China's government to 'manage' public dancing

Women dance in a plaza at a public park at dusk in Wuhan, in central China's Hubei province, Friday, Aug. 7, 2015

Beijing (AFP) -  A spate of noisy disputes between middle-aged women and nearby residents has prompted China’s communist leaders to step in to regulate dancing in public places, state media said on Monday.

Groups of dancers often gather on China’s public squares and street corners performing choreographed routines to loud music, sometimes provoking anger from neighbours. 

China will step up efforts to manage such dancers, creating a “public square dancing management mechanism” which will be “under government leadership”, Xinhua news agency said.

“Public square dancing will enter into the social management system,” said Xinhua, citing a joint statement from four central departments including the culture ministry and the civil affairs ministry as saying.

The agencies will manage dancing in accordance with existing laws, it added. The government statement won plaudits from users of Sina Weibo, a Chinese equivalent of Twitter.

Square dancing has become a hot topic in China, with stories on dancing "damas" -- a term referring to middle-aged and elderly women -- lighting up state media.

But disputes have increased. A man in Beijing who could not bear the loud music played by local dancers was jailed for six months after he fired a gun into the air in protest, the state-run China Daily reported last year.

The China Daily said in March that authorities had hired an "expert panel" to choreograph 12 state-approved dances.

"It is good to ensure that damas will never disturb citizens close to residential areas," one person said online.  It is definitely necessary to discipline them," added another.