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Next time you see 300 people in a park waving their hands, don't panic. They are probably not members of a religious group, but para para enthusiasts going through their routine.

Thanks to Japanese star Takura Kimura, many youngsters have been seized by the para para craze, which literally means 'falling leaves'.

Para para dancing swept over Japan in the early 1970s, faded in the '80s and made a comeback at the turn of this century. But the question is: How long will para para stay cool?

I love para!

Originally an addict of the Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) game, Fung Man-hong, 21, is now a core member of a para para dance crew. To him, para para is like DDR, 'which will make way for something new'.

Local celebrities - such as Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi, Ruby Lin Hsin-ru and Aaron Kwok Fu-shing - have been quick to get in on the act before it becomes passe.

Fung tells Young Post:  'It's all about promotion and star appeal. '

But for Vicky Sun Wai-kei, 16, and sister Wai-shan, 15, para para is more than just a dance.

'I meet people from all walks of life, including gentlemen in suits or parents with their kids,' explains Vicky.

Jazz: the everlasting classics

Having learned ballet and folk dancing for over eight years, Cheng Tung-ling, 17, switched over to jazz dancing recently.  She says: 'Ballet is sometimes boring, but jazz's always up-to-date.'

According to Billy Chan Siu-kit, a jazz dance choreographer, routines featured in some pop videos today come from contemporary (as opposed to classical) jazz.

'MTV has had a huge influence on promoting dance - just like how Takura Kimura revived para para,' he explains.

For Chan, a dance should show creativity, originality and variation - qualities found in  jazz. 'I don't believe there will be a jazz dance craze. But like ballet, jazz won't become extinct. It will become a classic,' he enthuses.

As an instructor, he will not teach anything that does not help improve students' standards. Perhaps that is why there are no para para classes at Chan's dance centre.

Hip-hop: an attitude for life

Remember the dancer who hipped and hopped in the movie Para Para Sakura  with Aaron Kwok? Professional dancer and hip-hop instructor Gerald Wong Cho-yiu has not caught para para fever. He is a faithful hip-hop follower - with an attitude. For Wong, hip-hop requires co-ordination of the whole body while para para only emphasises hands movements. He thinks that para para limits dancers' creativity. They have to memorise things repetitively  like in the education system - it is spoon-fed!

'I hope hip-hop will never fade away,' he says.

'Luckily, there are real hip-hop lovers to keep the hip-hop feel alive in Hong Kong. By hip-hop feel I mean a positive attitude [towards life]. Don't conform!'

Being a ballet, jazz and hip-hop dancer, Wong predicts that 'street jazz' will be the next sensation in Hong Kong. 'Street jazz is a mixture of jazz and hip-hop. Both are ideal for youngsters, especially those who want to be a dancer. Street jazz is the essence of the two,' he says.

Tomorrow, we will look at three more up-and-coming alternative dance forms: break dance, ballroom jazz and new dance.

Sally is a summer intern from the

Hong Kong Baptist University



Enthusiasts look at  up-and-coming dance  trends in Hong Kong