私はストリップを芸術として観ていきたい。注目すべき記事として記録します。

記事の中から私の注目するコメントをピックアップしました。
（日本語訳は私によるものなので、おかしい場合はご指摘下さいね）

裁判を起こしたストリップクラブで働いている踊り子さんのコメント：
"Striptease is an art just like any other dance on stage."
ストリップショーは他のダンスステージと全く同じ芸術なのよ
"People claim that we're being used but it's not true. We're grown-ups and if we
didn't enjoy it we wouldn't do it,"
私たちが使用されていると思われているけどそれは違うわ。
私たちは大人です、この仕事が楽しくなければやってないわ。
"Every one of us has our own show."
私たちはみんな自分自身のショーを持っているの
"shouldn't make up their mind without coming here first and
seeing what it's all about"
（反対する政治家達に対して）まずここへきて、全てを見てから
反対かどうか決めるべきだわ。
"I'm very pleased. Ninety percent of the guests here tell me that what I'm doing
is art,"
９０％のお客さんが私のしていることを芸術だといってくれてとても嬉しい

一方で、裁判官や弁護士の気になるコメントも：
the judge explained that there were two types of striptease:
one that was artistic and the other vulgar.
裁判官は、ストリップショーには２つのタイプがあると説明した。
一つは芸術的なもの、もう一つは卑猥なもの
lawyers for the Blue Angel argued that undressing as nurses, police women
or flamenco dancers demonstrated artistic flair. Tax authority lawyers said
audiences were attracted to the shows by nudity, not art.
クラブ側の弁護士「看護婦、婦人警官やフラメンコダンサーの衣装で脱ぐことは
芸術的な演出」。税務局側の弁護士「観客は芸術ではなく裸に魅力を感じている」
striptease gets a bad rap because of countries where strip clubs are a
thinly-veiled front for prostitution.
（経営者のコメント）売春まがいのストリップクラブがある国々があるため、
ストリップショーは悪い印象を持たれてしまう。

以下は、ネットでのソース記事です。
******************************************************************
時事通信【オスロ５日】
　ノルウェーのオスロの裁判所はこのほど、ストリップは芸術なので付加価値
税（ＶＡＴ）は免除されるとの裁定を下した。ＶＡＴは日本の消費税と同じよう
な間接税で、ノルウェー当局はこれをストリップの入場料にも適用する計画だったが、
オスロのストリップ・クラブ「ダイヤモンド・ゴーゴー・バー」が差し止めを求めて
裁判を起こしていた。
　同クラブの弁護士たちは法廷で、汚いジョークを飛ばすコメディアンや奇術師たち
のショーの入場チケットに対してはＶＡＴが課されておらず不公平だと主張していた。
オスロ地裁の判事は、ストリップに対してもオペラ、バレエなどの劇場公演芸術と同様、
ＶＡＴを免除すべきだとの判断を示した。
　フランス通信（ＡＦＰ）が入手した判決文書の中で判事は、外国など一部の場所では
美しいアーチストが体を官能的に動かしながら次第に衣装を脱いでいくショーを見る
ことができ、客にとって非常に良い経験になるが、その一方で公演芸術とはとても言え
ない悪趣味なものもあると指摘し、「ダイヤモンド・ゴーゴー・バー」の場合はダンサー
と客の肉体的接触を禁じているので前者に入ると述べている。〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕

AFP 17may05 OSLO:
In front of a handful of spectators at the dimly lit String Show Bar, Nadja slowly
undresses as she writhes her body around a pole on stage. Be it in good taste or
not, a Norwegian judge has ruled that striptease is an art just like opera.
The issue came to a head earlier this month when an Oslo court ruled that a local
strip club was exempt from imposing a 25-percent value-added tax (VAT) on entry
fees because it was an art form on a par with ballet and theatre.
"Striptease is an art just like any other dance on stage. It's sensual dance
which is more tasteful than some drunk girls dancing on a bar on a night out,"
says Electra, a 23-year-old lightly-clad Swede who started go-go dancing
-- with her clothes on -- when she was 14 using a fake ID.

But is striptease vulgar?
"No more than a girl wearing a bra and a G-string in a Hennes and Mauritz
catalogue," Electra insists.
"People claim that we're being used but it's not true. We're grown-ups and if we
didn't enjoy it we wouldn't do it," she says.
Samira, 27 and also from Sweden, is a stripper whose showstopper is a jiggling
belly dance. "I feel like a star actually," she says with a broad smile.
"Nudity is only a tiny bit of my show. I'm totally naked only the last two seconds,"
she says.
The two girls turn to watch Nadja as she struts her stuff on stage.
"Every one of us has our own show. You never get tired of looking at the other girls
dancing," Samira explains.

When the Oslo court granted the Diamond Go Go Bar the same tax exemption as theatre
performances, the judge explained that there were two types of striptease:
one that was artistic and the other vulgar.
The judge said that "to the court's knowledge", the shows in question were artistic.
The court case revived a debate that erupted in Norway in 2002 when it emerged
that conventional striptease performances were subject to VAT while tickets for a
performance by the famed male strip group Chippendales were not.
The String Show Bar incidentally provides male strippers on demand for hen parties.

Its owner, Magnus Morland, is critical of tax authorities who refuse to consider
striptease an art, but at the same time apply the so-called "artist" income tax to
strippers. "Inconsistent," he laments.

After this month's court ruling, most political parties have vowed to change Norway's
tax regulations if the tax office loses a possible appeal.
Samira says politicians "shouldn't make up their mind without coming here first and
seeing what it's all about".

An entry ticket would cost them 19 euros.
"Striptease is as artistic as a ballet. It's a choreography featuring a dancer who
moves to music and gives spectators pleasure," insists Morland.
He says striptease gets a bad rap because of countries where strip clubs are a
thinly-veiled front for prostitution.

Entertainment News Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Like opera, striptease is art, Oslo court rules

Entertainment News, Oslo: Striptease is art like opera or ballet, an Oslo court
has ruled in a victory for nightclub owners over Norway's tax authorities.
"I'm very pleased. Ninety percent of the guests here tell me that what I'm doing
is art," a female stripper at the Dream Go Go Bar in the city of Trondheim told NRK
radio on Wednesday.
The court ruled this week that striptease should be treated like other artistic stage
shows, ranging from stand-up comedy to opera, for which tickets are exempt from
value-added tax (VAT).
Tax authorities had demanded more than 1.0 million Norwegian crowns ($159,500) from
the Blue Angel club in Oslo in unpaid VAT, arguing that strippers were not artists
and so tickets to their shows were subject to VAT, normally 25 percent.
lawyers for the Blue Angel, which contested the VAT demands, argued that undressing
as nurses, police women or flamenco dancers demonstrated artistic flair. Tax authority
lawyers said audiences were attracted to the shows by nudity, not art.