The Daily Newds 2/11/09

• The Leeds City Museum is offering "Designer Body", a piece of performance theatre which celebrates the beauty of the human body.

  Over the course of 50 minutes the seven dancers will slowly disrobe until they each end up completely naked.
  
  Christine Grimwood, company manager, said: "The piece consists of dancers revolving on plinths that go in different directions and at different speeds.
  
  They start off in quite elaborate costumes and over the course of the performance they strip away layers until they end up like sculptural nudes."

• Strippers in Michigan are being targeted with special work permits and excise fees.

  An attorney who has advised the Michigan chapter of the club association expressed concerns about the constitutionality of both aspects of the legislation.
  
  "In regard to the head tax, everyone that has pursued one of these has had it overturned," said Brad Shafer, based in Lansing.
  
  "There are all kinds of constitutional issues - freedom of speech, freedom of association, Fourth Amendment, privacy issues. For it to be lawful, it has to comply with all those constitutional requirements," he said adding that he has played a role in overturning similar licensing laws in other cities, including Louisville, Ky.

• Nudists and naturists are always saying that total nudity is less sexy than the presence of some clothing, and a theatre blogger agrees.

  The best – and most erotic – sex scenes in the theatre are often suggestive rather than explicit; they frequently come fully clothed. In Phil Willmott's canny production of Fucking Men, the sex has always just taken place or is about to take place. We never actually see it. In Akhe's Faust at the ICA a couple of weeks ago, Faust's sexual conquest was brilliantly indicated by a tiny spinning top.

• The controversy over an artist who paints nude portraits of his 23 year-old daughter is representative of the confusion in China brought about by the sexual revolution of the past three decades.
• Hugh Jackman declares that he is planning on doing his stint as Oscar host in the nude.
• New Zealanders gathered to celebrate National Naturists' Week.
• A photo of a nude man was projected onto a museum building in Britain to break the taboo of showing the male form.
• After their request for a nude beach was rejected, the Nambucca Valley Nudist Group is continuing their search for a clothing-optional area.
• Backpacker magazine is inviting comments from readers who have hiked in the nude, or would consider doing so.
• Columnist Mark Patinkin doesn't seem to have a problem with all the violence at The Super Bowl, but he's really upset about all the sexy ads.
• Cynthia Manning has been posing as a nude artists' model since 1998.

  Everybody has character in their body. There was a model here, she weighed 350 pounds. People clamored for her. You have to figure out where the skeleton is, what the body is doing under the flesh, body type-wise. That’s what you go for, to teach you how to understand human anatomy. Foreshortening is critical. You have to understand a bent leg.

• A blogger attends his first nudist event.

  I had the feeling that I was doing something illicit, that I was part of a small group gathering in secret to do something that society tells us not to do. It was a bit nerve-wracking, but exhilarating at the same time. I couldn’t wait to get inside and meet these new people...I had a chance to talk with several members, and they all were friendly and approachable. I wonder if being naked with all these strangers forced me to be more social?

• Meet the best nudism writer in Canada.

  After a couple lengths of easy breast stroke, I screw up my courage to talk to some nudists. Dog-paddling naked is one thing, but doing interviews? I had no idea journalism would present such personal challenges.
  
  I survey the pool area. Lee was right, everyone is doing ordinary things. Talking. Swimming. Hugging. Wait -- hugging? Naked?
  
  "Body contact is not a big deal," says Jill, who has asked not to use her real name. "It's not sexual. It's like hugging someone at an office party. 'Hey, Merry Christmas, how have you been?' It's the same."
  
  I begin to worry Jill is going to hug me. She doesn't, but takes a few minutes to tell me why she is a nudist.
  
  "Swimming naked is absolutely wonderful," she says. "It's a bit of who I am and I'm not worried about my body. And it's fun.
  
  "We're not showing off, we're swimming."

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked