Carnation, a square dancing team formed by retirees, performs at the Looking For China's Most Beautiful Queen of Square Dancing competition in Shanghai last year. (Photo by GAO ERQIANG/CHINA DAILY)
After suffering years of ridicule, square dancing is massively popular and is now regarded as a genuine sport.
She may be a 64-year-old retiree, but Yang Suxian certainly doesn't lack things to occupy her time.
Unlike many of her peers who spend their days looking after grandchildren and hanging out in parks, Yang, from Tangshan, a city in the northern province of Hebei, is heavily involved in organizing an amateur dance troupe that has about 80 members.
This year, her team, called Carnation, is scheduled to participate in 100 events. More than half of them are provincial－or national-level contests attended by thousands of middle-aged "Gyrating grannies", commonly known as dama.
"Competition brings out the best in us. Square dancing gives us seniors an incentive to get up every morning, and the competitions provide us with a reason to keep dancing," said Yang, who no longer dances as a result of a back injury. She founded the troupe in 2001 with seven neighbors and colleagues.
The Looking for China's Most Beautiful Queen of Square Dancing competition, sponsored by Mighty, a sunflower oil brand from Taiwan, is one of the largest events of its kind in the Chinese mainland.
It lasts almost six months and more than 35,000 dancers from 25 provinces and regions take part. Carnation was one of 10 teams from 3,500 troupes that made it to the finals which were held in Shanghai in December.
Inspired by tradition
Dressed in traditional emerald green costumes and jetblack sunglasses, the team's performance was inspired by Chinese shadow puppetry, an ancient form of entertainment and craftsmanship believed to have originated in Tangshan.
Carnation finished third in the competition, which pleased Yang. "We are happy with the result, considering that we spent less than two months preparing for the contest. Besides, none of us started dancing to become a dancing queen. We just want to exercise and kill time," she said.
Square dancing started to gain popularity in China in the 1990s. At the time, it was a casual activity that required little organization and, like today, it took place across the nation's parks and pedestrian streets.
The name derives from these urban locations, and the activity should not be confused with the traditional dances performed in the United States.
Despite the origins of the dance, some dama have performed overseas at landmarks such as the Louvre in Paris and Red Square in Moscow.
Today, the activity is so popular that it has even been considered a sport in China. Last year, square dancing was included in China's National Games, which took place in Tianjin, for the first time.
According to Li Xiangru, a professor at Capital University of Physical Education and Sports, at least 10,000 provincial－and national-level competitions were held across the country last year.
Moreover, the State General Administration of Sports estimates that there were around 180 million active square dancers in China at the end of last year.
"Regardless of the social and entertainment functions of square dancing, it is essentially a sport. And sports need judges, ratings and winners to keep them moving forward," Li said.
