<P> Established in 1979, Chippendales was the first all - male stripping troupe to make a business performing for mostly female audiences . Through the quality of its staging and choreography, Chippendales also helped legitimize stripping as a form of popular entertainment . </P> <P> The company produces Broadway - style shows worldwide and licenses its intellectual property for select consumer products ranging from apparel and accessories to slot machines and video games . The Chippendales perform in a ten - million - dollar theater and lounge built specifically for them at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas . Annually, the men of Chippendales are seen by almost two million people worldwide, performing in more than 25 cities in the U.S., 23 cities in Central and South America, 60 European cities, four Asian countries, and eight South African cities . The main troupe members today are Billy Jeffrey, Sami Eskelin, Nathan Minor, Jaymes Vaughan, Staceyy Robinson, James Davis and Johnny Howes . </P> <P> After operating a Mobil gas station, Somen Banerjee and his newly acquired partner, a law student at Loyola Law School named Bruce Nahin, bought a failed west Los Angeles disco named Destiny II and turned it into a nightclub featuring female mud wrestling and a "Female Exotic Dancing Night ." Destiny II was located at 3739 Overland Avenue at McCune Avenue in Palms . The idea of featuring male dancers came from a nightclub promotional idea by Paul Snider, while the club name Chippendales was suggested by Nahin because of the Chippendale style furniture at the club . </P> <P> The concept of the male strip show was brought to Banerjee and Nahin by Snider (later notorious for killing his estranged wife, Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten and then himself) who was desperate to revive his nightclub business because other ideas of backgammon and female mud wrestling were failing . Banerjee was the creative force behind Chippendales, packaging the idea of a male burlesque show with the name of elegant furniture in a night club venue that was clean and refined, and that allowed women to feel comfortable watching men strip down to a G - string . The initial script was written by Richard Barsh, who was the show's first Emcee . The concept immediately gained a huge female following . Together with choreographer and Emmy award winner Nicholas De Noia and his associate Candace Mayeron (Snider had died in 1980), Chippendales was expanded to New York's Club Magique, London, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Thailand, Australia, Philadelphia, and Florida . Choreographer De Noia was originally in charge of the stage show . Authorized shows also toured extensively in the U.S. (by De Noia and Mayeron), Asia, and Europe (through Banerjee). </P>

Where did chip and dale dancers get their name