Wearing a black, vinyl body suit and fish-net thigh-highs accompanied with long sleeves and a black bra top, Ronnie gazes deep into the eyes of her prey.

I stare them down, said Ronnie, who preferred to use her stage name for personal protection. My big thing is eye contact. Or you smile at them and look at them like, get your butt over here now. That’s what I do, but everyone has their own way of doing it.

Her act includes seductive body movements intertwined in a dancing routine, and the them that she refers to are the club patrons taking in her act. Ronnie, a junior in English education, is easing the burden of costly tuition bills by performing nightly at Changes, 16310 N. U.S. Highway 51 in DeSoto.

Ronnie then removes articles of her clothing to reveal to the audience the form and figure of the female body.

Ronnie is struggling to put herself through college and finds dancing as a relief effort for her financial troubles.

This is a way to get through college for me, she said. I still have to take out loans, but this cuts my tuition costs in half.

Though her dancing may pay for her college career, people think the late nights may be detrimental to her grades. But Ronnie admits her current employment has helped improve her grades, which in turn makes her feel better about herself.

My grades have actually gone up, she said. I feel better about myself. You would be surprised what this job can do for your self-confidence.

Ronnie is not alone in her revelations of improved grades and self-confidence. Sydney, a sophomore in Spanish who also prefers to use her stage name, agrees that her studies have been rectified since beginning her dancing career at Changes.

This is a way to get through college for me, she said. It’s been a lot easier to keep my grades up. I don’t have to work as much to make the same amount of money.

Despite the academic success these women find with their occupations, students such as Melissa Cherry, a junior in Animal Science from Winchester, disagrees with the actions and choices which Ronnie and Sydney have made for themselves as entertainers.

I understand this is a simple way for these women to make money, Cherry said. Yet, one shouldn’t have to degrade themselves or compromise their morals to afford such things. There are other ways to pay for schooling.

Sydney has tried other means of providing for herself and found dancing as the most rational decision.

I was working full time at Wal-Mart for the first half of fall semester, she said. I was working five nights a week and going to school full time. My grades were slipping because I didn’t have time to study.

Here we don’t have to work as many nights a week to support ourselves, and we have more time to study, which was my main worry before working here.

It’s still hard, but it’s a lot easier than working for minimum wage.

Many of the dancers are concerned that views such as Cherry’s will reflect upon their overall audience and provide a gate into bias and judgmental opinions.

The perception affects the way customers treat us, Sydney said. They tend to think that we’re in here dancing because we like to get naked in front of guys, and they don’t think there is another side to it.

It was really hard for all of us to get started we didn’t just hop up on stage and get started. It took a couple of weeks and a few deep breaths to get the nerve to get up here and finally get comfortable.

Ronnie also complains that shattering opinions can be detrimental to her career, but for those opposed to this form of dancing as entertainment she said they first need to observe what the performances entail.

If they still hold their opinions fine, but I think they actually need to come see what we actually do before giving bias opinions, she said.

Ronnie argues that her performance is an art form of dancing that is not understood by many people. Cherry disagrees with these contentions and said she feels that performances such as Ronnie’s give a bad name to the dancing industry as a whole.

As a [Saluki] Shaker, I know the difficulty it takes to produce and enhance a dance routine, Cherry said. That’s fine if they want to think of it as an art form, but the fact is a majority of the audience is there to view the obvious and not the element of dance. And the repercussions of the way men view this kind of dancing sometimes reflects poorly on us.

Many of the female dancers are providing for families, as well as paying college fees and feel the decision to dance is a logical choice compared to alternatives. Betty said her decision to entertain people as a dancer is a personal choice and a right she is entitled to.

I’m here to support my kid, said Betty, who opted to use an alias for her protection. I’m making my own life, I’m doing it to provide and I’m making good money at it. If someone doesn’t like it it’s not their choice. I’m over 21. They’ve made their lives and now I’m making my own.

Ronnie said beginning a career as a dancer may be difficult at first, and the public needs to understand the idea that entertaining for club patrons is a job and a personal career choice for many dancers.

I think the one thing that people need to realize is that we are dancers, not whores, she said. That is the one thing we need to get across.

This is a job just like any other.

She admits that removing her clothing may be a risky way to provide for herself, but there are limitations set upon the customers as to how much contact they can have with the dancers outside of watching.

We are up on a stage with hardly anything on, but we are not allowed to be touched and we don’t get messed with in the back corner, she said. We dance and talk. That is all.

Ronnie also said each dancer provides her own set of limitations and abides by them diligently.

You don’t get stupid. Your obviously not going to pull off or undo his jeans with your mouth. Everybody has their own set of limitations, she said. Personally, clothes stay on. The only thing I would ever remove is the shirt, but I do not kiss the customers on the mouth. God knows where their mouths have been.

Despite the limitations set upon the customers, some patrons occasionally get out of line.

I’ve had someone bite my breast before, Sydney said. I’ve also had men slap me and attempt to put their fingers in my butt.

However, the majority of the patrons are well-mannered and simply in search of entertainment.

Sometimes the dancers encounter individuals at the club that are familiar within their everyday routine.

I’ve seen some of my professors before when I was dancing, but if they recognized me in class, they are very professional and don’t say anything to me, Ronnie said. But then again, I try to dress down when I go to class so someone won’t recognize who I am.

Betty said the costumes are an important element in providing a particular image to the patrons. Dominating the audience and tailoring to their desires is said to be a major part of the performance.

I think your outfit is probably what gives your image, and it kind of goes with your mood, too, she said. I believe if you’re going to be a dancer you just have to get up there with your accessories and do it.

Adrian (her stage name) said the club and the overall entertainment the dancers provide is a satisfying achievement.

I think we have a lot of fun, and it’s a way for people to relax a little, she said. And it’s a way to give the girls self-confidence. That men find them attractive and that they are beautiful and doing something beautiful can be very gratifying.

Factoid:Performances are between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m. every evening at Changes, 16310 N. U.S. Highway 51, DeSoto. For information call 867-2216.