Line dancers do Malaysia proud

Posted Date: 26 May 2009 at 08:42:43 AM

The Sun, October 27, 2006.

A Team of Malaysian dancers did the country proud at a recent world dance competition.

The dancers, led by their dance instructress Joanne Wong, the second runner-up in the Wold Line Dance Championship 2004, flew to London on Aug 3 for the World Line Dance Masters 2006 Competition, help at Blackpool.

The team, comprising Lane Lee, Ann Tan, Tanya Teng and Rebecca Lee, left without much fanfare but with the spirit of Malaysia Boleh in their hearts to compete with the best in the world of line dancing.

Nobody at home in Malaysia and the world at large gave this rag-tag team a ghost of a chance as they competed with possibly the very best line dance masters in this intense competition.

Dancers had to go through many qualifying round and it was a teary affair for many who had flown in from around the globe only to be knocked out.

Finally, Lane Lee was chosen the champion in the Open Line Silver Intermediate Category (45 years and above) – a first for Malaysia – and as bonus for the Malaysia team, Tan was named the first runner-up for the same event. A spectacular achievement for the duo who were competing for the firs time.

Rebecca Lee and Teng were placed sixth among the top 10 in the world in the Dual/Twosome Category.

“Dance requires good coordination, flexibility, strength, agility and poise. It also enhances self-esteem and self-confidence as learners achieve a sense of accomplishment and it sharpens their memory skills by requiring them to remember the dance steps,” say Wong, principal of Joyclub Dance Academy.

The academy is located at Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur.