1,223
Views
18
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Special Issue: Dance, Movement and Leisure Cultures

Dancing in public spaces: an exploratory study on China’s Grooving Grannies

, &
Pages 545-557 | Received 12 Feb 2019, Accepted 14 Jun 2019, Published online: 23 Jun 2019
 

ABSTRACT

In contemporary China, public spaces are often sites for group leisure activities. In the last ten years, the most notable group leisure activity is Guangchangwu (广场舞) which translates as dancing in the public squares. It has become a unique leisure practice mainly for older women’s participation in urban China. Guangchangwu (GGW) is a new form of daily leisure activity which has been overlooked by leisure scholars. By means of studying this unique leisure activity, this paper explores the spatial practice of older women engaged in GGW in the city of Guangzhou. Results reveal that older women engage in GGW to cope with the scarcity of public spaces, the commercialization of leisure spaces, the alienation of urban life, and the pervasive sense of meaninglessness amidst urbanization. Moreover, China’s grooving grannies acquire many benefits from their participation in GGW, such as health benefits, self-actualization, intergenerational communication, and happiness; not to mention that, as a result of GGW’s inclusivity, there is an increase on the sense of community, carnival atmosphere, and acceptance of diverse performers. Therefore, this study contributes to both leisure research and public research from a cross-cultural perspective, and shows that older women use GGW to practice and reconstruct their identities by embedding themselves within public spaces.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [41701143]

Log in via your institution

Log in to Taylor & Francis Online

PDF download + Online access

  • 48 hours access to article PDF & online version
  • Article PDF can be downloaded
  • Article PDF can be printed
USD 53.00 Add to cart

Issue Purchase

  • 30 days online access to complete issue
  • Article PDFs can be downloaded
  • Article PDFs can be printed
USD 503.00 Add to cart

* Local tax will be added as applicable

Related Research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.