Taiwan will be having a ball this weekend when the planet's best dance couple arrive to show off their moves at the 10th Freedom Cup Dance Sport Invitation Championship in Taipei.
It will be a first visit to the country for Bryan Watson and Carmen, who have dominated international ballroom events since 1999, when they first became the World Professional Latin champions.
They successfully defended their title in Tokyo last year and are expected to wow audiences in Taiwan, which has developed an active, though politically charged dance scene.
It may seem odd to some observers, but the world of ballroom dancing is not just spandex and pearls, tuxes and twirls.
In Taiwan, just 20 years ago in the Martial Law era, dancehalls were regularly being busted. According to Tony Hsu (
"In `81 we had a Taipei Dance Association but if we had a dance competition or party the police would often come in. They would tell everybody to stand up and turn on the lights. There would be a one or two hour break when the police would check IDs and everything. Then it might be OK and we could carry on," Tony said.
The government at the time feared political insurrection, a latent independence movement and democratization. There were laws against assembly, that even included student study groups. There was also a traditional mindset when it came to sex.
"Folk dancing or discos were kind of acceptable because they were traditional or solo dances, like street dance today," he said. "But [in those days] Taiwan people and the police thought, `Oh, men and ladies dancing together! How terrible!'"
"For a long time the Taiwan people and government thought that the dancehall was a bad place, not light, but dark and they thought that men went to the dancehall not for dancing, but for women."
Gradually the situation improved until in July 1987 Martial Law was lifted and the moral climate warmed up. Since then ballroom dancing has become a mainstream activity.
Tony and Betty were encouraged by the likes of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. "I was inspired by the old movies and wanted to dance like that. Not just in the old style, but especially latin dancing, very dynamic," Tony said.
For the past 20 years they have practiced hard, won domestic competitions and traveled the world and in particular Britain, the mecca for ballroom dancing, in pursuit of their dreams.
Now they are one of Taiwan's top dance couples and have their own studio on Minsheng East Road.
But there are still political problems, albeit of a different nature. Various groups are struggling for primacy and control of the amateur and professional dance circuit in Taiwan and none of them are officially affiliated with the two main world bodies for ballroom dancing, which are the World Dance & Dance Sport Council, and the International Dance Sport Federation.
These two organizations are lobbying for ballroom dancing to be an official sport that is sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee, which is why the recently defined world of "dance sport" was created. The aim of these movements is to be an Olympic sport like ice skating.
As opposed to social dancing, dance sport is competitive and includes the Modern or Standard styles, along with the Latin-American styles, where couples are judged and the purpose is to achieve the highest score.
The Modern style comprises; waltz, tango, foxtrot, quickstep and the Viennese waltz. The Latin styles are; cha cha cha, rumba, samba, jive and paso doble. Additionally, there is the 10-dance, which involves all 10 of the dance sport disciplines and is for the talented and trained only.
The Freedom Cup includes Modern, Latin and formation dances, with five categories of competitors, namely: novice, university, amateur, international and middle-aged.
The entrants are mainly from Taiwan and Asia.
But, the highlight of the day will undoubtedly be the exhibition performances of Bryan Watson and Carmen, who are the ambassadors of dance sport, the Bentley and Lexus of the industry.
Bryan Watson hails from South Africa but now lives in England. As an amateur dancer he was a world champion for five years. Carmen Melanie is from Germany, but also moved to the UK in order to turn professional in 1996. The two teamed up in 1999 and had instantaneous success.
According to the experts, all the top dancers have the same basic technical ability after dancing for so long, "But, these two really are something different, they are perfectly suited physically and share a matching emotional language," said Freedom Cup Chairperson Sophia Lin.
Dance sport is not just for professionals and competition, however and many people in Taiwan are taking it up for pleasure, exercise and more. Betty Hsu said, "Unlike most professional sports, you do not have to be strong or muscular to do it. It's great for the female figure and it's not boring, like going to the gym."
"This is not just a sport. You have music, emotion and technique [or discipline]. You put the the three elements together and you have art," Lin added.
Take advantage of free admission to the event between 3pm and 6pm on Saturday and judge for yourself.
Information:
EVENT: The 10th Freedom Cup Dance Sport Invitation Championship (
PLACE: Taipei International Convention Center (
DATE: Saturday, Oct. 20, 2001
3-6pm: competition for all levels (novice, university, amateur, international and middle-aged). Admission is free.
6-10:30pm: team match; formation dancing; finals for international amateur; performance by Bryan Watson and Carmen (banquet included) -- NT$3,000 per ticket
Organizer: Tong Kuang Dancing School (
http://www.tongkuang.com.tw
Phone: (02) 2543-5036
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