We remain in Shanghai, but head indoors for the China DanceSport Open, where organizers have been reaching out to a new generation of competitors. That includes university students like Zhang Zhanhua and Zhang Ruonan from the Beijing Institute of DanceSport, who signed up for this event to show the crowd they can boogie, just as hard as they study. We get more from Damion Jones.

Nearly 1,000 students from colleges and universities around China filed applications to compete at the Shanghai stop of this year's China DanceSport Open. And while this development excites the organizers, they also want hopefuls who take up the activity to realize they will need to train their minds, as well as their bodies.

"If you want to perform well in DanceSport, you should know about the Western culture related to the sport. This means dancers who have high literacy levels, especially deep understanding of the cultural content, will advance both in exhibition and techniques," said Su Jie CDSF secretary-general.

Zhang Zhanhua and Zhang Ruonan have been partners for 10 years, enjoying decent results along the way, as they took the standard titles at both the Asian Indoor Games and East Asian Games in 2013. But last year much of their time was spent studying for graduate school entrance examinations, while also continuing to prepare for various competitions.

"Look at this, a lot of things to review. This is only one-50th as much I memorized before the exam. And with a waist injury, my partner had to lay down when she would read books," said Zhang Ruonan dancer.

But all the hard work would pay off, as both dancers passed their exams, and will soon become grad students at Capital University of Physical Education and Sports, moving a step closer to their dreams.

"I want to teach in a college after graduation. I admire university instructors very much, and wish to become one of them," said Zhang Zhanhua standard dancer.

Like the two Beijing residents, many participants in the Open are juggling dancing and education, as Zhao Peng and Wang Qi from Shanghai University of Sport claimed the Standard category title, while Professional Latin champions Hou Kun and Zhuang Ting are college students as well.