Ying Sun

Square dancing is a popular and important contemporary social phenomenon in the 21st century in China. The dancing is mainly performed in public spaces and involves spontaneous participation by Chinese citizens, the participants collectively perform as a daily routine, which is viewed as being a significant extension of Chinese unique culture. Rooted in Chinese culture and politics, it is primarily examined through the lens of art, involving the investigations in the areas of sociology, mass culture and urban landscape. This original research will explore the cultural and social origin of square dancing in the interdisciplinary context and reassess its significance in the contemporary changing social landscape. Square dancing provides a link between performer bodies, communities, and urban spaces, and redefines the public spaces and a new social landscape in China.  

This research employs an ethnography qualitative approach by examining the origin and definition of square dancing, and the role of square dancing in urban spaces. The investigations are comprised of two stages of fieldwork: general data collection and in-depth data collection. The method includes a semi-structured interview, participatory observation, and photography survey. It will investigate daily experiences and perceptions of square dancing in the urban space by personal participants. The researcher will videotape or photograph herself and dancers participating in the dance, thus exploring the communities and bodies of square dancing, and recording the change of social landscape. 

This research makes a significant contribution in expanding the knowledge, through documentation of the definition of square dancing and its culture and politics in contemporary China. Moreover, the main contribution of this study is to establish an accurate relationship between the square dancing and changing social landscape used by participants and relevant professionals (government officials, academics, etc.) as a form of guidance to assessing the new social landscape. Furthermore, under the influence of Covid-19, the world will not be the same as it was before. Square dance is still gathering virtual, and even all the interaction of square-dancing activity has changed to an online method. This phenomenon is called cloud square dancing by various Chinese media. It is necessarily quite different from square dancing’s intended experience, and we look to offer insight to the ‘cloud’ dancing, ‘cloud’ square, and ‘cloud’ community. 

Bibliography:  

• Lefebvre, H., 1991. The production of Space, Translated by Donald Nicholson-Smith,1st. edn. Blackwell Publishing Ltd.  
• Martin, R. and Chen, R., 2020. The People’s Dance: The Power and Politics of Guangchang Wu. Palgrave Macmillan.  
• Seetoo, C. and Zou, H., 2016. China’s Guangchang Wu: The Emergence, Choreography, and Management of Dancing in Public Squares. TDR/The Drama Review, 60(4), pp.22-49. 
• Wu H., 2005, Remaking Beijing, Tiananmen Square: A Political History of Monuments, The University of Chicago Press; Edition Unstated edition. 

Postgraduate supervisors

• Joshua Jiang
• Jieling Xiao