Breast Exam

Kayle
Age: 30
Time dancing: 12 years, off and on
Children: four
Pet: iguana
Last school attended: Vatterott College
Favorite song: “Tear Away,” Drowning Pool
Favorite TV show: So You Think You Can Dance
Why I dance: “This is just fun, and there are a lot of people who depend on it.”
Last good deed: “The Salvation Army was collecting money, and I gave them $100.”

Savannah
Age: 20
Time dancing: less than a year
Pet: cat
Favorite song: “Hate It or Love It,” 50 Cent
Favorite TV show: Dr. Phil
Last school attended: Enrolled at Longview Community College.
Career aspiration: “Something in the beauty business.”
Reaction to new regulations: “Why? Why? No one’s coming to your doorstep. There’s no preschool next door. People are coming here because they’re adults and they want to be here.”

Jordan
Age: 34
Time dancing: six months.
Favorite TV show: History Channel
Last school attended: St. Mary’s College
Career aspiration: Obtain a Ph.D. She’s also a filmmaker — “And it’s not porn!”
Why I dance: “The reason I started dancing is, I was laid off my job.”
Last good deed: “I’m trying to adopt a Maltese.”

Ivy
Age: 24
Time dancing: three years
Children: two
Favorite song: “One,” Metallica
Favorite TV show: Reno 911
Last school attended: Enrolled at Penn Valley Community College.
Career aspiration: Dental hygienist. “I want to be a dentist, but that’s too much school.”
Reaction to new regulations: “I just don’t understand why they’re doing this. This is the Show-Me State, after all.”

Tiffany
Age: 34
Time dancing: nine years
Children: two
Favorite song: “How Forever Feels,” Kenny Chesney
Last school attended: Tidewater Tech, Norfolk, Virginia
Career aspiration: Return to nursing.
Why I dance: “This job gives my kids very good food and living and pays the bills. They get really good Christmases and birthdays. It gives them what they need. If I didn’t have kids, I wouldn’t do this.”
Last good deed: “My best friend had knee surgery, and I was with her the whole time in the hospital, 24-7.”

Heidi
Age: 32
Time dancing: 14 years
Children: one
Last school attended: Leavenworth High School
Favorite song: “Making Memories of Us,” Keith Urban
Favorite TV show: The OC, Desperate Housewives
Reaction to new regulations: “I’m scared to death. This is what I do. It’s going to hurt a lot of people.”

Natalie
Age: 19
Time dancing: a week
Last school attended: Penn Valley Community College
Favorite song: “Amber,” 311
Favorite TV show: Futurama, Family Guy
Career aspiration: bar owner
Reaction to new regulations: “It’s totally unconstitutional. It’s going to ruin a lot of people’s lives, not just girls who work here but managers and vendors.”

Kali
Age: 31
Time dancing: 14 years
Pets: two pit bulls
Favorite TV show: 7th Heaven
Last school attended: Fair Play High School, Fair Play, Missouri
Career aspiration: “I’d like to maybe start a pit bull rescue”
Reaction to new regulations: “I think it’s very discriminatory, especially in this day and age when you can see all you can see on television, and especially cable.”

Sadie
Age: 23
Time dancing: five years
Children: one
Favorite song: “Take My Breath Away,” Berlin
Favorite TV show: Survivor
Last school attended: Metropolitan Community Colleges
Career aspiration: Pharmaceutical sales rep
Why I dance: “It’s not a lifestyle. It’s an occupation. We’re here to take care of our families.”

Shevaun
Age: 21
Time dancing: three years
Favorite song: “Get Naked,” Methods of Mayhem
Favorite TV show: Family Guy
Last school attended: William Jewell College
Career aspiration: “Anything in the entertainment industry. Radio.”
Last good deed: “I loaned one of my friends a bunch of money, and I didn’t even think twice about it.”
Reaction to new regulations: “Not everybody goes by the rules, but this is a controlled environment. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Brandi
Age: 19
Time dancing: six days
Favorite song: “Barnacles,” Ugly Casanova
Last school attended: Penn Valley Community College
Career aspiration: “I love being able to do art, and I want to teach it eventually.”
Why I dance: “I really needed a job.”

Alexis
Age: 20
Time dancing: two years
Favorite TV show: That ’70s Show
Favorite book: Harry Potter series
Last school attended: Maysville High School, Maysville, Missouri
Career aspiration: radiology
Reaction to new regulations: “Our economy is so bad right now, and here we are losing more jobs.”

Holly
Age: 28
Time dancing: two weeks
Last school attended: Tulane University
Why I dance: “I like to dress up. I like to dance. This way I get to write off an extensive lingerie bill.”
Career aspiration: “I am a writer and a poet. I want to study costume design. I would like to do some stand-up comedy.”
Reaction to new regulations: “This affords a lot of talented women a platform. A lot of these girls are really skilled — gymnasts, actors. People need to understand that it’s all in good fun.”

Julie
Age: 26
Time dancing: five years
Pets: two cats and a dog
Favorite song: “Tomorrow, Wendy,” Concrete Blonde
Favorite book: Mirror Mirror, Gregory Maguire
Last school attended: Baker University
Career aspiration: Clothing designer. “I do my own now.”
Reaction to new regulations: “I’m a Republican. The way I look at it is, they are making me not want to be a Republican any longer…. The last time we involved religion and politics, we were burning people at the stake.”

Courtney
Age: 27
Time dancing: two years
Children: three
Pets: three cats
Favorite song: “Patience,” Cival Bell
Last school attended: Maysville High School, Maysville, Missouri
Career aspiration: “Something to do with the music industry.”
Last good deed: “My husband and his band and me threw a benefit for a boy whose dad was killed by a drunk driver.”
Reaction to new regulations: “I disagree with it because a lot of moms might have to have three or four jobs and might not be able to see their kids.”

Paige
Age: 21
Time dancing: two years
Children: one
Favorite song: “Tonight,” Smashing Pumpkins
Favorite movie: Queen of the Damned
Last school attended: O’Neill High School, Regina, Saskatchewan
Career aspiration: Cosmetology
Reaction to new regulations: “I’m angry, and I’m very confused that people can pass a law they know nothing about…. They think we’re whores and we’re just here to have sex on the couch, and we’re not. We’re just working.”