Street dance sheds 'bad boy' image to rise in popularity

Don't stop believing

Fan was no exception. In 2013, he started working at an internet company in Beijing. He had earlier moved from Baoshan, Yunnan province, to the capital city to study business administration at college.

After the company shifted to a new building, Fan discovered a spacious yoga room with mirrors lining the walls that the company had prepared for its employees.

"When I saw the room, I instantly associated it with a space for dancing. Then I started dancing in front of the mirrors, and soon people who shared the same interests came and we danced together," recalled Fan.

"Since most of them had never danced before, I started to teach them, and I was surprised to find that those without a dancing background learned very fast. What impressed me most was their passion for dancing," Fan said.

In four years, Fan gathered together about 500 of the internet company employees to participate in the informal dance groups. The company, which has about 10,000 employees, supported Fan's idea and hired more dance teachers to give classes every day after work.

One of the teachers was Wang Xiao, who was also from Yunnan and who had learned to dance as a child.

"I can still recall the first class. I taught those who had never received dance training before. They found it hard and followed my moves reluctantly," recalled Wang, now an experienced G-Steps instructor.

"I thought that they may not return to my class, but to my surprise more people came."

In 2017, Fan launched his first dance studio near Beijing's 798 Art Zone. His colleagues and bosses questioned his decision to become an entrepreneur, but Fan was determined.

"I wanted to open the dance studio because I never stopped loving dance. It's my greatest passion," he said. "With the experience of teaching my former colleagues to dance, I wanted to bring the joy of dancing to more people."

Fan named his dance studio "G-Steps", after a dance club he started when he was a high school student. He described the venture as "rediscovering and returning to what I love".

Drawing inspiration from stars like Michael Jackson, whose unique dance style fused pop, funk, soul and hip-hop, as well as from K-pop groups, Fan started dancing as a teenager because it "made me feel cool".