(jfdaily.com)
Updated: 2008-01-04 09:28

Different people find different ways to spend their time off work. Among those ways, dancing is a perennial favorite. Some people dance away the pressure, the melancholy and the fear. While serving people through the years, dancing itself also has changed into different interesting styles. Let's look through some of the popular dances for the year 2007. It hasn't been long since 2008 arrived, but a new style of dancing has already made its way into China. Let's see what dance we can expect out of 2008.

What people danced in 2007

Atop the list are Latin dances. Various Latin dances combine with fitness exercises to create a whole new dancing exercise, like the rumba, the samba, and the cha cha cha. This exercise emphasizes hip swings and it exercises the waist, hips and the inner side of thigh.

Then come jazz dances, which originated in bars. People dance jazz not only to keep fit but also to cultivate an elegant manner and express their attitude to life.

A newcomer to the 2007 Chinese dancing scene is belly dancing. Anybody can try belly dancing, regardless of gender, age or figure, as long as they are willing to dance with no shoes. This dance primarily exercises muscles at the stomach and on the back.

Dancing is not exclusively for young people. For senior citizens there is panel aerobics. This exercise boosts the functions of hearts and lungs, improves the silhouette of the hips and legs, and helps people get in shape generally.

Last but not least, boxing exercise is reserved for those who have enough energy. It integrates the basic movement of boxing, Thai boxing, Taichi and taekwondo and is danced to strong music. The best thing about boxing exercise is it can consume up to 600 calories of energy per hour and vent the most pressure.

What people will dance in 2008

The world’s highest sports dancing, Zumba, is making its way into China. Zumba originates from North America and it is another name for mix-matching. In fact, Zumba is kind of like a combination of all the popular dances, like Latin dances, belly dances.

The main theme of Zumba is not the actual steps, but how they are danced. Zumba advocates full devotion and all freedom while dancing regardless of the steps or the tempo of music. Dancers are welcome to dance out of time to the music tempo as long as they keep dancing.

The unique temper of Zumba makes its unique Dancing Duel a necessary part of some training courses. The duel can involve two people or two groups.

Edited by: Alice Yang