After the first part, it's time to talk about the kinds of erotic dances. So as to discuss them properly, let me classify each kind into three categories: Classic, Club, and Performance. Classic erotic dances include Cancan and Dance of the Veils. Club erotic dances include Cage, Go-go, and Table. Lastly, performance erotic dances include Bubble, Fan, and Gown-and-Glove.

I. CLASSIC EROTIC DANCE

A. Cancan

CANCAN can be considered as the first attempt to strip and tease. French in origin, dancers wear long ruffled skirts with stockings.as they toss their skirts and kick as high as they can. The dance is said to be inspired by the antics of 1820s Charles Mazurier, an acrobatic performer. The aim is for the audience to get a glimpse of their legs, and their butt. This gesture is especially enticing during the 19th century since most people were repressed to express sexual desires openly, more so publicly.  And so, the dance was called cancan, meaning tittle-tattle or scandal. The alternative name then was chatut meaning noise or uproar.

Now, cancan is danced in 2/4 time,, usually performed on stage in a chorus-line. Originally, it was danced individually in France but it adopted the English style of group performance and repackaged it into what is now known as the French Cancan. It is a highly choreographed routine lasting ten minutes or more with the dancers getting to display their assets. It has become common practice to scream and yelp while dancing the cancan but it has no significance to the essence of the dance. In the late 19th century to early 20th century, the cancan has become more erotic as dancers often wear no undergarments or made use extravagant underwear. They lifted and manipulated skirts more and incorporated more provocative moves such as throwing their skirts over their backs, revealing their nude buttocks.

Early editions of the Oxford Companion to Music defined cancan as a "boisterious and latterly indecorous dance of the quadrille order, exploited in Paris for the benefit of such British and American tourists as will pay well to be well shocked. Its exact nature is unknown to anyone conncected with this companion".

The main steps are:

         High Kick or Battement

         Rond de Jambe - quick rotary movement of the lower leg with knee raised and skirt 

                                                held up

                Port d'armes - turning on one leg while grasping the other leg by the ankle and holding 

                                                it almost vertical

   Cartwheel

Grand Ecart - flying or jump splits

B. Dance of the Seven Veils

DANCE OF THE SEVEN VEILS is dancing while stripping off each veil to reveal the whole body of the woman in the end. Before dancers will just be left with a tight fitiing midriff top or bra with elaborate design and a veil-like skirt. Nowadays, the dance isn't performed publicly and most of the time wives perform it to give a private show to their husbands and so they go all the way and strip.

in the Bible it is well-known as the Dance of Salome to convince king Herod to cut the head of John the Baptist. The dance of the seven veils has appeared as a theme in art and literature since Oscar Wilde's play first appeared. . Through the years, women playing Salome have performed memorable and often scandalous versions of the dance.  Still, there are other myths stating where the dance originated like in an ancient myth about the Sumerian goddess Inanna or the Babylonian goddess Ishtar.  The goddess descends into the underworld and must pass through seven gates.  at each gate she must surrender a piece of jewelry or a symbol of her royalty, or a piece of her clothing. The number seven was significant to the ancients, as it is the number of heavenly bodies visible to the naked eye without a telescope: Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter. Modern day mystics see the dance of the seven veils and the story of Inanna's descent as a metphor  for enlightenment. That is to shed "veils" of illusion on the path to deeper spirituality of self-realization. The idea of "the seven veils of mystical experience" actually predates Wilde's play. These "seven veils" are in order of  Dreams, Reason, Passion, Bliss, Courage, Compassion, and Knowledge. In the novel Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins each veil that the dancer removes, a different worldly illusion is challenged and shattered. The dancer removes the veil covering her groin first and saves the one covering her face and head for last. This suggests that the dance is not about titillation, but about shedding one's worldly hangups. Many people attribute Dance of the Veils as the origin of Belly Dance.

The dancer begins the dance wearing seven veils and removes them one by one as she dances, often, but not always, ending the dance nude or nearly so.

According to seiyaku.com, "When something is prohibited or difficult to have, it often seems more attractive and thrilling. A short skirt can seduce men more than a swimsuit. Why? Because covering the tops of the legs (just) sets off the man's imagination. Intention and context make the eroticism, not the amount of exposed skin. This was the simple psychology that made the 'dance of the seven veils' so seductive".

Note: The discussion for Classic Erotic Dance has been a long one and so I have to end it up to here already. Watch out for Part II-B as I discuss both club and performance erotic dance in just one article --- promise!

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can-can

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_of_the_seven_veils

http://www.seiyaku.com/reference/seven/seven-veil.html

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-dance-of-the-seven-veils.htm

Pictures from:

http://www.carnegiemuseums.org/assets/oak_music_hall_lg.jpg

http://www.electricstage.co.uk/PHOTOS/DBNB.JPG

http://www.gastage.com/images/CurtainsPix1.jpg

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/images/cancan.jpg

http://summerschedule.mabelalter.com/fileadmin/mabel/afbeeldingen/SUMMERSCHOOL_DEN_HAAG/Summer_Schedule/Barre_battement_voor_4_studenten.JPG

http://s2.hubimg.com/u/761105_f260.jpg

http://cdn-www.expertvillage.com/showImage.aspx?site=21&fn=ballet-rond-de-jambe.jpg

http://www.miamakila.com/blogg/wp-content/cartwheel.jpg

http://www.lesbellini.fr/galerie%20photo/contorsion/grand-ecart.jpg

http://www.rubyroseburlesque.com/images/sevenveilsframed.png

http://halas-place.com/veil%20dancer%201914.jpg
 

http://rlv.zcache.com/dance_of_the_seven_veils_poster-p228607553271372684t5ta_400.jpg

http://www.allmarquetry.com/fotos/g2/g2-salome_.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_TDjKlf8nn6Y/Rb-mkY_w9CI/AAAAAAAAANc/GUDbCbVtK28/s320/condipageant.jpg
 

http://www.thebespokenfor.net/.a/6a00e54ff26e088834010536a18858970c-320pi
 

http://www.iainfisher.com/russell/salome-last-dance-2.jpg