Strictly ballroom

Shanghai Ballet holds free classes for members of the public every two months. [Photo by Gao Erqiang/China Daily]

Yarose Dance & Art Studios, founded by Jenny Yao in 2006, held the first 37 Days gala performance at the Shanghai Grand Theatre last year. Those who took to the stage to perform included grandmothers, housewives and business people.

Yao, who learned to dance when she was 4, studied international accounting when she was in college. After graduating from university she went on to work for a series of international companies such as KPMG and the LVMH group before quitting the corporate world in 2006 to pursue dancing.

She has since developed "legend dancing", an original method of dance that she said combines movements of Chinese classical dance with a spiritual element. Dance can transform a person, both inside and out, and allow them to find balance and serenity in life, she says.

"People say it takes 28 days for a new habit to take root. It usually takes two to three months before people start to realize how dance is transforming their lives," she saysk, referring to the rationale behind the duration of the program.

The performance for the third and latest edition of the 37 Days project will be held on June 8 at the Mixing Room at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. Among the participants is Connie Pan, a business woman who has two companies in Guangzhou and Shanghai that sell the Chinese liquor brand Moutai.

Pan said it was fate that brought dance into her life, pointing out that she was only interested to find out more after chancing upon the dance studio one day. After just four sessions she fell in love with the beauty behind dance, she says.