School students are dancing in the streets
Street dance is being introduced to Shanghai's schools in the form of rhythm exercises to encourage students to aim for the Olympics.
Shanghai Meiyuan Primary School in the Pudong New Area has started a street dance talent development plan.
To make street dance easier to practice for pupils, street dance teachers have tailored a set of exercise which features basic street dance postures and strong rhythm.
Shanghai Meiyuan Primary School students follow instructions from a street dance teacher.
According to the development plan, the exercises will be introduced to more primary and middle schools in Shanghai. The exercises will serve to enlighten and cultivate interest. Street dance teachers will then provide professional short-term courses to some schools in the future.
The International Olympic Committee has granted Olympic status to break dancing, one type of street dance, which will debut at the 2024 Games in Paris.
Street dance has been rising in popularity.
The tailored exercise features signature street dance postures.
"Traditional sports like basketball, football, volleyball, track and field are no longer attractive to the young generation," said Zhang Ming, vice director of Shanghai Dance Sport Association.
"Youngsters are showing much more interest in items like street dance, skateboard, surfing and rock climbing. We want to encourage that, and therefore developed street dance exercise that are suitable for students."
