as to ancient egypt. It was an usual show for a woman to dance before the Pharaon (Sultan, King, etc.) and the other nobles, and then go have sex with him or one of them (only if the king/sultan/etc. was not pleased with the performance/looks of the woman, or sometimes, the king/sultan would pass on a woman as a gift to one of his most loyal man). And it's not just dancing, women living at the court were required to have a full set of skills all focused on entertainment for them: this went from dancing, acting, playing instruments, serving tea/wine. This can be still seen in the art of the Geisha today.

In short, even though a woman may have been hired just to dance, it was not uncommon (and almost a given) for them to sleep with one (or several) of the audience at the end of the show for a much more substantial cash. See the Moulin Rouge as an example.

The profession of exclusive dancer is something that belongs to our very modern era, where such profession does have a substantial enough income. I don't think Eorzea is developed enough for one to live of just dancing.

I'm not saying you have to be a prostitute to RP a dancer in FFXIV, but this is why the connection between the art and profession is legitimately justified, so don't be overly shocked if one may think so of your dancing character.


RE: What Do You Call "Dancer" Characters? - Aya - 10-28-2015

It really depends how one lives.  Many people live not doing anything at all (relying on family, friends, etc).  Others live by begging, though many do not live all that well.

I think its a stretch to say that no one could make a living by entertaining, especially when such entertaining is so obviously integral to the culture as it is in Ul'dah.  I also don't think its a stretch at all to suggest that many of these individuals might be more prone to temptation for other avenues of earning income than the general population Smile


RE: What Do You Call "Dancer" Characters? - McBeefâ„¢ - 10-28-2015

(10-28-2015, 03:58 AM)Aya Wrote: It really depends how one lives.  Many people live not doing anything at all (relying on family, friends, etc).  Others live by begging, though many do not live all that well.

I think its a stretch to say that no one could make a living by entertaining, especially when such entertaining is so obviously integral to the culture as it is in Ul'dah.  I also don't think its a stretch at all to suggest that many of these individuals might be more prone to temptation for other avenues of earning income than the general population Smile
It's an interesting question.

Clearly prostitution is well entrenched in Eorzea. NPCs speak of whores quite often and willingly. With the relaxed sexual views, and lack of Earth religions preaching against such things, I don't see there being anything keeping people from doing such things. Certainly there isn't much shame in it. Especially in Ul'dah.

I agree in general though Aya, it's doubtful every dancer is a whore. Eorzea is a land of contradictions, and it's hard to draw real world parallels.


RE: What Do You Call "Dancer" Characters? - Ryanti - 10-28-2015

(10-28-2015, 12:35 AM)Knahli Wrote: Not once did I ever fall under the impression that they were anything more than low-income entertainers. Aside from the aforementioned example of the Ball Dance quest not so much as implying anything of the sort, I also find it a little difficult to believe that such people would be hired to remain present in a private and very well-established residential district; a subjective opinion perhaps, but that's my impression nonetheless.

Also the middle of the markets seems like an unusual venue for me. At least for mere dancers - who are scraping for any coin at all to be thrown their way - it seems perfect since it ought to be consistently crowded with people who obviously have money.


If one remembers the Ball Dance quest, the girl in question wanted to learn a different art of dancing more sophisticated than her own. It was heavily implied that she was one of Ul'Dah's infamous dancing girls, and they strengthened the stereotype with her being Miqo'te.

From the way she looked down upon her current ... profession, it's easy for me to correlate that "She's a lowly whore!" mentality with seeing those dancing girls in Ul'Dah. In places like Bazaars, I would imagine they would make a fair bit of money by receiving coin from the pockets of impulsive individuals.

But it definitely would be seen as sleazy and promiscuous regardless of whether or not the dancers are actually prostitutes. My head-canon tells me that some are, some aren't. But I think there's definitely an image out of there of all of them being correlated with a sexual overtone and viewed as kind of lower than the standard member of society.

Not to mention that there are performing artists that breath fire and juggle and do street acrobatics. Those people aren't usually seen under the same light as the dancers though. There's not really a feeling of promiscuousness with them I think. It's more regulated towards the dancers, and that could very well be because the dancers might use their gender as an advantage.


RE: What Do You Call "Dancer" Characters? - McBeefâ„¢ - 10-28-2015

An obvious reason for 'sexy dancing' especially in revealing clothes, is to attract clients for prostitution. Even modern strip clubs do the same thing for 'lap dances'

I don't think it's a strange leap of logic to assume that's the reason some of those women are doing it. Unless the Syndicate is footing the bill for 'morale' reasons.


RE: What Do You Call "Dancer" Characters? - McBeefâ„¢ - 10-28-2015

Side question, sexy male dancers when :c.


RE: What Do You Call "Dancer" Characters? - Hyakki - 10-28-2015

(10-28-2015, 04:27 AM)McBeefâ„¢ Wrote: Side question, sexy male dancers when :c.

They're already here.
[Image: tumblr_nokt73TMyc1upr1sio1_1280.png]


RE: What Do You Call "Dancer" Characters? - McBeefâ„¢ - 10-28-2015

(10-28-2015, 04:46 AM)Mamushi Wrote:
(10-28-2015, 04:27 AM)McBeefâ„¢ Wrote: Side question, sexy male dancers when :c.

They're already here.
[Image: tumblr_nokt73TMyc1upr1sio1_1280.png]
Oh yeah, 10/10 totally would.


RE: What Do You Call "Dancer" Characters? - Blue - 10-28-2015

(10-28-2015, 03:58 AM)Aya Wrote: It really depends how one lives.  Many people live not doing anything at all (relying on family, friends, etc).  Others live by begging, though many do not live all that well.

I think its a stretch to say that no one could make a living by entertaining, especially when such entertaining is so obviously integral to the culture as it is in Ul'dah.  I also don't think its a stretch at all to suggest that many of these individuals might be more prone to temptation for other avenues of earning income than the general population Smile

What I meant is that I doubt that in the settings of Eorzea there are as many willing to pay you to JUST dance (and not sleep with them afterwards) than there are today. Today a dancer can fill up a theater to be seen dancing, but in Eorzea's times? You've got to be very expensive and good to be paid to just dance and by enough people to make a living by the end of the day.

Dancing is born by the natural instinct of attracting a sexual mate. It is a series of movements that enhance your body and call to attract others to it. There is a lot of animals that perform ritual dances on their mating season, from birds to marine mammals, and man is not any different from that. Dancing and sex are interwined and bound to each other in society, and only in our very modern times we are trying to stray a little from that (though not so much, see all the borderline-porn music videos that are coming out today, for example).