Pole-Dancing Stunt At 200-Year-Old Greek Palace Lands Women Studying Abroad In Hot Water
These poor ladies weren't asking for trouble.
If you're studying abroad, stripping down to your underwear for a staged photo shoot on a pole outside a Greek palace might not be the best idea. Not unless you're trying to interrupt your stay with a run-in with the law.
The Sun reports that five women were visiting a Greek island for a two-week study abroad with their pole-dancing school when they filmed a video showing at least two of them swinging around a white post at Corfu’s Old Palace.
The palace is a 200-year-old former royal residence and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the stunt was determined to be an illegal act by the Ministry of Culture. The women were accused of violating archaeological law and degrading the surrounding area.
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When the video of the early morning stunt went viral, the women were arrested. Two of the five dancers received six-month suspended sentences and were ordered to pay $226.95 in court fees, according to local media site ekathimerini.com.
The two women have appealed the ruling. The remaining three dancers were acquitted.
But don’t be confused here: these women were not out to be disrespectful.
The Pole-Dancing Stunt At The Palace Is All An Unfortunate Misunderstanding
The acquitted dancers said as much in their apologies outside the court. Per The Sun, the father of one of the women said "they had no idea it was wrong to be performing where they were."
Whatever happened to no harm, no foul?
"I believe this has been driven by politics," the father added. "Someone in authority has got it in for them… They’re not tarts and their dancing is not sexual. It’s performance art."
According to the pole dancers, the real person to blame is a local photographer who was hired for their trip.
"He chose where they would perform. He assured them this site was okay, and they trusted him," the dad claimed.
"They did it late at night to cause as little disturbance and nuisance to locals. But it attracted quite a few people and some were videoing on phones. One put it online and it went viral."
These ladies didn’t ask for this. They wanted a place to shoot some wholesome pole-dancing content in their underwear and put their trust in the wrong local photographer.