Meet the “Dancing Grannies”走近“广场舞大妈”

The women usually gather in the squares early in the mornings and evenings， sometimes wearing matching outfits， preparing to dance in unison to the day’s music line-up1， usually Chinese， sometimes not.

她们通常在清晨和傍晚聚集在广场，有时穿着统一的舞衣，准备跟着当日按顺序播放的音乐曲目齐舞。音乐通常是中文歌曲，但有时不是。

These “dancing grannies” gather by the dozens， and even hundreds， all across China， and have become an omnipresent2 part of society in the past 20 years.

在中国各地，这些“广场舞大妈”数十人甚至数百人一聚，在过去20年间已经成为无处不在的社会群体。

“Dancing is an all-age exercise， and it was proposed as a way for the elderly to be happy， to learn something and to contribute to the university，” said a Chinese auntie from Chongqing， referring to a community college for elderly people she attends.

“跳舞是一项老少皆宜的运动，被当成一种让老年人快乐、学东西和为大学做贡献的方式。”中国重庆的一位阿姨说，她指的是她所上的社区老年大学。

She fell in love with dancing and now performs on stage and competes against other dancing troupes3 in China.

她爱上了跳舞，如今还上台表演，与国内其他舞蹈队比赛。

For many middle-aged and elderly women in China， often called “damas”， square dancing is the most important social activity in their lives.

在许多中国中老年妇女（常被称为“大妈”）心里，广场舞是她们生活中最重要的社交活动。

These square dancing troupes have become a family for some participants and a fascination for many passers-by.

Which begs the question4， who are these dancing grannies？

对某些参与者来说，广场舞队给了她们家的感觉;对许多路人来说，这些团队则会吸引他们驻足欣赏。

这就让人不禁要问：这些广场舞大妈是谁？

How it works

运作方式

The most important feature of square dancing is the music.

广场舞最重要的特点是音乐。

The music is typically songs that are familiar to the group and there is a cottage industry5 of companies that sell soundtracks for dancing grannies， said Jiaxuan Yu， a PhD student at Emory University who has studied square dancing groups for seven years.

就读于埃默里大学的博士生于佳煖已研究广场舞队七年。她说，音乐通常是团队耳熟能详的歌曲，而且那些向广场舞大妈出售音乐原声带的公司已形成了家庭产业。

“But basically， they just try to find something that is free. That is a very important thing，” she said.

“但她们主要还是会找免费的音乐。这一点非常重要。”她说。

Choosing the music is the group leader’s job， a revered position that comes with both respect and responsibility.

选择音乐是队长的工作。队长受人尊敬，但也要肩负责任。

The leader selects the line-up， choreographs6 the dances （which often means simplifying the proposed dance）， organises the meet-ups and manages the troupe.

队长负责挑选乐单，编排舞蹈（通常是指简化拟跳的舞蹈），组织大家碰头，以及管理团队。

For people in this position， square dancing may appear more like a job than an evening hobby.

对担任队长的人来说，跳广场舞可能更像是一份工作，而不是一项晚间爱好。

The best strategy for joining a dance troupe is just to show up and hang around.

加入舞蹈队的最佳策略就是亲自去现场，并在旁边转悠。

Once you become a familiar face， the group will ask if you want to join. Often， outsiders can pick out new members because they tend to hang on the edges of the groups and their dance moves are not as in sync with7 everyone else.

一旦你成了熟面孔，该团队就会问你是否想加入。外人通常一眼就能认出新队员，因为她们往往在队伍边上踟躇，舞蹈动作也和其他人不同步。

Typically， once a woman joins a group they tend to stick with it， both out of convenience and， more importantly， because it can transform into their most important friend group.

通常来说，一旦加入了某个团队，她们就会坚持下去，既是出于方便，更重要的是，该团队可转变为她们最重要的朋友群。

“When they are dancing with others， they are also networking， so after several months， they will become very good friends，” said Yu.

“她们一起跳舞时也是在社交，所以几个月后，彼此之间就会成为非常要好的朋友。”于佳煖说。

“They may do things like go grocery shopping or travel together. They may become good friends in their life outside square dancing.”

“她们可能会一起去杂货店购物或旅游。她们可能会在广场舞之外的生活中成为好朋友。”

The value of these groups can be immense， especially as a counter to loneliness in old age.

这些舞蹈队可大有裨益，在对抗晚年孤独方面尤其如此。

Andy Boreham， a Shanghai-based journalist who is working on a documentary about the damas， said： “When we retire， and the kids leave home， there often isn’t that much left to do. The women I’ve talked with about square dancing can talk endlessly about the connection and sense of belonging they get when they join a dance troupe.”

安柏然是一名在上海任职的记者，正在制作一部关于中国大妈的纪录片。他说：“一旦退休，孩子们都已离家，可做的事所剩无几。谈到广场舞，我采访的大妈们会滔滔不绝地讲述她们加入舞队后结下的友谊和获得的归属感。”

Shuxian Mi， a sociologist at Shanghai Normal University， said another reason the women dance is that it is a way for them to express their feminine beauty.

上海师范大学研究社会学的宓淑贤说，女性跳舞还有个原因是，这是她们展示自身女性美的一种方式。

“In my opinion， square dance is a reproduction of beauty. More and more women show their beauty by dancing square dance， and the emergence of short videos gives them an opportunity，” she said.

她说：“在我看来，广场舞是美的再现。越来越多的女性通过跳广场舞彰显美丽，而短视频的兴起给了她们机会。”

A brief history of damas

大妈简史

Most histories of collective public square dancing， called Guang Chang Wu in Chinese， point to the mass urbanisation and building boom of the 1990s as the origins of the activity.

大多数集体性公共广场舞蹈（中文称“广场舞”）的记录指出，20世纪90年代的大规模城市化和建设热潮是该活动的起源。

While instances of public dancing were common before China opened up to the world， the public squares themselves did not exist on a large scale， according to an essay published in MIT Press in 2016.