Sim Yian Haw, 24, was among 35 chosen to participate in America's foremost training programme in hip hop held at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) from June 1-5. The insurance agent had earlier submitted his dance routine for an online audition as he could not afford the expensive air tickets.

DanceMotion USASM builds on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “smart power” diplomacy. It embraces the full use of diplomatic tools, in this case dance, to engage people and create opportunities for greater understanding.

As a Marine, Sgt. Roman Baca spent eight months in Fallujah between 2005 and 2006. Now, the Queens resident is headed back to Iraq—but this time it is for a cultural effort connected to his work before and after his military service: dance.

The worlds of hip hop music and dance merged into a melody of artistic expression last week when the internationally acclaimed Rennie Harris Puremovement Dance Company (RHPM) visited Egypt in a cross-cultural exchange program aimed at preserving and disseminating the hip hop culture globally.

By the advent of the Cold War, dancers were being sent abroad and used as cultural ambassadors around the world to promote American values. In 1941, the government...sent dancers around South America to counteract anti-American sentiment.

...Celebration of US-China Friendship...in Atlanta, Georgia. The show, co-sponsored by the Chinese Consulate General in Houston and the city of Atlanta, "is a wonderful example of the cultural and people-to-people exchanges necessary to build closer ties between the Chinese and American people," Carter said.

DanceMotion USASM sends American dance companies overseas to engage with audiences and communities, especially underserved youth, through dance and a variety of other means. DanceMotion USASM builds on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “smart power” diplomacy.

Enticed by the economic possibilities in the region, Colombia is courting Asia the only way it knows how: Through the art of salsa dancing. By sending pairs of professional dancers shimmering across the Asia Pacific, the Latin American country hopes to forge closer social and cultural ties with a major slice of the region, from Japan to South Korea, China, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand.