When the music starts, the square becomes a stage.
Square dancing is not about the dance; it is about a life bubbling with heat.
Every evening, music starts on schedule in squares and parks across the city. Dozens of people line up in formation and move to the beat, movements neatly synchronized. The dancers wear matching outfits, their energy higher than the young.
Square dancing is part of daily life for many Chinese families: elders dance to keep healthy and get to know the neighbours; children run alongside; a partner sits on the bench watching. By the end of the music, the day's stress has danced away.
Some find it noisy; more people understand it: it is Chinese-style living fire, an ordinary person's stage in the city. As night falls and the lights come on, another ordinary day ends with a dance.
