CITY GUIDE >Culture and Events
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CITY GUIDE >Culture and Events
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Spreading the cheer
By He Na (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-30 10:02 Thanks to their South Korean coach, who has more than 10 years' experience as a cheerleader trainer and was once leader of the South Korean cheerleaders at the Sydney Olympics, the team spent just five months preparing for their first performance - at the opening match of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) in 2007.
"I would be lying if I said I was not nervous, for the small gym was suddenly replaced by the vast basketball court of the Beijing Capital Basketball arena, and the mirrors on the wall had changed to numerous pairs of eyes," says Zhang Fan, one of the team members. "Wearing short red cheongsams, we were smiling and waving at the fans as we entered the arena after the introduction of the players and coaches." Chinese spectators, not used to the presence of cheerleaders, seemed stunned and had their mouths open even as the team danced enthusiastically."We expected warm applause and cheers after the first performance, but instead there was deadly silence. Just as we were about to leave, the long-awaited warm applause happened. My eyes flooded with tears," Park says. Building on this debut performance, the team has been combining traditional Chinese and modern dancing styles to become one of China's best cheerleading teams in just two years. They won the crystal cup for Best CBA Cheerleader Team last year and staged many performances during the 2008 Beijing Olympic and Paralympics games. "Compared to the enthusiasm and style of NBA cheerleaders, we have come up with our own unique style, which we feel will appeal to all age groups," says Park. "Though we still have a long way to go to become China's best sports entertainment team and to catch up with the world's top cheerleader teams, we will keep working on it."
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