A saloon-style striptease at an Australian government-sponsored conference on global warming left some scientists and government officials hot and bothered.The show was cut short and organizers issued an apology after some delegates at the Australia and New Zealand Climate Forum's dinner in Canberra walked out during what was intended as a lighthearted break from the weighty business of rising temperatures.
Rebecca Gale, who led the team of dancers from Miss Kitka's House of Burlesque, said the performance was in reasonably good taste and she didn't understand what the fuss was about.
Gale said she appeared during dinner wearing a heavy corset, black fishnet stockings and at least a dozen balloons, which she invited delegates to pop as she danced to Peggy Lee's 1958 hit "Fever."
"The most that any of the girls get down to is vintage lingerie, which is corsetry and stockings," Gale told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio on Friday. "It's not like we were doing full nudity and simulating sexual acts or anything like that."
"There wasn't even a midriff on display," she said.
But some in the audience objected to the Wednesday night show in Australia's old Parliament House, and the dance troupe was asked to stop about 10 minutes into a 45-minute routine, Gale said.
The Australian National University, which organized the conference, issued a statement the next day apologizing for any offense caused.
When Environment Minister Ian Campbell learned of the show, he canceled his department's sponsorship, and the Agriculture Department followed suit.
