She slithered across the stage toward a man and woman who sat at the edge. She sported a black thong and a short, fitted black dress that hung around her waist. She had a welcoming demeanor. She smiled and briefly spoke to them. They tipped her for the performance.

Before she made it back to the stage, she entertained an older gentleman who told her she looked “so pretty.” She sat with him for  15 minutes as he whispered in her ear, clutching a $20 bill that he eventually handed to her.  Nadia, 30, a Tulane University undergraduate, had just begun her evening shift at  Stilettos Cabaret on Bourbon Street.

You have to have a strategy, she said, like sitting with somebody and trying to “milk them for all they’re worth.”

The recession has been bad for much of the work force, but for exotic dancers, the bad times are still good. Dancers and club owners in the French Quarter said sales have dropped, but tourists and businessmen continue to put money into the industry.

Storm, 27, another dancer at Stilettos, said she used to make $700 to $800 a night, but now she’s lucky if she makes $400 a night.

“Not as many people come in as they used to. They’re like tightwads,” said Storm, a single mother of two, who chose to withhold her real name given the nature  of the story.

Based on a 40-hour work week, dancers in the area can average $65,000 to $100,000 annually.

“Sometimes you have good days and sometimes you have bad days, but the good days are really good,” said Mark Lewis, who has been the manager of Scores New Orleans on Bourbon Street for 11 years.

Historically the Big Easy has been known for its music, food and sex. At the start of the 20^th century, many of the  gentleman’s clubs were brothels. There are currently at least 15 strip clubs on Bourbon Street.  “This industry is always going to be in,” Lewis said. “There are two things people always want: food and sex. Not that we’re selling sex.”

Last Saturday at DejaVu Showgirls in the Quarter, women danced in scant one- and two-piece outfits that left little to the imagination. As the dancers spiraled down the silver pole, topless, beneath a rotation of blue and purple lights, patrons tossed $1 bills onto the oval stage. Some dancers walked away with handfuls of bills while others did not.

Before a moderately full house, one woman performed on stage as others worked the floor, entertaining conversation and providing lap dances for $30. Some escorted men up the staircase and into private rooms, where clients spend at least $100 for 30 minutes with the dancer.

Men trailed into DejaVu with their girlfriends and others with their buddies draped in business suits or casual wear.

Fridays and Saturdays at the club can be the busiest, with revenue coming from stage tips, private dances, VIP sales and 30-minute and one-hour rooms. The clubs receive a cut of every sale made, excluding stage tips. Dancers also pay a house fee that is determined by the time of day that they arrive to the club.

Night after night exotic dancers come to the stage dancing for money, trying to make enough to keep up with their bills. Some work at Club Déjá Vu in the French Quarter. (Kenneth Hawkins/NYT Institute)

Ronald “Buddha” Rahme, a manager at DejaVu, said that business  fluctuates but “we’ve been all right.”

The city of New Orleans has been hit with a one-two punch: Katrina and the recession.

“Before Katrina it was way better,” said Ashley, 24, who works at Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club, an upscale establishment on Bourbon Street, and chose to withhold her full name. “It wasn’t as slow as it is now.”

Rahme said that showgirls can get a good picture of  the state of the economy by the amount of tips they receive because the tips represent  disposable income for the patrons.

“The only thing people spend money on is sex and alcohol,” said Danielle Blune, 22, a cashier at DejaVu.

Henry Gordon, who works at the front desk at Little Darlings, a predominately black strip club on Bourbon Street, said he goes to  those establishments whenever he has the money to do so, often spending  up to $40 each visit.

Lewis said the average customer would spend about $120 per visit before the recession, but now  may only spend $50 to $60. “But you still have those guys who own their own businesses, big-time lawyers and corporate guys, and they’re still blowing it like there’s no tomorrow,” he said.

Many factors determine how much a dancer can make.

Fiona del Mar, who provided only her stage name, said that dancers must “have a personality, the ability to speak well and they must stay focused.” Fiona, who works at Larry Flynt’s Barely Legal Club in the Quarter, added that dancers have to know how to get sales and that looks alone are not enough.

“You could be drop dead gorgeous and do bad,” she said.

Fiona is a senior entomologist major at the University of Nevada, in Las Vegas, and works as a circuit dancer, traveling from state to state performing at different clubs. In her travels, she has noticed a difference in customer spending depending on the market. Michigan, where she worked for some time, consisted of a mostly blue-collar clientele. She said patrons there were worried about losing their jobs and did not spend much. But in the French Quarter, she said, there are more white-collar clients.

She described the stripping industry in terms of macroeconomics it’s all about consumer confidence, and if people know they will have money in the future they will spend it in the clubs.

But in the Quarter, where many tourists flock, the clubs that line the streets often do better than others elsewhere in the city according to Montriell McCarter, 41, the manager at Stilettos Cabaret.

“This is a tourist-driven industry,” said Rahme, adding that the winter months bring in the most money, as people are drawn to Mardi Gras, conventions and festivals. Summer months are slow, he said, because no one really wants to go out into the heat.

Nonetheless, people are still applying to the showgirl hotspots on Bourbon Street. At DejaVu Showgirls, the number of auditions has remained the same, averaging 10 per week,  Rahme said.  The number of those hired has also remained the same despite the recession, but it varies each week depending on the quality of applicants.

To draw in more business, various clubs on Bourbon Street have promotions and incentives.

Barely Legal will have  an outside  pool in the back of the club by the end of the month. They also promote Monday Madness with a free pass, $3 drinks and $100 bottles. DejaVu has $2 Tuesdays, where patrons can purchase $2 beer and enter for the same price. Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club offers platinum and gold membership cards that include free admission into the club and various rooms.

Devin Nicholson, 24, of New Orleans, a security guard at Little Darlings, believes the industry will last.

“Clients are still going to be loyal,” he said. “The girls build established relationships with them and the clients feel like they are a part of something.”