”Dance hostesses” employed by the many cabarets and night clubs was a widespread phenomenon in 1920s-30s Shanghai. They were tasked with dancing with the male customers who bought a book at the entrance containing a number of tickets, each entitling them to one dance. Should a guest be particularly fond of a specific hostess, he would have to pay for additional dances throughout the evening. Between the dances, customers were expected to buy the hostesses drinks.
For the relatively rare single, white women corresponding male dance hosts existed, known as gigolos.
The boundary between dance and outright prostitution was very thin. Prostitution was endemic in Shanghai and the dance hostesses were often caught in a tenuous position and were poorly paid. As such they had both incentives and pressures to sleep with their customers.
Dance at a night club. Lynn Pan: Shanghai Style 2008.
Dance at a night club. Photographer unknown.