Chinese social media horrified after video emerges of pole dance at a wedding, given rural funerals are where dancers occasionally perform
- Pole dancers are commonly hired for car shows and sometimes funerals in remote areas, but an appearance at a wedding has generated controversy
- One wedding planner said the idea was vulgar and that he would never organise a pole dance for a wedding
A revealing pole dance at a wedding reception in China has left guests stunned and drawn widespread criticism after a video emerged of the racy routine on Chinese social media.
Pole dancing has become widely accepted on the mainland with dancers invited to perform at events like car shows to boost attendance, but pole dancing at weddings remains taboo.
The dancer, wearing a black face mask and a short and backless purple number, spun around and slid up and down the pole as the mostly male guests visible in the video watched. Some appeared to be filming the dance.
“Is it appropriate? Performing such a dance when the elderly, the young and children were having dinner together and some were relatives. This is so embarrassing,” said one Douyin user.
“She danced really well, but this is not the occasion for pole dancing,” said another.
Wedding planner Li Ming, who runs a wedding agency in Zhangjiakou, said pole dancing was not a common practice and was not generally considered appropriate for weddings.
“There might be such hot dances in rural areas to attract attendance at funerals or weddings, but not in urban areas. I find it very vulgar and would not design such a performance at the wedding reception,” Li said.
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Li said even though people in recent times are more open-minded and increasingly pursue originality over tradition for their wedding reception, rituals and programmes usually reflected local customs and social values while revealing attire was not considered suitable.
“That wedding reception certainly does not represent wedding reception trends, at least not in Zhangjiakou,” Li said.
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Chen Guang, who manages S-Pole Dance, a dancing school in Shanghai, said pole dancers were often booked for exhibitions like car shows to attract crowds, but requests to perform at weddings were rare and about “one out of fifty”.
“It’s mostly because the brides were dancers themselves or were interested in pole dancing,” Chen said.
However, wedding planners would often make adjustments to the routines and outfits to match the wedding setting and ambience, otherwise, the effect would be “repulsive”.
“Dancer will wear more classic dresses, like ballet dresses. Revealing dresses will be repulsive to viewers.” Chen said. “They will also be careful with the moves and avoid opening legs too wide.”
Chen said such performance had never received bad feedback.
“It is just a dancing performance to entertain guests, like Latin dance,” Chen said.
