On 11 April, a group of Chinese and international students from SBC volunteered to dance at the GREAT Britain Street Exhibition, which was hosted by the British Consulate General Shanghai at the Oriental Pearl Tower. The exhibition is part of the formal launch event for the British Government's GREAT campaign to showcase the distinctiveness of British culture, sports, music, technology and business.
The GREAT campaign is designed to use the platform of the Olympic Games in 2012 to showcase Britain's economic capabilities. It was announced by the British Prime Minister David Cameron in New York on 21 September 2011.
More than 20 students from SBC were invited to join the Silent Disco at the GREAT Britain launch event, where students danced to the British Rock & Roll music from their headphones, experiencing one of the most popular dancing patterns in Britain but rarely seen in China.
Group photo with Sebastian Wood, UK Ambassador to China (left), Jeremy Hunt, UK Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (middle), and Brian Davidson, UK Consul-General in shanghai (right)
"This is really Britishly fun!" said Anna Yuzuik, Year 1 Events Management student from Russia. "I love dancing but I’ve never danced like this before, so this is really a GREAT experience for me."
Silent Disco was the most interactive and engaging element which required public participation throughout the whole launch event. Therefore, apart from enjoying themselves with Rock & Roll and dancing, the students were also expected to share the fun with visitors of the Pearl Tower by inviting them to dance.
Group photo with Professor Ian Gow OBE, Principal and CEO of SBC
Kerena Yu, Student Tutor (International) who was accompanying the students on site, said: "Apparently, they’ve done a great job – they know very well on how to engage the audience while performing on stage. The audience are really impressed."
On the same day, Professor Ian Gow OBE, Principal of SBC, was invited to attend the GREAT launch evening reception co-hosted by Jeremy Hunt, UK Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, and Sebastian Wood, UK Ambassador to China. Before the reception, he met with the student dancers at the Oriental Pearl Tower.
Professor Gow said: "This is the kind of opportunity for SBC students to be Ambassadors for Sino-UK relations, and I’m really proud of our students and their dancing was really cool!"
