appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

SCMP Reporter

Ballroom dancing has become a global sensation, largely helped by hit television shows such as Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing with the Stars. 
Ballroom dancing - or dancesport as it is called by its more competitive aficionados - is also in vogue locally, with dance schools popping up across the city.
Most of Jimmy Yek's students at Charming Dance Paradise (www.charmingdance.com) prefer slower waltzes, but he has noticed growing interest in the cha-cha-cha.  
Over in Tsim Sha Tsui, Come Dancing Studio Academy's  (www.comedance.net) clientele are more inclined towards Latino beats, says artistic director Lawrence Chan.  While the waltz and cha-cha-cha are long-time favourites, the rumba and tango are gaining in popularity.
'We really have all ages,' says Walter Luk  of the Hong Kong Dance Institute  (www.hkdance.com.hk) in Wan Chai. However,  most of his students are children who start at six years of age, often continuing until 18.  
Similarly, Chan's students are as young as five and as old as 70. All three agree ballroom dancing has grown in popularity - irrespective of age, culture or ethnicity. 
'A lot of people are nearing retirement age and more elderly couples are taking it up,' Yek says. 'It's never too late.' Though some take lessons for fitness, to meet the opposite sex or just before their wedding, Chan advises the rhythmically challenged or physically awkward  to take heart.  'It's mostly for fun, especially to relax after heavy workloads and pressure at work,'  he says.
Walter Wat, president of the Hong Kong Ballroom Dancing Council, advises novices to relax, but adds that a well-qualified instructor is crucial to learning.
Tango is also a popular form of dance. Unlike its  roots in working-class Buenos Aires, tango in Hong Kong is usually practised by high-flying professionals, says Sunshine Chan, of the Hong Kong Tango Academy (www.tangohk.com), who has taught tango in Hong Kong for 14 years. 'It used to be that we had more ladies than men coming to our classes, but now it seems we have more men. Of course, it takes two to tango,' she says.
After about six months of regular lessons, students can become very proficient in the dance form. 'Tango is really more about the music than the dance, so people learn to enjoy the music as well as learning to dance.'
She teaches the  Buenos Aires style of tango. 'It's a social dance, not competitive like some ballroom dancing.'



Dancing fever sweeps the city