Explainer | Meet the ‘dancing grannies’, the loud-but-glorious staple of Chinese society
- Anyone who has spent time in China over the past 20 years is familiar with the groups of mostly-older women who dance in unison
- They are occasionally a source of conflict, but the pros seems to outweigh the cons
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-up, usually Chinese, sometimes not.
“I have been dancing for eight years,” said a Chinese auntie from Chongqing, who preferred to remain anonymous.
“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,” she said, referring to a community college for elderly people she attends.
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The Chinese square-dancing grannies who took silver at the National Games
She fell in love with dancing and now performs on stage and competes against other dancing troupes in China.
While the woman from Chongqing takes the activity more seriously than most, for many middle-aged and elderly women in China, often called “damas” – a somewhat loaded word that directly translates to “big mama” – square dancing is the most important social activity in their lives.