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Chippendales brings excitement to Martin


The women of Martin got more than they expected when they went to see the sexy men of Chippendales perform at Cheers last Friday evening.

Chippendales visited Martin with six of its male dancers from the 2003 Chippendales calendar as part of its 10-month tour of 15 eastern states.

According to Tony Valentine, the owner of the tour group, the majority of the shows on the tour have been sold out, each show averaging about 500 or more women in attendance. Women being the average age of 25.

The men of Chippendales include Dan Banion, 29, of Ohio; Timothy Banion, 24, of Ohio; Steve Kader, 33, of Las Vegas; Mike Hammond, 32, of New York; Carl Thomas of Louisville; and Jason Wilson, 24, of Louisville.

The show is opened to women only. According to Banion, the tour leader, “If men are in the crowd with the ladies, it affects the energy of the crowd, the ladies won’t act wild and have fun.” The evening began with the men coming out into the crowd with calendars and t-shirts to sell to the ladies in the audience.

The ladies got a preview of what was to come during the evening with the men in the traditional cuffs, black bowties and leather pants of Chippendales.

There were six performances with a group of four to five dancers in each. At the end of each performance, a solo dancer remained on stage to perform for the women in the special “hot seat.”

Women received a personal dance with the dancer left on stage if they got in one of the hot seats quick enough.

They could put money anywhere on their bodies and the dancers would get the money by any means whatsoever. Several ladies had fun with the hot seat and got exactly what they paid for.

The men never went to complete full nudity, but the women were thrilled to see them in G-strings and boxer briefs.

“The show was awesome,” said Jessica Dover, a freshman Undeclared major from Dover. “It was the best show in the world, that’s why we came back to see it [we went to see it last night in Jackson].”

Each of the dancers did a magnificent job performing for the ladies. The atmosphere at Cheers was filled with excitement and the majority of the women went wild and had a blast.

The last performance of the evening was a memorable and great performance. It was a tribute to the men and women overseas defending our country.

The men entered the stage one by one in military style wearing navy uniforms. Hero by Enrique Iglesias was playing in thebackground.

“I enjoyed the tribute to the men overseas,” said Sheena Scott, a junior Education major from Dresden, “because I love seeing men in uniform.”

After the show was over, the men of Chippendales came out on stage to take pictures with fans and also to sign autographs.

“The energy was great,” said Jason Wilson, a dancer and also the choreographer of the show. “The crowd response was good. It’s very important for the performance... we need it.”

This was truly a great show, the men of Chippendales will be returning to the Martin area in six months.

“I had a lot of fun,” said Sabring Mosley, a junior Communications major from Dresden. “I got to see a lot of skin.”

The men chose to be in Chippendales must go through an intensive three month audition. The audition consists of rehearsals, photo shoots, interviews, print tests and work outs.

According to Dan Banion, he had been involved in the Chippendales show for three years. One of his friends had a male review and asked him to be in it when he was 18.

“I had always been outgoing, but presentations in front of people would always freak me out,” Banion said.

Seeing him perform in front of the ladies, you wouldn’t be able to tell that he felt uneasy about being in front of a huge group of people.

The dancers also share a good relationship with one another. Traveling on the road, they must be able to have friendships with the other guys in the tour.

“It’s like any other relationship,” said Banion, “it’s almost like you’re married to the job and the guys you work with.”

To become a Chippendales dancer, the men must go through a rigorous work out training, be on a strict diet and basically have a guideline for their lives during tour season.

According to Banion, all the men in the tour are single because it’s hard to have a relationship while you’re in this profession. Banion admits that he does get a lot of numbers, but he never calls them for anything. The ones he does call, it’s strictly a friendship.

To find out more about Chippendales or about the men in the show, visit their Web site at www.Chippendales.com. Chippendales will return to the Martin area in six months, so ladies, if you missed the first show, I encourage you not to miss this one.

Check out the Web site for their upcoming tour schedule and also the men that will be coming to the Martin area.