Photo: Bita Honarvar, bhonarvar@ajc.com
Dancer Simone Neal applies makeup before performing at the Magic City club in Atlanta. These days, “The regulars aren’t so regular,” said Neal, 27, who drives from Florida to dance here. “I have to watch my money more closely now.”
From AJC:
She’s stunning, even in sweats. But Leilani Burkhead’s got her work cut out for her. It’s 9 p.m. on a weeknight, time to hit the stage at Atlanta’s Magic City strip club.
She slips out of her sweats and half-jokingly mumbles something about getting geared up to work the room.
It’s an about-face from a few years ago when money rained down on dancers at this and other Atlanta adult-entertainment clubs like free-flowing Dom Perignon. Like the rest of the economy, adult dance clubs feel the pinch. The sluggish economy and closer police scrutiny have put about a dozen out of business in the past decade. And the regular patrons aren’t so regular anymore.
But that hasn’t slowed the would-be dancers lining up to apply for the $350 permit to work in the city’s 19 clubs, Atlanta police say. Among the usual aspiring actresses and dancers, there are more college students, single mothers trailing toddlers, health and office professionals and even a few age-defying grandmothers — all looking for well-paid work in a city with unemployment above 10 percent.
“We have them coming in daily looking for work,” says Michael “Lil Magic” Barney Jr., the 28-year-old general manager of Magic City, a downtown Atlanta fixture founded by his father.
For Simone Neal, another Magic City dancer, club work is her ticket to becoming the first in her family to go to college. Essentially working as an independent contractor, she estimates she earns $50,000 after paying a nightly fee to the club and tips to DJs and the house mother.
“I love to dance,” said Neal, a petite 27-year-old who drives four hours from Florida to dance in Atlanta. “I thank God for everything I make.” Read More…
Photo: Bita Honarvar, bhonarvar@ajc.com
Magic City dancer Leilani Burkhead (seated) talks to another dancer in the lounge and dressing area. Burkhead, a single mother with a day job at an orthodontist’s office, works here to pay bills including her 9-year-old son’s school tuition. “I didn’t want to dance, but you’ve got to do what you have to do,” she said. Atlanta police report a rise in applications for the $350 permits required for strippers.
Photo: With Brook Lynn in Mind
Magic City dancer Brook Lynn has a book deal and is busy preparing for the release of her paperbook novel “With Brook Lynne in Mind”. In between twirling on the pole for her regular customers on Magic City’s busiest nights, she promotes her book on Twitter while raising her son. Brook’s boyfriend, a popular local DJ and music producer, has no problems with his girlfriend dancing for ballers.
