Chinese Square Dancing

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Chinese Square Dancing

Chinese Culture

December 8th, 2017

Content

 INTRODUCTION

1. Background of the Chinese Square Dancing

1. Survey

1. Collectiveness and individualism

1. Benefits

1. Conflicts

CONCLUSION

Introduction

Dance is a way of expressing emotions and feelings. This is a body language that can transmit perhaps, much more and better than any speech.

A great quote says “Dance like no one can see you!” and that is what Chinese people do, in public spaces where everyone can see and join them.

In China you can find a special kind of dance. It is called “square dance” (traditional Chinese: 廣場舞; pinyin: guǎngchǎng wǔ) and as the name suggests, this dance usually takes place in open spaces such as squares or parks. This type of dance was born in and became popular in entire country. It has a great and rich history which started gaining popularity during the Cultural Revolution.  Nowadays, square dance makes up part of China’s culture and there are dance demonstrations during the official state’s events.

The group of dancer is represented mostly by retired and elderly people, the average age is 50-60 years old but for them, the age is only a number. For dancers, this activity has a deeply sense then we can image at the first sight. It signifies a social connection for the dancers, they spend time together and enjoy the life, the health and also forget about their aloneness.  

As all movements around the world, the square dance knows some opponents as well. The dance is criticized by some people who sustain that they are too noisy and they are disturbing the working people. More than that, they claim that because of the dancers the price of their houses is decreasing and also they feel uncomfortable in their homes.

Considering all the above aspects, our team find this subject very controversial and interesting at the same time. That is why we would like to realize a detailed analysis of this face of China.

As a method to obtain the necessary information for this paper, our team has chosen to walk into the middle of the dancers, talk with them and conclude a survey as well. This means helped us to extract the most precious information about square dancing, it’s history, benefits, Chinese collectivism and Chinese culture, in general. In the following sections, we will present our conclusions about above mentioned aspects.

1. Background

The history of Chinese Square Dancing originated out of the Cultural Revolution as people were finding new ways to express themselves.

Typical participants include older ladies, but there has been a recent shift to the youth and men, who have started to partake in the cultural activity.

 Square Dancing is known as being a natural type of dance, coming in many styles and formats. Dancers appreciate that there is no fixed step, and that the organizer creates many of the moves. Because of this, many elements from yang-ko, ballroom steps, and traditional Chinese ethnic dances are integrated. Since its formation, participants have enjoyed the freedom to exercise and improve their health in a relaxed and fun environment, surrounded by their friends and neighbors. Although there are many different forms of dance, Yang-kois the most widely practiced. It is accompanied by instruments such as the suona, drums, gongs, and flute. Similar to many forms of the dancing, Yang-ko offers a great workout for participants, as well as incorporating many aspects of the traditional Chinese culture.

In some parts of China, participants will travel very far distances for the dancing. However, much of the square dancing happens in parks, squares, and even parking lots nearby people’s homes. This allows participants to meet up at least once a day and dance while having fun with their friends and neighbors.

This allows them to improve their health and have fun while communing with the local residents. Afterwards, they further commune by sharing sweets and catching up on gossip. Western psychologists now see the dancing as a representation of economic progress, national characteristics, women’s emancipation, spiritual fulfillment, mass participation, and limited choice. Due to the rising incomes in China, people have more disposable income to spend on activities such as dancing.

Additionally, this activity shows the freedom of the nation, and specifically of the women. Participants can also express themselves through their spiritual beliefs, dedicating these dances to the gods that they follow. Finally, with large population sizes and many large cities, it becomes difficult to find physical activities which fit within these limitations. Square Dancing, however, is a very appropriate act to fulfill these needs within such limited capabilities.

1. Survey

In order to fully understand the aspects of our topic "square dance in China", it was imperative to establish a survey and to move to dance places to collect the information necessary for our study.

The questionnaire (see appendix) covered a variety of questions, with the purpose of answering the key question: why do Chinese people practice this kind of dance in public places?

Indeed, we tried to build our questionnaire of two types of questions: questions related to the characteristics of people practicing Square Dancing, and questions related to the heart of the subject (the nature of the dances, the places and time of dancing, the reasons behind these dances ...).

After collecting all the responses, the information from our administered questionnaires is as follows:

-        The Collective Dance is a Chinese way to show a culture of sharing: sharing of happy moments, of good mood, of foods after each dancing session,

-        This dance is mainly practiced by old couples, young ones can be dancing, but just by curiosity;

-        We can see scenes of dancing every day, every not raining night. Dancers’ groups choose a place near to their places, and each group has its teacher/ monitor;

-        The music of these dances differs from a dance style to another: we can find classic/happy music in old couples’ group, as well as relaxing music in women group dances;

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