Ballet

On a recent occasion, our dean made a curious remark that in terms of their method of teaching and curriculum, the two medical schools in Hong Kong are frequent viewed as USA and USSR in the eyes of our students.

(I suppose it is plain obvious which is which.)

I shall not discuss how the analogy comes along, and whether it is just. What comes through my mind is, rather, a story I heard many years ago about the difference in training of ballet dancers between the two superpowers.

It goes like this: A few years before the Berlin Wall fell down and the iron curtain was torn, a famous Russian ballet dancer defected to America. (In fact, there were many.) After she settled and resumed her performance, her fame boomed. In short, her amazing skill and meticulous technique were highly praised by all audience. As you would expect, she was soon interviewed by a famous magazine.

Let me tell you what she said tomorrow.