The CCTV Dance Contest is becoming somewhat of an institution in spotting budding talent from all over China. The annual spectacular gathers some of the nation's top young amateur dancers. The second CCTV amateur Dance finals took place Tuesday, the first day of the National Day Holiday week.

Looking at them, you would hardly think they were amateurs from all walks of life. Their passion and vigor is as strong as that of any professional dancer. This year's event had a strong ethnic－flavor as well as a taste of modern dance, ballet and ballroom dancing.

Pan Zhitao, professor of Beijing Dance Institute, said: "Amateurs' performance are mainly inspired by their own lives. They can present a very true－to－life picture with their real feelings. So their body language and choreography are unique."

The contest consists of two parts: a dancing show and an overall ability test. In addition to the on－the－spot imitation and improvisation routine, some new additions to the show's format helped add a little spice to the mix. This year, the audience got a chance to have their say in the voting and influence the outcome. In the end, Beijing's No,2 Middle School clinched the gold prize with the a display of modern dancing entitled "vigorous youngsters." "The Rice Song" by the Heshun Culture Center from Shanxi Province and Peking University's "Campus story" shared second place. Tsinghua University's ethnic dance performance, entitled "Sad Pavilion," came in third. The professional group finals was held Wednesday evening.

(CCTV English Channel 03/10/2002)

（http://news.tsinghua.edu.cn）