Dance magic: The standard of ballroom dancing in China is very high, with some universities offering courses in the discipline. Photo provided to Shanghai Star

Square dancers gets professional help

German dance resembles Chinese Thousand-Hand Guanyin

Huang, 35, grew up in Germany with his parents. "I took up Latin dance because there were many girls in the class" he says.

He left his job in an insurance company and became a Latin dance teacher in a sports university in Beijing.

The systematic training has helped Chinese dancers get good rankings in international competitions. "Among the top 10 duos in ballroom and Latin dance, you will find quite a few Chinese athletes, especially among young dancers under 21," Huang says.

It takes years of disciplined training to excel in top-notch international competitions such as the Blackpool Dance Festival. But the rigid training sometimes takes the fun and enjoyment away from the dancers, Huang says.

He believes this is a problem that will become the bottleneck in the development and popularization of ballroom dancing in China.

"Dancing should be for fun, and very often a social activity," he says. Huang works as a dance coach for several international schools in Shanghai. "Every year students and their parents spend a few weeks learning to dance, and prepare themselves for the kids' prom party," he says.

Teenage students learn skills from how to properly knock on the door of their dates with a bouquet, to opening doors for the girls, pulling out their chair and walking them in.

"It's first of all social etiquette. Dancing helps young people to learn about dating, which is often a valuable first lesson for healthy relationships with the other sex. All of this has been lacking in the growing of China’s young people," Huang says. On the other hand, many of China's retirees and middle aged people have found their social life and fun with music dancing in the parks and street side squares.