Liz Collett's Line Dancing Troup In Beijing
We were treated like royalty and shown so much. We climbed the Great Wall, visited the Forbidden City & Tienanmen Square etc. etc. We danced in their Festival in front of the rostrum and in the parade. We also danced 2 x 15minute performances on stage, once in a shopping mall and the other at Olympic Park.
I really didn’t know what to expect and only had approx 8 weeks to prepare which meant outfitting 37 of us, planning dance medleys and music and getting together to practice which doesn’t sound much, but in my group I had dancers who had only been dancing 8 weeks and others for 18 years so putting an interesting medley together took a little thought but all came together very quickly and the team really put a lot of effort into giving it their best shot.
I was extremely proud of the whole group as the newer dancers of course had to put a lot more effort into their dancing and tried so hard to please. It was all worth it because the greeting we received and the warmth and friendliness between the two nationalities could never be replaced by self-gratification. We believe we were fabulous ambassadors for Australia and I am now responsible for coordinating an event on the Gold Coast to reciprocate and bring the Chinese as well as other nations together on our shores.
I am hoping that there will be several Aussie line dance groups who will support the event and get involved in exchange between our countries.
One group of 30 Chinese ladies will now be coming to visit us in February so it will be an exciting time preparing for them and welcoming them to our country.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Liz,
PS to my other comments, maybe next time I could learn the dances up here and could join you on your next trip, or maybe I will come to the GC and do the workshops you have organised.
Cheryl (Townsville) Send me details so I can let fellow linedancers in Townsville know what your are doing, or you could come up here and do a workshop in our beautiful winter.
Hi Cheryl
I have sent you all my details.
Great to hear from you.