The show is slated to open next month at a downtown riverside venue that has been decked out with crystal chandeliers, marble floors and red velvet-lined walls. It will closely resemble the original cabaret in Paris.

"It's the same show as in Paris. The same costumes, the same music, the same lighting," said Sofia Balma, choreographer and former dancer with the troupe. "We didn't change a thing."

Singapore has been trying to create a livelier image of itself to lure more tourists, especially from China. The government scrapped a ban on casinos earlier this year, inviting international gaming and property companies to bid for two casino-resorts that may cost as much as $5 billion.

Besides the famed venue in the French capital, Crazy Horse Paris also opened at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in 2001.

Seven of the dancers, wearing miniskirts and black stilettos and holding mini bottles of champagne, posed in front of the Singapore Merlion, a local city landmark, later in the day.

They were greeted by a more traditional performance – the lion dance, in which several young men dance inside a Chinese lion costume.

"I heard that Singapore was strict, but I've found the people here very open," said Rita, a dancer from Romania, who has been with the company for almost five years. She uses the stage name Rita Casablanca but refused to give her real name.

Balma said she will audition Asian dancers who want to join the troupe. Most of the dancers are from France but the troupe also includes Russians and Poles.

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