Whatever you do, don’t call them “male strippers.”

Kathy Jacobs, manager and promoter for The American Dream Team, a corps of male dancers appearing in Hunk-A-Mania tonight and Saturday at Parker Playhouse, says she prefers to call it “male burlesque.”

OK, they’re not strippers.

Sure, in the course of “burlesquing” these dancers may strip – uh, peel – down to their very conservative thongs while rhythmically shaking their moneymakers toward a room filled with screaming, cheering women.

And sure, they take tip sets – breaks from all that hard burlesquing to come down into the audience and allow enchanted audience members to reward their goodness with, say, a stiff, green dollar. Or maybe a $5 or a $10.

But that doesn’t make them strippers. No way!

“I didn’t want them to be considered male strippers,” Jacobs says. “I hate that term. We are a full-blown production show.”

And they’re cholesterol free, too.

Hunk-A-Mania incorporates several costume changes, from cowboy gear to Elvis. Jacobs insists the focus of the show is the good-time spirit of song and dance, with a dash of naughty thrown in for good measure.

During a recent practice session at Gold’s Gym on Commercial Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale, six core members of the Tampa-based dance troupe demonstrated some of their popular burlesque moves.

An assortment of tall and taller, clean-shaven and bearded, close-cropped and ponytailed, the men, wearing clingy red shorts, stood in formation awaiting their musical cue.

Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal blared. Feet apart. Heads down. Now up. Hands across the body. The well-tanned and quite toned hoofers kicked, tilted and slid to the sharp bass beat.

The set lasted only a few minutes, but their faces glowed with satisfaction. They appeared sated, filled with the knowledge of how excited their female fans become at show time.

“I like to think of it as Disneyland for women,” says Brandon Miles.

Along with the American Dream Team members, about 11 additional dancers will perform in the show. American Dream Team has performed internationally as well as in Las Vegas.

The dancers come from a variety of backgrounds and draw motivation for staying fit and traveling from the satisfaction of what they do.

“I’d say 90 percent of all people who get up in the morning don’t like what they do [for a living),” says Damian Scott. “We like what we do. And we’re all friends.”

Brandon Miles, a George Michael look-alike who pays tribute to the British rocker during the show by performing to some of his songs, says, “The exhilaration of being onstage is great.”

Along with titillating women while onstage, troupe member Scotty Mauro will be a real page turner this winter. Mauro will appear in the December ’96 Playgirl.

After a photographer spotted Mauro during a male revue, he found himself in California doing the “nerve-racking” shoot. “I’m kind of a shy person,” he says. Why, you practically have to twist his arm to learn he’ll be completely nude in the issue.

Nude. But he didn’t strip. He carefully removed the garments and then tried to smile as he was positioned and repositioned for the cameras.

Mauro didn’t discuss his turn-ons and turnoffs, but he did say his passion was “to be successful and be close with my family. My mother is my favorite person in the whole world.”

Delighted by the progress the American Dream Team has made since it began touring last year, the group looks forward to the future.

The next stop: cyber burlesque.

Says John Kent, the group’s self-appointed, perfectly proportioned computer geek, “Oh, I definitely see us going on-line.”