But is it art?

Ah, loopholes. They're what make this country flexible. And one of those loopholes apparently allows flexible women to dance around nude in Iowa, for the time being, anyway:

Iowa doesn't have any all-nude strip clubs — but it does have performing arts centers where women dance naked.

However, the loophole in the state's public indecent exposure law that allows nude dancing at "art centers" is under attack in the small community of Hamburg, a town of 1,200 just across the Missouri River from Nebraska.

The case pending before a Fremont County judge effects only one business in Hamburg, but if he agrees with the prosecutor, it could eventually threaten the legal standing of nude dancing clubs across the state.

District Judge Timothy O'Grady heard arguments in a one-day trial on July 17 and took the case under advisement.

So, what prompted this whole case? Well, that's where things start to get...inappropriate:

It all began on July 21, 2007, when a 17-year-old niece of Sheriff Steven MacDonald climbed up on stage at Shotgun Geniez in Hamburg and stripped off her clothing. Owner Clarence Judy was charged with violating Iowa's public indecent exposure law.

Judy responded that the law doesn't apply to a "theater, concert hall, art center, museum, or similar establishments" devoted to the arts or theatrical performances.

"Dance has been considered one of the arts, as is sculpture, painting and anything else like that. What Clarence has is a club where people can come and perform," said his lawyer, Michael Murphy.

Murphy noted that the club has a gallery selling collectible posters and other art, and it provides patrons with sketch pads.

Ah, well, I suppose that makes the whole underage girl doing a striptease on stage thing more classy, huh? The fact that the audience could sketch her. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the prosecutor isn't buying that argument.

"Are you saying that minors can't be protected? Can a group of 12-year-olds come down and go in and dance nude and it's OK? I don't think that's what the Legislature had in mind when it made those additional provisions," Johnson said.

Johnson said the intent of the law is to allow movies in a theater where there's brief nudity or for an art gallery displaying paintings of nudes.

Judy's lawyer argues that they keep anyone who's under 18 out of the club, but that a group of girls smuggled in the 17-year-old, who just decided she felt like dancing and getting nude.

"While she was there, she felt like dancing so she got up and danced on the stage and then she took her clothes off. Trouble with that is she's the sheriff's niece," he said.

Uh, no, the trouble with that is that she was a minor. And though the defense cited a 1998 case that ruled nude dancing could be considered art, I tend to doubt that covers minors.