US: A North Carolina federal judge has ruled that Irish set-dancing replicates the rhythms of sex and that lap-dancing clubs should not face discrimination.
However, state officials have said they will appeal the decision and claimed the judge's interpretation of Irish dancing was incorrect.
In a federal district court ruling in North Carolina, Judge Carlton Tilley accepted "convincing" evidence by a dance expert that the pounding rhythm of Irish set-dancing replicated the rhythm of sex, even though it is considered a rigid and sexless form of dance.
In ruling in favour of two erotic dance clubs, Judge Tilley quoted the evidence of University of Maryland anthropologist and dance expert Dr Judith Hanna, who has studied the sexual meaning of Irish set-dancing.
He described Dr Hanna's testimony as "credible and uncontradicted".
In a landmark ruling on the US constitution's freedom of expression provisions, Judge Tilley struck down some provisions of a state law banning erotic dancing and said it was so broad that the sexually charged performances of pop stars Madonna or Britney Spears could be prosecuted under the law.
However, the chief counsel of North Carolina's Alcohol Beverage Control Commission, Fred Gregory, said yesterday that the ruling was flawed and that he would appeal. "He says Irish dancing is erotic. Well, that's in his eyes," Mr Gregory told The Irish Times.
The ruling ends a five-year battle by erotic dancing clubs against a state law that forbids professional dancers from touching their bodies erotically.
State inspectors had prosecuted Christie's Cabaret, a strip club in North Carolina, after inspectors saw some of the dancers move suggestively on stage. The club faced a 30-day suspension before it decided to fight the case.
Judge Tilley warned that the owners of a local stadium could be prosecuted for allowing the local cheerleading team, the Topcats, "to perform dances incorporating movements that, even momentarily, could be interpreted as simulating sexual intercourse".
He said the same could also apply to fully clothed dance club patrons wishing to do dances such as those seen in the films Dirty Dancing or Saturday Night Fever.