Beijing Students to Group Dance Despite "Risk" of Young Love

October 26, 2010
Translated by Rose Scobie
Original Article: [Chinese]

According to a report in the Beijing Morning Post, yesterday at an event promoting group dancing in primary and secondary schools, a person of authority from the Beijing Municipal Education Commission expressed, “We hope to finally return this type of affection to the children.” Although originally there was controversy over group dancing in schools, over the past three years Haidian District has served as a pilot location for group dancing and has shown that it has distinct values such as cultural construction. Starting next year, group dancing will take place in all Beijing primary schools.

September 1, 2007, the Ministry of Education officially promoted the first set of school group dances to the nation. The first set was divided into seven dances: The primary school dances were called, “Good Friend”, “Sunshine School”, and “Little White Boat”; the middle school dances were called, “Youthful Melody” and “School Yangge” (Yangge is a popular rural folk dance); and the secondary school dances were called, “Youthful Elegance” and “Campus Waltz”. After the implementation of group dancing in schools nationwide was announced it became a controversial subject. Many parents were worried that group dancing would cause children to date too early.

Three years ago the Beijing Municipal Education Commission assigned Haidian District as a pilot area for group dancing in schools. "Over the last three years, with the aid of group dances, every student has stood up and danced and their health has improved,” Haidian District Education Commission Deputy Director Zhang Fenghua stated. Since 2007 when Haidian District began group dancing in primary and secondary schools, over 500 teachers have participated in training, guaranteeing that every school has a teacher that can lead the dancing.

It has been reported that to target the worry that group dancing will give rise to young love, schools in Haidian District have begun promoting health education and have helped increase the understanding of primary school students about the opposite sex and promoting friendship between the genders. Moreover, classes regarding etiquette and common sense in connection with good personal relationships have begun to be held in classrooms in Haidian.

Image: Life