The Grand Hotel yesterday held the first performance of its controversial topless show, with wary Council of Labor Affairs (CLA) inspectors on hand to make sure things did not get out of control.
The hotel announced several months ago that it planned to hire performers from Las Vegas to put on shows featuring sword swallowing, circus acts and topless dancing, but council officials in February stalled making a decision on the hotel’s request to hire foreign performers to dance topless.
Council officials said at the time that although the topless shows may be acceptable in places such as Las Vegas, the same may not apply in Taiwanese society. They invited representatives from other government agencies, including the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Education, to discuss the matter, fearing that topless shows may constitute public indecency and violate laws such as the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) and the Criminal Code.
The council gave a conditional go-ahead in March after receiving the hotel’s promise that the 88-minute show would only comprise 10 minutes of topless dancing at most.
Inspectors were watching the show yesterday, which has temporarily obtained approval for performances up until May 21, to make sure that performers did only what had been approved. The council said it would be ready to issue fines if there were any violations.
The council said it would base its decision on whether to extend approval on the show’s adherence to laws and regulations, such as whether the actual show involved performances other than those shown in a video recording submitted to the council for approval.
Aside from topless dancing, the dance troupe of nine women and one man were scheduled to perform songs from musicals, ethnic dancing and various circus acts.
The performances are limited to audiences aged 18 years or older.
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