European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 14, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Chippendale Don t Call them stripper by Anita Gosch staff writer John Ford is every woman s fantasy. He has to be a it s his Job. Ford whose darkly handsome looks attest to his Cherokee heritage and whose muscular physique confirms years of bodybuilding works for Chippendale a that troupe of male dancers whose name brings shrieks of Delight from women and looks of scorn from men. Ford takes his clothes off for a living. Well nearly All his clothes. At the end of his stage routine he struts about in nothing More than a a string. But Don t Call Ford a male stripper. A Quot of so we re taking our clothes off in the show but we re still dancing a he says Quot i Don t want to take away from that. I Don t want you to think that that s the main thing in the show a of they re just stripping a As a matter of fact Ford adds Chippendale wants nothing to do with male strippers. Quot if you be Ever danced with a male strip group you re not allowed to work with Chippendale. You have to be totally Virgin to the idea of male  what Chippendale dancers do Ford says is entertain women in what he Calls a High class Las vegas style show. In a series of skits. Ford and his colleagues portray different types of men initially dressed in costumes who dance on stage to theme songs often accompanied by singers and backup dancers. What they Don t do at least not anymore Ford says is mingle with the audience Quot Selling kisses for dollars or allowing the women to stuff Money Down their shorts. �?�1 think that just Lowers the whole image of the show Quot Ford says. Quot you re still basically a strip show when you do that. It s like i m dancing and taking off my clothes give me a Reward instead of i m an entertainer enjoy the show a the Skils Are based on women s fantasies derived from five years of surveying audiences at Chippendale clubs in the United states Ford says. One skit is based on the 1930s gangster Era another recalls 1950s Rock n Roll. In officer and a gentleman dancers dress in Navy uniforms while in another skit they dress As policemen a and handcuff a woman from the audience. The skit tropics comes Complete with Palm Trees Straw huts hammocks and a Cream filled plastic banana. The latter is vital to Quot the dirtiest part of the show a says Steve Castro the skit s Lead dancer. The troupe s biography boasts that Chippendale is Quot the ultimate girls night out a with Quot men whose sole purpose is to pamper their female  but the show has nothing to do with sexual fantasies Ford says. Quot it s dancing with the aim of. How can i put it i Don t want to say tease basically it just involves a lot of the imagination of the women in a sexually orientated Type of show a he says. Quot i Don t think it s the fantasy of the Guy actually dancing and doing the performance it s the image portrayed during the number that would be somebody s  Chippendale has been popular with Worsen in the United slates since its inception in los Angeles in 1979.not merely s4s Anita Gosch currently touring the United kingdom As Chippendale Are front Row from left Dale Azzard Creg Padovan Dan Garrison August Jacobson and John Ford Frank Borges is at the top of the photo and Steve Castro is in front of  Anita Gosch staff writer Good looks great bodies. But brains and personality too you d better believe it. Chippendale dancers Are More than just gorgeous hunks. They re not merely sex symbols although they Don t mind being them. They re real people too. That s How eight Chippendale dancers came across on a recent sunday during a night of dinner and disco hopping in Frankfurt Germany. Take John Ford a tall dark handsome and very muscular. Before he joined Chippendale Ford did t even know How to dance. He was working in a film processing company in Chicago and played Bass in a local Rock band when he was discovered by a Chippendale scout while eating lunch at a restaurant after working out at the gym. Quot it was being in the right place at the right time a he says. Now 33, Ford has been with the company for three years. He plays the part of a Rocker biker in the show. Dressed in a studded Black leather jacket and entering the stage on a motorcycle he dances and takes off his clothes to the Steppe Wolf classic bom to be wild. But Ford says he s nowhere near like the character he portrays on stage. Quot believe it or not. I m pursuing a degree 8 stripes Magazine november 14, 1991