NE China's women turn square dancing into a fashion
2015-08-10
A group of women in the city of Changchun, Jilin province have been adding some fashion to square dancing, a daily physical outdoors exercise and entertainment for older women, in the city's Yuhuayuan Park, according to a Jilin Daily article, on Aug 7.
The dance has become more popular among middle-aged women in recent years as a simple, easy form of entertainment, but now these women in Changchun have infused it with newer elements, such as the FlashMob, to making reach a wider range of people, and its practitioners now number more than 200.
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Women are practicing dancing in Yuhuayuan Park, Changchun, Jilin province.[Photo by Jiang Fengqi/Jilin Daily] |
And, according to Wang Yujie, the team leader, they're well-organized, and, "We encourage each other to exercise to keep fit and healthy. At the beginning, we had only seven members but then began to grow quickly. Later we formed the group to make it better organized."
Wang adds that they require every member to fill in an enrollment form, which contains the appropriate regulations and specific times.
Then, for this year's Mothers' Day, they were invited to perform at the Shangri-La Hotel and suddenly became famous as a hot dance team and their innovative approach that avoids stereotypical dancing startled the audience.
In the words of Gao Lihua, the team's choreographer, "We want to do something different."
And, different they are since now their clothing has a sponsor -- China CTTIC Bank and the Shangri-La Hotel -- and they've been invited to perform in other provinces and even in Hong Kong.
Wang concludes by noting, "We may be getting older, but we need to keep up with the times, and this dancing as a team gives us the chance."
