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This page is finished. But see the news flash about Luke, below!

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Luke's First Time:

Dancing Naked at a Gay Naked Gathering

, I'm sitting here with Luke, who comes from the midwest, and who is attending a nude gathering for the first time.

How did you find out about GNI?

Through a friend who had gone several years. His photos made it look like a fun event. I threatened to go for several years and finally got around to it this year.

Did people tell you about the dancing?

Yes. That was a draw for me.

Because?

I really enjoy dancing, and I thought nude disco would just be a blast.

Had you danced naked before?

No. Not in public.

In private?

In the bathroom, that's about it. Getting ready.

What kind of dancing did you do?

Disco -- current dance music.

What kind of music do you like to dance to?

I guess more circuit music, with the vocals as well. After a time the circuit music without the vocals gets repetitious, so I like both mixed in.

What is circuit music?

Depends on the circuit party, but it's a real good music of all those musical styles, to please a large crowd, and there's a lot of heavy-beat trance music.

hen was the first time time you danced naked?

Sunday night (the first night of the Gathering).

What time did you arrive at the disco?

It opened at 10; I got there probably at 10:20.

So you were READY!

Yes.

How did that feel?

Exciting. It was still early so you could feel there was going to be an energy build, but it was already starting. It was fun walking into the disco and seeing guys already dancing, especially up on the pedestals.

How long before you actually started dancing?

Probably half an hour.

Why so long?

It was early, I went and got a beer, kinda chatting with friends. And then a good song came on and I was out there dancing!

ow did it feel physically?

It felt GREAT! It reminded me a lot of the first time I swam in the ocean naked. Very natural.

Tell me about the ocean.

You didn't have the binding of the swim trunks and the sand getting in the way, but the sand and the salt felt good on the skin all over. It just felt very very natural.

So dancing naked felt natural too?

Right.

Specifically how?

Usually when I dance I have no problem taking my shirt off, so the feeling of not having a shirt on was not totally foreign to me. That's something I'm very comfortable with. But not having pants on or anything else... it was a nice, unrestricted, free, flexible feeling.

How did it feel emotionally?

It felt good. [He thinks for a bit.] I don't know how to answer that.

Did you feel elated or high? Or something else?

I felt a lot of the energy that you'd find at a much larger event like a circuit party. A lot of those are drug induced, and this wasn't, it was the same amount of energy without the chemicals. That "charge" of the crowd was great.

ow long before you stopped dancing naked?

Pretty much all night until they stopped the music at 1:00 AM. I think I have just about every night when I went to the disco. I started dancing and stayed dancing probably longer than I would have at a normal dance bar with clothes on. It'd take me a long time to get started, get warmed up, get into the scene. But here I got to that point much quicker.

How long did it take before you were on one of the pedestals yourself?

That was the next night, Monday. I was a little apprehensive getting up there at first, but about halfway through the night one of the pedestals freed up so I got on the lower one. It felt great. It was fun to get the attention of some of the people dancing around -- to get in touch with them.

Physically or mentally in touch or both?

Well, not physically, because I was above them, but with the music because we were all dancing to the same music and the same beat.

o you have any exhibitionistic fantasies, for want of a better word?

I guess that was probably it. I enjoy dancing, so I guess dancing naked in front of a crowd was kind of that fantasy coming true.

I once had a guy tell me that the first time he danced naked, he became conscious of how his hips would move his dick and balls back and forth. He was dancing "with" his dick like you would dance with your arms. Were you conscious of that?

No. Probably because I've gone dancing before without underwear in loose shorts, so that same feeling of swinging around had occurred before, and I'm comfortable with that. Given that it's not as large as some people's appendages it wasn't a big deal!

Do you usually wear underwear?

No.

Why not?

It's more close to being naked. It's more comfortable, I think, and adds a certain amount of edge or sex appeal to wearing clothes. Of course I wear underwear to work, but during the summertime, never with shorts -- especially big, baggy shorts.

id you find yourself making moves dancing naked which you wouldn't have made dancing clothed?

I think I was playing to the lights a little more, especially there was a down spot (directly overhead), I was conscious of that and playing to that a little more than I would have, had I been clothed.

So what, specifically, might you do?

Usually try to get the light to cast on the chest and the torso and the legs.

When I look in the mirror, I don't see someone I'm attracted to; I'm a bear who likes non-bears. Are you attracted to the type of body you have?

Generally.

ere you conscious of who was looking at you?

Yes. Not specifically who, but conscious of the fact that people were looking at me -- which was not uncomfortable, which was kind of surprising at first.

Why surprising?

I've always had a certain amount of stage fright, and I've never felt I could do a performance solo, so I figured that I would get uncomfortable if people were looking at me. But not everyone was focusing on me all at once, so that wasn't so threatening, especially because there were six podiums.

Did you like the feeling?

Yes. It made me feel attractive.

Do you think you are attractive?

Yes, but I haven't always felt that way, so it's a feeling that at times is foreign to me.

When did you change your opinion of yourself?

When I came out -- but it didn't happen just like that [he snaps his fingers]. I didn't have to hide who I was and [slowly I got] a feeling of belonging -- being part of a group that I can relate to.

id you like watching the other guys dance?

Oh yes. I appreciate a good dancer. It was fun watching them dance. I've seen strippers, but it's not the same.

What did you like about it?

That's a good question. Obviously it was visually stimulating, just helped with the whole scene the music, the lights, the crowd. Didn't have the distraction of all the clothes.

What can you tell about someone from the way he dances?

You can tell how comfortable someone is with themselves -- a lot of times. People who are uncomfortable with themselves physically usually have a difficult time dancing, from what I can see. People who freely dance with the music have a better opinion of themselves.

How about sweat? People sometimes worry about if they'll throw off beads of sweat if they dance naked.

I didn't worry about that at all. [He laughs.] I sweat a lot when I dance and I like the feeling of that, and being totally naked really enhanced that feeling of the sweat. I didn't put my hands down on wet shorts or wet jeans -- it was wet skin, which tactilely is a much better feeling that wet material.

So will you be dancing naked in the future?

Definitely.

How come?

It's probably my favorite event here at the gathering, and it will definitely keep me coming back. I probably would have come back anyway, but dancing naked was definitely the highlight.

[Indeed, he did come back to the Gathering the next year. See news flash.]

nything else you want to say about dancing naked?

It's going to be interesting to go back and dance fully clothed again. Obviously, dancing naked is not something you can do everywhere.

What would you tell people who haven't danced naked to convince them they should try?

I don't know [he laughs]. It's just one of those things that you have to experience for yourself.

Well, thank you very much!

Sure!