Need to give public dancing a human face

Chinese people's attitude toward dancing in public squares is quite complicated. Senior citizens, especially aged women, find a new lease of life by being part of modern dancing groups, but many young and middle-aged people object to their dancing in neighborhoods because of the din it creates.

No wonder the public has responded in different ways to the recent news of four government departments, including the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, jointly issuing a statement encouraging dancing in public areas. Some people have said that the dama (literally, big mamas) have finally got government endorsement to practice group dancing in public areas, while others are worried that the joint statement could cause more friction over the use of limited urban public spaces.

Controversies over public square dancing, in fact, reflect a generation gap and conflict of individual interests. For many senior citizens who grew up in the times of collectivism and enjoy public square dancing, the activity helps them to not only maintain an active life, but also recall their "good old days" when they were young and played and worked together. Members of the younger generations, many of whom are stressed out, find it hard to understand the joys that orderly public square dancing brings to the elderly.

Moreover, modernization, urbanization and individual rights consciousness are new concepts in Chinese society and are less than a century old. Frictions and disputes in daily social interactions are understandable, because Chinese people need time to get used to new rules of life and the boundary between private and public life, as well as their rights and obligations in modern society.

To properly deal with this issue, the government has to make special efforts in two areas; it has to effectively coordinate between conflicting social groups, and provide sufficient public facilities and services to do so.

Every citizen has the right to use public facilities. So how can the government effectively coordinate between conflicting interests? Most complaints against public square dancing are because of the loud noise it creates. The law against noise pollution that took effect in 1997 is not of much help in this regard because it is quite vague on the permissible decibel level in public areas.

Besides, it is difficult to impose the same standard throughout the country. But legislators in some cities could try out pilot legislation to make the standard suitable to local conditions. And only in this way can frictions between public dancing groups and those opposed be reduced.

More importantly, the government should provide sufficient public facilities and services to make such dancing possible in public areas.

The joint departmental announcement encourages public square dancing and urges local authorities to provide convenient public venues and facilities for such an activity. This has heightened the opposing groups' concerns over whether the limited urban public spaces will be "officially" occupied by dancing dama. The authorities should realize that the dearth of public spaces is the prime reason for the controversy over dancing. Hence, to meet dama's public square dancing requirements, the authorities have to provide more public facilities and services, rather than undermine other groups' rights to access public spaces.

Properly dealing with public square dancing is of great significance in today's China, which faces the increasing pressure of an aging society. Public square dancing is not only a mass recreational activity that many senior citizens enjoy, but also the most widespread workout and social interaction activity for them. Therefore, encouraging public square dancing by providing more convenient venues and facilities is conducive to not only helping senior citizens lead a healthy life, but also have a harmonious effect on society.

The author is a writer with China Daily. Contact the writer at wangyiqing@chinadaily.com.cn