SEPTEMBER 26, 2018

It’s a typical Friday night for Ariana Gray as she slides into her fishnets and stilettos, giving her makeup one last check. The 26-year-old Morrisania native has just arrived for her regular shift at Sapphire – New York City’s top gentlemen’s club.

Gray is in good company. Many of the women dancing at the club hail from Morrisania and other areas of the Bronx.

 “I would say I know at least 50 other girls from the Bronx.” Gray said. “Four of my best friends here are from my neighborhood – Morrisania.”

Gray and her friends – Hannah, Maribella, Coco, and Perla – often commute to and from work together. They take the 4 train.  

The women are among the roughly 200 dancers Sapphire employs at any given time. They work as independent contractors. So, their schedules are flexible and their incomes sky-high.

The typical dancer makes around $1,000 per night and top girls make anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000. 

“I’m in the middle.” Gray said.  

Dancing isn’t Gray’s first love or what she wants to do with her life – it’s how she pays the bills as she works towards a finance degree at Baruch College.  

Gray initially began her young professional life as a hairstylist.

“I started working at a very large luxury French hair salon here in New York City. I spent about three years there before I went to a smaller more modern place downtown.” Gray said.

Gray worked at the downtown salon another two years before the realities of the high pressure, low reward hair industry set in.

“I was burnt out,” Gray said. “I was tired. The industry is very difficult. It’s one where they really break you down. I was just kind of over it. So eventually I quit. Seven months later I went back to school.”

Gray ventured into exotic dancing after hearing her friend brag about how much money she made working only a few nights a week.

 “I get to work predominantly on the weekends which is awesome.” Gray said. “Typically, I try to keep my school schedule to like Monday through Wednesday or Monday through Thursday and dedicate you those weekday evenings to doing my homework.”

However, Gray admits dancing isn’t all roses.

“Balancing the emotional and mental toll can be really difficult – especially when it comes to relationships and how you view yourself versus how society views you.” Gray said. “I would not change the decision to dance for the world. But I know so many people don't view it the same way and would not understand it.”

Hannah, who lives a few blocks from Gray, returned to dancing after completing a Masters in Business Management. She’s 32-years-old and has been unable to find gainful employment in her field.

“I have no shame in my game right now.” Hannah said.

Hannah refuses to accept anything less in the “real” world than a six-figure salary – which she makes now as a dancer.

But not all dancers are dancing their way through college or past a rough employment patch. Many are just trying to survive.

“I have three kids.” 37-year-old Coco said. “My husband works construction. That’s not enough to support us. I win the bread.”

The socio-economic implications of women from the Bronx dancing in a gentlemen’s club located in the multi-million-dollar townhouse lined Upper East Side cannot be ignored.

“What can I say? Rich men want a taste of the ghetto.” says Danny O – a frequent and high spending guest at Sapphire.

 Dancers refer to him and other major money droppers as a “whale.”

 For all its glitz and glamour, Gray admits the dancing lifestyle takes its toll. 

“It makes opening up to people very difficult,” Gray said. “You end up being very emotionally detached and distant because you are always putting on an acting face.”

Despite the difficulties, Gray still believes the decision to dance is one of the best decisions she ever made.

“I'm very comfortable with myself and what I do because I know what this job has given me in terms of financial freedom,” Gray said. “I don't regret it at all. I honestly think that doing what I do was the best decision I ever made – other than going back to school.”