------Program code: DO-080804-01535 (what's this?)
Source: CCTV.com
08-04-2008 09:28
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They are a group of people whose passion lies in dancing: ranging from the elders to youth. Dancing makes their lives rich and colorful and fills their world with spirit and energy. In China today, dancing can be used to express one’s own story as well as bring out life’s joy.
In the community of Anzhenli in Beijing, a troupe of old dancers rehearses almost every morning at their local dance studio. Their choreographer, Sun Yidan, gets up bright and early to instruct and direct their movements.
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The average age of the members of this dance troupe is 53, and none of them are professional dancers. The dance they are rehearsing is Italian so they had ethnic Italian costumes custom made.
Mrs. Sun has lived in Anzhenli since childhood. She graduated from the Central University for Nationalities majoring in dance. In 2005, with the help of the neighborhood committee, she founded the Shasha Dance Workshop and now, many people from the surrounding area come to her to study dance. Doing the choreography for the dance troupe also became one of Mrs. Sun’s duties.
The members of the dance troupe all consider dance to be a longstanding hobby and thus throw themselves into it with great passion.
On the wooden floor of the dance studio, the dancers rehearse over and over, their greatest wish being to dance at the Olympics. As for Sun Yidan: she dreams of gaining an ever greater number of students.
In the cities of China today, dance has already become a type of exercise. People take advantage of any and every usable space, practicing their favorite kind of dance.
Accompanied by music, people stretch their bodies in a carefree manner. Dancing isn’t just about getting exercise, it’s more about getting a certain enjoyment. Although it may be only for their own personal satisfaction, the movements and posture of many dancers is positively exquisite.
Winters in the north are cold and can seem endless. The dancers who were originally outside have moved into dance halls. There are a great many dance halls in Cangzhou, both big and small. Every hall is filled with people doing the morning’s first exercise.
During the 80’s, ballroom dancing became fashionable for young people in China. Universities held dances every weekend.
Over twenty years passed. Young people began to get into the more rigorous disco and street dancing. Ballroom dancing became a pastime associated with the middle aged as more and more people moved from the dance halls onto the street or public squares. Social dancing in China isn’t just an elegant form of dance; it has become a typical way to work out as well as have fun.
For the competition in Beijing, Dong Junheng and Xiao Yan have agreed to meet here and practice as early as possible. Dong is known for having a bad temper; when worried or anxious he criticizes his apprentice and dance partner, Xiao Yan, mercilessly.
Xiao Yan began studying under Dong two years ago, and they’ve been dance partners ever since. Previous partners had all been unable to cope with Dong’s temper and thus far, Xiao Yan has been with him the longest.
In the traditional farming society of the past, Chinese people mostly lived with their entire families: relationships between neighbors were often close and intimate.
