- Title: Hips don't lie: Robots take up pole dancing at French night club
- Date: 31st August 2019
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (French) 23-YEAR-OLD DANCER, LEXI, SAYING: "In the beginning, they were made because, correct me if I'm wrong, of the lack of surveillance in clubs. So, they won't really change our sector. They won't replace us. Also, we're not in a vulgar job. It's an artistic job. It's something that's beautiful, and robots won't change that." ROBOT DANCING (SOUNDBITE) (English) 37-YEAR-OLD DANCER, CHACHA MADEMOISELLE, SAYING: "I think to be feminist today is about choosing your own liberty, your own way of being, so as the way women want to be how they are, how they feel, so I think it (robot dancers) could just be good and great and fair. So for me, this is really feminism." VARIOUS OF ROBOT UNDERGOING MAINTENANCE EXTERIOR OF SC-CLUB
- Embargoed: 14th September 2019 11:36
- Keywords: Robot strippers strip tease artificial intelligence technology France club Nantes
- Location: NANTES, FRANCE
- City: NANTES, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Editors' Choice
- Reuters ID: LVA006AUJT74P
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Donning high heels and standing on elevated platforms at a dimly lit club, humanoid robots moved their hips as they pole danced in front of their majority male audience on Friday night (August 30) at Nantes' SC-Club.
The robots will make their official debut at SC-Club on Tuesday (September 3) and will be performing there for a month.
The two robotic dancers are there to mark the club's fifth anniversary and earn a spot in history as the first nightclub to have these dancers grace the stage.
Conceptualised by British artist Giles Walker, the "robot strippers" are made of plastic morsels of female mannequins and metal vehicle parts.
Walker has said the robots aimed to "play with the notion of voyeurism," posing the question of "who has the power between the voyeur and the observed person."
SC-Club owner Laurent Roue said the mechanical dancers pay homage to robotics' importance in modern life.
He said they will not replace the club's 10 human dancers, who perform alongside the newcomers, although some might find the robots "very sexy."
"To each his own," Roue said.
(Production: Udi Kivity, Ardee Napolitano) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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