For some time I was a professional dancer performing alongside local jazz artists and pianists. Although I detested it, I would do it almost entirely for the pay and the tips, which were often explicitly generous for reasons I could never grasp, however heated usherings between green-eyed wives concluded that my routines could turn even the most respectable gentleman into an animalistic beast.
The costumes I wore in those days were often very tight and uncomfortable, forcing my rounded breasts upward as though offering themselves like some gorgeous fruit. The men who attended my dances were often so intoxicated with the atmosphere that it swayed some of them into losing all trance of shame and shyness.
It was never especially rare for me to leave a stage with the ends of my dress in tatters through the wild grappling it had endured during my performance.
One night I was booked to perform in the snug of a dusky foreign bar. As I entered that night with my suitcase of costumes and outfits, the mellow aura the bar contained made me feel almost as though I had wandered into some microcosmic paradise. And in comparison to all of my previous venues - that's exactly what it was.
Music seemed to emanate from its very walls, as though by nature some enticing melody was perpetually present. The room itself was a mirage of tropical reds and royal-blood blues. It was a circular building, with an off-gold stage at the very center, backlit by soft theatrical lighting. Thrilled by the novelty, I took off my shoes, blouse and coat, leaving me clothed in only my summer dress; I flung the other garments on the floor to side of the stage. In this state I began my performance entirely alone - savouring the sensation which dancing at this magical tavern gave me.