A primary school in China has given up gymnastics in favor of mass performances of Michael Jackson dance routines.

More than 700 students assemble every day in the playgrounds of Duping primary school in a remote corner of south west China for the jaw-dropping performances.

They dance to Jackson's hit Dangerous and imitate the routines from Jackson's classic performance at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1995.

"We used to do gymnastics but the students said they wanted something more modern, so one of the teachers suggested this," Headmaster Wan Lu, 36, explained, "It's fun and also very good exercise for them. They do other routines but this one is their favorite."

Photos of the performances surfaced on the Internet around a week ago. But a full length video released yesterday quickly went viral.

Many internet users, including famous film director Jia Zhangke, twittered on Weibo.com, Sina's microblogging site, to express support for the school's creative approach. But some bloggers wondered whether some of Jackson's more suggestive moves were suitable for children, and others worried the kids were being used as part of a publicity stunt.

The mass performances are believed to have been inspired by previous internet footage of prisoners in the Philippines performing Jackson's dance routine from Thriller.