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Dancers change tune amid public pressure
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THEY have taken over almost every corner in China — from squares and roadsides to parks and playgrounds. They have even been seen in Sunset Park in New York’s Brooklyn borough.
But now, the indefatigable Chinese “dancing aunties,” who spin, sway, swing and shimmy to loud, sometimes annoying music during evening and morning hours to keep fit, are suddenly silent in parts of Shanghai.
The middle-aged and older women who dance in public places have toned down their favorite activity temporarily so that high school students cramming for the looming gaokao or national college entrance examinations can concentrate on their studies.
The dancing aunties in Hongkang Green Square in Changning District have even taken to doing the mambo wearing headphones. The dancing groups are considered a nuisance by many neighborhood residents, who complain of the loud noise they create with boom-box music and sometimes even large speakers. But attempts to rein in their activities haven’t gone far.
“Why try to stop us?” says Dai Xiaoqun, director of the Jiaxing Road Community Cultural Center in Hongkou District, which has 18 dance teams. “We’re not a group of gamblers or criminals. We just love to dance.”
In 2012, the Shanghai municipal government issued an order requiring dancers to refrain from activities with musical instruments and audio equipment between the hours of 10pm and 6am. They were also told to avoid public places close to residences. The city has since divided public places into two categories: one for quiet exercises like tai chi and one for noisy exercises, like dancing to sound equipment.
“Old people need to exercise, not only to stay healthy but also to enrich their retirement life,” says She Ciyi, whose square dancing team from the Pudong New Area won the gold medal in last year’s Shanghai Citizens’ Cultural Festival.
Still, the battle between aunties and local residents goes on, not only in Shanghai.
Last month, a dancing group in Sichuan Province was attacked by BBs fired from an air rifle. The shooter, who was later caught, told police he couldn’t bear the noisy music in the morning hours any more.
Last year, some residents from Wuhan, capital city of Hubei Province, threw human excrement on dancing aunties from the tops of adjacent buildings.
Frustrated residents in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, banded together to install a 260,000-yuan (US$41,935), mega-sound system in the central garden of their neighborhood. Whenever the dancing started, they blared out a loop message: “Please obey Chinese laws on noise pollution and stop dancing.”
As one resident told a local newspaper, “We had no other choice to defend by ourselves.”
The aunties, however, have proved to be formidable opponents.
This January, six dancing aunties in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, pierced the tires of cars intentionally parked in the place they used to dance. Last June, city noise inspectors in Lanzhou, Gansu Province, were attacked by more than 100 dancers when they tried to persuade them to leave because they were disturbing students taking national college entrance exams in a nearby school.
In one neighborhood of Wuhan, a 100-meter iron net installed in a neighborhood to keep dancers out, was dismantled overnight.
The dancing continued.
“They are all grandmothers and grandfathers,” says Chen Suping, a Huju Opera artist and deputy to the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress, who has been doing research on public dancing (guangchang wu, or literally “plaza dancing”). “It’s just not right that dancing should degenerate into fights.”
According to the research, co-conducted by the Shanghai Women’s Federation, about 68 percent of dancers polled said they think they are healthier because of dancing. About 63 percent said dancing enriches their life, and 44 percent said it helps them make new friends.
“Undoubtedly, public dancing is a serious entertainment for older ladies,” Chen says. “It also helps build a healthy community culture.”
Neighbors are singing a different tune. The research poll found more than 90 percent of them strongly opposed the dancing.
“You don’t need to dance to stay healthy,” says Wang Dawei, 33, who lives in Minhang District. “You can go jogging or have a brisk walk after dinner. There are many other quieter ways.”
Luo Junwei, 32, a doctor at Ruijin Hospital, says, “They want to dance, but I need to sleep. We all need to stay healthy.”
Chen suggests that the Shanghai government require each dancing group to register with the city and sign a statement promising self-discipline where noise is concerned.
Indeed, some community centers and residence neighborhoods are starting to adopt self-regulation.
The Jiaxing Road Community Center relegates dancing time to 6:30am-9:30am. The Chunshen Square Dancing Team in Xinzhuang, Minhang District, limits itself to only the hour between 6:30pm and 7:30pm.
Minhang also set up a public dancing coordination committee to resolve disputes and keep an eye on regulations related to times, venues and suitable sound equipment.
“It takes time,” says Cao Yuejuan, director of the Xinhong Community. “You can’t expect it to change overnight.”
The city wants to make it clear that it is not against dancing per se. This month, Shanghai began its first Square Dancing Competition, which will run through the end of October. It is expected to attract more than 2,000 dancing teams.
“I think public dancing is a by-product of the aging population,” says Chen. “And noise pollution is its downside. If we can set it right, public dancing can be a positive activity for the city’s graying population.”
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