Britons voiced anger Wednesday as a hopeless contestant described as a `dancing pig` quit a top television show, seeking to defuse a media-fuelled row which has threatened to divide the nation.

Britons voiced anger Wednesday as a hopeless contestant described as a `dancing pig` quit a top television show, seeking to defuse a media-fuelled row which has threatened to divide the nation.

DAKAR, Sept 27, 2007 (AFP) - A court in Senegal Thursday jailed for a month each two male organisers of a lewd dance party found to be offensive to public morals in this predominantly Muslim west African nation.

The three female dancers were freed pending sentencing to be handed down in eight months and were put under surveillance.

The nighclub owner, the cameramen who shot the video of the dance and the master of ceremonies at the event were however acquitted.

The charges arose from a video of the dance session at a private party in a Dakar nightclub in 2005.

DAKAR, Sept 25, 2007 (AFP) - Prosecutors demanded jail terms of between three months and one year for eight people who went on trial Monday on charges of lewd dancing authorities say was offensive to public morals.

The private station Radio Futurs Media reported that at the closed hearing the state prosecutor requested jail terms of six months for the three dancers, including Ndeye Gueye, an icon of Senegalese dance regularly invited by singers to perform for their music videos or concerts.

PARIS, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - A new homespun urban dance phenomenon has taken hold in Paris and is quickly spreading to the rest of France through Internet videos and word-of-mouth.

Tecktonik, a mix of hip hop and techno dance, was the talk of this year's Paris Techno Parade, the annual dance music street carnival that took place in the French capital last Saturday.

Groups of teenagers were overheard chanting 'Tecktonik' as dance-offs took place in the street and the evening news bulletins were full of images and testimony from the leaders of this latest craze.

DAKAR, Sept 19, 2007 (AFP) - Six people accused of involvement in an event alleged to have included obscene dancing have been charged and jailed in Senegal, judicial sources said Wednesday.

The accused -- three women and three men -- were brought before a judge on Tuesday, who charged them with violating public decency and an 'attack against morals' in connection with an event two years ago.

Ndeye Gueye, an icon of Senegalese dance regularly invited by singers to perform for their music videos or concerts, was among those charged.

LONDON, Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) - A Finnish couple saw off competitors from 15 other European countries to win the first ever Eurovision Dance Contest in Saturday's televised live final.

Jussi Vaananen and Katja Koukkula claimed victory after viewers from the other participating nations awarded them 132 points.

Ukraine, represented by Ilyia Sydorenko and Julia Akropiridze, took second place with 121 points and Ireland came third with 95 points for Mick Donegan and Nicola Byrne's performances.

MBABANE, Aug 29, 2007 (AFP) - Swaziland's King Mswati III on Wednesday sent over 40,000 maidens to cut reeds ahead of the country's annual reed dance where bare-breasted virgins dance before Africa's last absolute monarch.

The young girls started arriving in the country's spiritual capital Ludzidzini on Monday, and a bigger than usual turnout was expected, with much international interest in the annual event.

'We are looking forward to a very good event,' said traditional overseer Ntfonjeni Dlamini.

MBABANE, Aug 27, 2007 (AFP) - Swazi maidens started arriving on Monday at the country's spiritual capital Ludzidzini ahead of this week's annual reed dance, where bare-breasted virgins dance before Africa's last absolute monarch.

A royal announcement aired on state radio summoned all maidens to register on Tuesday and be dispatched by King Mswati III to cut the reeds on the banks of Mbuluzana River in the picturesque Bhamsakhe area on Wednesday.

BUENOS AIRES, Aug 26, 2007 (AFP) - Japanese couple Hiroshi and Kyoko Yamao grabbed third place in the Stage Tango category at the fifth International Tango Championship here, organizers announced Sunday.

The couple came in behind Argentina's Natalia Tonelli Attori and Fernando Gracia, and Chilean second-place finishers Paloma Berrios and Alvarado Maximiliano.

'We have been studying in Argentina for one year,' Hiroshi Yamao said.

The Yamaos were one of 11 Japanese couples in the championship, the largest of the delegations from outside Latin America.

EDINBURGH, Aug 17, 2007 (AFP) - Three crews of South Korean breakdancers have scored hit shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, underlining the nation's depth of talent and showing hip-hop moves did not die out in the 1980s, an expert said Friday.

'Ballerina Who Loves B-Boyz', staged by the Skywalk company, tells the story of a classical dancer who becomes enchanted with breakdancing, or b-boying, before breaking away from her restrictive background.

SYDNEY, Aug 17, 2007 (AFP) - Australia's dance community was in shock Friday after the newly-appointed artistic director of one of country's best known troupes was killed in an accident.

German-born Tanja Liedtke, 30, was hit by a garbage truck as she crossed a highway in northern Sydney early Friday. She sustained head injuries and died in hospital.

Liedtke was due to take up her role at the Sydney Dance Company in October after winning an international search for the position in May.

BUENOS AIRES, Aug 16, 2007 (AFP) - Yuriko Tsunehiro fell in love with tango after watching Al Pacino give a sultry rendition of the Latin-American dance for an Oscar-winning performance in the 1992 film 'Scent of a Woman.'

Now the 37-year-old Japanese dancer is entertaining dreams of grabbing some silverware of her own when she takes to the floor at the International Tango Championship here Friday.

BUENOS AIRES, Aug 15, 2007 (AFP) - Tango enthusiasts from Japan, Australia, Russia and beyond are polishing their dancing shoes for the world championship in the sexy dance that they say knows no boundaries.

'I like the tango because although we dance as a pair, it seems that we are just one,' says Japanese entrant Yoshinoba Nagai, 36. 'It is a dance that ravages my heart.'