Exotic dancer

For the racehorse, see Exotic Dancer (horse)

Mata Hari, an exotic dancer.

The terms exotic dancer and exotic dance can have different meanings in different parts of the world and depending on context.

In a non-erotic sense, the word "exotic" applies to the fact that something is out of the ordinary or perceived by spectators as unusual. It can also apply to those dancers who master a rare or largely lost art form, including whirling dervishes, shaman dancers and religious dancers. Middle Eastern dance is often referred to as exotic dance in this way, though its use of hip/pelvic movement and isolation often results in its unfortunate conflation with exotic dance in the erotic sense.

In an erotic sense, the term "exotic dance" is used as a euphemism for erotic dancing. While there is overlap, they are not the same. The origin of this erotic interpretation is similar to that of the term massage parlor, in that a description for a non-sexual service was co-opted to describe a sexual service.

An example of an exotic dancer who is erotic is Stallion from [1]. His type of exotic dancing may not be so rare, but can be very erotic.