Sweethearts mix glitz with some tai chi

By Matt Hodges (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-04-18 10:03

SHANGHAI: As one of America's most famous cheerleading troupes performed at a park in downtown Shanghai on Friday morning, puzzled bystanders were more likely to associate it with the city's new flagship Barbie store than flourishing Sino-US ties.

Sixty-seven-year-old Wang Guoyu, a hua-gu (flower drum) dancer from Shanghai, exchanges dancing tips with America's Sweethearts, one of the most famous cheerleading troupes from the US, at the city's Xiangyang Park, April 17, 2009. [Asianewsphoto]

Waving pompoms and gyrating in blue and white costumes and replete with white cowboy boots, the official dance troupe of the Dallas Cowboys (a National Football League team) practiced tai chi with elderly Chinese, and swapped dancing tips with hua-gu (flower drum) dancers.

"We're hoping to mix our cultures a little bit," said Meagan Sharp, 20. "We're going to give them our pompoms and let them play around and see what they can take from us, and maybe try to add our power and punch to their gracefulness."

The girls, who go by the moniker America's Sweethearts, are as famous as it gets in cheerleading circles. They have at least two movies named after them - the first starring Jane Seymour in 1979 - as well as a recent reality TV show called "Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders: Making the Team".

While their forebears performed for the US troops in South Korea to celebrate Christmas in 1979, the troupe had never visited China - until American Airlines (AA) flew them over to celebrate its third anniversary in China.

The aim of the weeklong jaunt, which ends on Saturday, is to break down cultural and other barriers using sports and entertainment as a hammer, said Victor Lee, AA's Greater China regional director.

"It's good to get people from our home base in Dallas to mix with people here," he said. "On a broader level, all kinds of sports can be without borders, and we want to show how everyone can participate and enjoy them, even if they cannot understand or play them."

Similar to Major League Baseball's historic China debut a year ago - when the San Diego Padres played a two-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Beijing - the emphasis was on fun and cultural integration.

Lee said the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (DCC) were made for Shanghai, if not made in Shanghai.

"They are full of passion, enthusiasm and energy, and Shanghai has that kind of character in China. It's a booming city looking to the future, and the people are very receptive to this kind of cultural impact," he said.

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