"We have to go to school to make our parents happy, paying out of our own pockets to attend competitions abroad and teaching dance classes to cover expenses," said Chao, who is working on his PhD at National Taiwan Normal University's (國立台灣師範大學體育系) department of physical education.
As a sport, ballroom dancing receives little public funding, most of which goes to baseball and softball.
Though professional ballroom dancing in Taiwan is still in its infancy, the sport has become popular as a pastime. Celebrities such as Little S (小S) and Liu Zhen (劉真) are fans and media exposure has made dance more mainstream. As a result, more and more young people are taking it up as a trendy hobby.
Kao Chia-lin, a national amateur modern champion who regularly participates in international dance contests with her partner Chen, has seen benefits accrue from changing attitudes toward dance.
"I remember my dad would yell at me when I brought trophies back home," she says, "… but now they have come to understand what I've been doing from TV and newspapers." Stereotypes, however, remain ingrained. In the eyes of her father's generation, ballroom dancing is still associated with shady dealings between dancing ladies and their male partners at seedy nightclubs.
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