The Rise of the Dragon

I just read an interesting article to show another sign that China is trying to show their humanitarian side during the Olympic games is their effort in organizing a group of 200,000 volunteer cheerleaders to root for any participating national team during the Olympics.

“Most of the volunteer cheerleaders – which include many retired civil servants – though, have never shaken pom poms in sassy pleated skirts, let alone roused a crowd with victory jumps.”

This article also mentions that 28 groups of elite dancers who went through intense competition to perform as cheerleaders, acrobats, and dancers. To train this group of cheerleaders, they have called upon cheerleaders from the New England Patriots.

“Some routines are self-choreographed and throw in some Chinese flair. One group squats and kicks with red fans, flicking them open and shut with a loud whir to Asian-infused techno.

Another squad twirls nunchucks before switching to pompoms mid-song. “Everyone knows cheerleading is a Western activity, but we hope we can find a Chinese way to do it [and] show the world,” says He He, who sports long, dyed-red hair and a sparkly belly-button ring.”

This is going to be very interesting to see during the Olympics!

Read the article: http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/news?slug=ys-cheerleaders070808&prov=yhoo&type=lgns