Dance teacher helps fellow elderly stay young in Beijing park
Retired soldier Li Hua is a veteran performer who tries not to annoy nearby residents while helping his fellow seniors stay young
In 2003, retiree Li Hua bought some outdoor sound equipment and began teaching other elderly men to dance in a public square in Beijing's Dongcheng district. Dancing is a great way for older people to stay fit, Li says. Perhaps the hardest part is not annoying nearby residents with loud music.
I was enlisted in the PLA in 1964. I was stationed on a submarine in the Yellow Sea for six years, then sent to build and maintain railways. I retired as a director of a department in the Ministry of Transport. The military has always had professional performance troupes, but at the time it wasn't unusual for ordinary soldiers or even civilians to use their performing skills for propaganda purposes, to educate troops or peasants about Mao Zedong thought and so on. It was the Cultural Revolution. I was good at performing - singing, story telling, crosstalk [a type of improvised stand-up comic routine with two performers] - you name it. When I retired I started to lead dance groups in Beihai Park. I later moved to this square, where I now teach Latin dance and Chinese square dancing.
Yes, for about a year, when I lead a group of 600 tap dancers. The following year, a group of 1,000 people used to do tap dances together south of the city. It was quite a sight.