Fancy Footwork

Most countries have their own cultural traditions, and China is no exception. Street dancing is not very popular in the United States, especially in Sacramento, since people have busy life styles and urban management law enforcement. Sometimes people go to clubs dancing when they have free time or hang out with friends.

However, in China, we can see a lot of ladies dancing in square or open spaces like parks or parking lots during morning time or after dinner time. People can join the street dances everywhere from big cities to small towns. Many community owners and residents oppose the square dance in the community due to their loud music, and some people think this loud music has seriously affected their lives, so residents expelled dancing ladies at the beginning.

As time went by, people started to accept and adjust to the environment around them. Street dances have become one aspect of culture in China. Moreover, it is also considered a social phenomenon in China. The streets have become a colorful world at night. Why? Since there are elderly people or middle-aged people enjoy the dancing in the square. Some people dance and sing, other people are into fitness, and some naughty children follow the funny action of the dancing ladies.

Even though the dancers are old, they still have vibrant vitality and graceful dance posture. They are well-behaved and rhythmic. They have neatly arranged team, and the people dressed uniform clothing wearing a blue and white T-shirt, trousers, and white gloves, really like the people’s liberation army in the military parade.

My grandma couldn’t help to join the team when she saw the spectacular scenery. When I was a child, my grandma always took me to the square dance because it was her routine. Her joints are flexible and soft like snakes. Her beautiful dance leisurely soft like butterfly flying and smooth wicker twisting. Street dance in the Chinese mainland; both north and south are very common, mostly participants experienced the Cultural Revolution generations of the elderly.

In China, the middle-aged and elderly women who dance at street dance have been given the title of “Guang Chang Da Ma Wu” which is street dance. Accompanied by elegant music and lightweight pace of dancers, people know where they should go for dancing, and usually they have stable places. Although sometimes rain couldn’t stop their activities, they go to indoor grounds. Many people join the street dancing because it is very cheap and avoid traffic to go far away to clubs.

For example, it is reported as being 5 RMB per month. It depends where you live. If you live in the big cities like Guangzhou, Shanghai, or Beijing, it will be about 20 RMB, which is three dollars. I still enjoyed dinner with my family while the music is open as loud as trains outside of my home. It is very convenient being next door. It seems to tell people that it is time go out dancing. When foreign tourists travel to China, they are completely impression by “Guang Chang Da Ma Wu”.

They may think dancers are so ridiculous since they play loud music and occupy a lot of public places; also, they annoy many other residents. Because so many dancers like to dance very early in the morning, for example, around 6:00am, this does not allow sleeping-in on weekends. The noise also bothers some people at work when the dancers are active during working hours. Additionally, this can cause a lot of trafficproblems and displace other sports.

Street dancing seems weird in other countries, but it creates a good atmosphere of helping, learning, exchange of feeling, friendship, growth of knowledge and fitness, bringing together people of different levels qualities and interests. When I look back at the life in China, I have vivid images of the street dance around my home in my head.

Loud music has been coming in my ear which seems to have happened yesterday. “Guang Chang Da Ma Wu” has become significant, not only in my family, but it is a major culture of Chinese society. Street dance has become the soul of Chinese culture. It is inherited from generation to generation.