All the Jam's a Stage for Romanian Traffic Police

You are stuck in a traffic jam, impatient and frustrated, until a policeman runs off a sequence of pliés, arabesques and pirouettes right in front of your car.

It is bound to bring a smile to your face. At least that is the hope of police chiefs in the western Romanian city of Timisoara, who have sent their officers to ballet classes in the hope of helping them to manage the traffic with more grace and ease, and to encourage a reduction in road rage.

"The aim is to help our officers develop an ability to regulate the traffic and achieve more elegance in their movements," said Dorel Cojan, the head of Timisoara's police force, which is initially paying for a month of lessons.

"We hope it will be not only pleasing to the eye, but that it could also help drivers waiting at the red light who are stressed or sad," he added.

The initiative was prompted after drivers complained that Timisoara traffic police officers were lackluster and imprecise.

Twenty local male police officers are taking twice-weekly lessons with two former dancers from the Timisoara Opera Ballet.

At first the officers were filmed directing the traffic to show them how gauche they looked in action. "We filmed their awkwardness, so that we and they can measure their progress over time," Cojan said.

He said while female police officers were not taking part in the lessons, they were "impressed and quite taken" by their male counterparts' new pastime.

The men wear their full uniforms for lessons. Though they are more restrictive than stretchy dance tights it is, after all, what they will have to wear on the street.

Police officer Ciprian Lascu, one of the students, admitted that taking ballet lessons was not easy in a country that places stress on the importance of macho credentials.

"I never imagined I would take ballet lessons, but here I am," he said. "I think we need the instruction, and my hope is that quite quickly we'll be able to move more elegantly and efficiently when we're out directing traffic."

Sorin Baltica, one of the two teachers who is instructing the men, said: "This can only be a positive thing. I'm glad I can be of service, particularly if it benefits everyone."

The men are primarily learning to dance to the works of Tchaikovsky.

Baltica said that Swan Lake provided by far the best role models for the traffic police.