Forget English, I'm gonna teach the Waltz

Students ordered to dance into new semester
(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2007-06-04 14:31

China's Ministry of Education has ordered all students in primary and secondary schools around the country to learn to dance and to perform a dance every day at school starting from the new term beginning on September 1.

Students dance during a break in a high school in Beijing.
Students dance during a break in a high school in Beijing. [china.org.cn]
Boys and girls in senior high schools will be required to learn and to dance the Waltz.

The ministry will promote the adoption of seven sets of student group dances nationwide in the coming semester, Beijing Morning Post reported today.

The ministry said that the time for dancing will be during class breaks or in extra-curricular physical exercise time.

The dances won't take the place of physical exercises during the break but will be an addition to existing exercise forms. Each set of dances will last four to five minutes and schools can map out the time for students to dance one or several sets, the report said.

The seven designated dances are "Good Friends," "Sunny Campus", "Little White Boat" for primary schools; "Youth Melody" and "The Yangge Dance" for junior high schools and "The Young" and "The Waltz" for senior high schools, the report said.

The ministry began training dancing instructors this month. The first set of sample performances had been put on video discs and will be sent out to provincial education departments. Each province will call up teachers to learn the dances.

The ministry said that it took two years for experts to create the group dances and to make them appropriate to the physical and mental characteristics of the different age groups of the students.

The ministry plans to bring out a new set of group dances every two years, the report said.

The ministry has ordered students in primary and secondary schools to work out in physical exercises for an hour every day.

"You WILL learn the dance and you WILL like it, damn it!" 

I just received an e-mail from the Ministry of Education. They are adding addition dances. I will be teaching the Moonwalk and the Cabbage Patch. Once they get the hang of that, I'm going to teach them to Krump 

hehe - I bet they'll love those Babs.

How exactly does the cabbage patch go again?

 

Wooohoo! Bush dances!!
Ah, wait a minute! I am using the Australian definition of "bush"....not the bastardized USAnian version.

Heel and toe, Canadian 3 step, Hokey Pokey!!!!!

Ya gotta luv it ... polka and kolemaika and chattise and samba and ... lap dancing anyone???

Ya gotta luv it ... polka and kolemaika and chattise and samba and ... lap dancing anyone???

Eagle - you have a private lap dancer.  I doubt if she would approve of you teaching anyone else that dance. 

Tap dance. Step dance. Break dance. Hip dance. Hop dance... 

Dancing??? What the...why...how...In the name of the Great Purple Pixie, what does dancing have to do with English? clog dancing, the bunny hop, the funky chicken, walk like an Egyptian, lancier, limbo...ohh, the choices are endless.

Belly

............. clog dancing, the bunny hop, the funky chicken, walk like an Egyptian, lancier, limbo...ohh, the choices are endless.

Those choices are hideous!

And to think I was hesitating to add my years teaching for Fred Astair and Arthur Murray to my resume. I see more job security in my future. 

Quote from: ericthered on June 05, 2007, 03:44:10 AM

............. clog dancing, the bunny hop, the funky chicken, walk like an Egyptian, lancier, limbo...ohh, the choices are endless.

Those choices are hideous!

Yes, they are. Lancier is particularly nasty. Was forced to learn that in high school. I
still have nightmares where the tune plays a significant part. I am sure the Chinese students would appreciate a medley of European folkdances or how about a rippingly exciting
session of Morris dancing or some sort of Native American rain dance or the Dance of the Seven Veils....

Quote from: Lone Traveller on June 05, 2007, 03:58:02 AM

Quote from: ericthered on June 05, 2007, 03:44:10 AM

............. clog dancing, the bunny hop, the funky chicken, walk like an Egyptian, lancier, limbo...ohh, the choices are endless.

Those choices are hideous!

Yes, they are. Lancier is particularly nasty. Was forced to learn that in high school. I
still have nightmares where the tune plays a significant part. I am sure the Chinese students would appreciate a medley of European folkdances or how about a rippingly exciting
session of Morris dancing or some sort of Native American rain dance or the Dance of the Seven Veils....

Side note - make sure they're wearing at least 8 veils