Dancing on the Great Wall (Re: Is Ballroom Dancing a dying Art?)

Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2003 03:29:31 +0000 (UTC)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.dance,rec.travel.misc
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Ballroom dancing is certainly not a dying art. If nothing else, it
seems that China will keep ballroom dancing alive.
During a trip to Mainland China last year, I did one West Coast Swing
thow-out on the Great Wall. I wanted a photo-op of dancing in China;
and I thought that was all the social partner dancing I would see.
I didn't think it at all unusual when I saw older folk practicing
Tai Chi in the morning in the parks around the Tienanmen square and
Forbidden City area. The people doing ribbon dances as part of their
morning exercises were especially picturesque.
However, my eyes almost popped out when I also saw people ballroom
dancing in several of the outdoor parks and plaza's in Beijing as my
tour bus drove about the area. I observed large groups of people
ballroom dancing in the public parks in at least 3 completely different
parts of the country. Most of the dancing looked like it was
International Standard, but some of it could have been Chinese Tango.
I found one of these groups on a walk about Beijing. About 2 or 3
dozen couples, mostly middle aged, were practicing International
Standard ballroom dance on a paved plaza outside a subway station
(about a half hour walk to the left of Mao's portrait fronting
Tienanmen.) After about 20 minutes of communicating by hand signals,
I managed to dance a Tango with one lady. She clearly followed Intl.
Standard Tango.
In the ancient Chinese city capital of Xian, about 20 minutes after a
rain storm, I saw people ballroom dancing on a stone-paved plaza just
outside the ancient fortess city walls. I also saw ballroom dancing in
a park near the picturesque river city of Guilin.
Some trip photos here: http://homepage.mac.com/rhn/.Pictures/china2002/china2002_tn/index3.html
One of my tour guides said that Chinese Tango is (or was) taught in
some of the public schools in Beijing.
IMHO. YMMV.
--
Ron Nicholson rhn @ nicholson . com http://www.nicholson.com/rhn/
#include <canonical.disclaimer> // only my own opinions, etc.