Dancing through time

Women, mostly retirees, stay fit by dancing at an open space in Bozhou, Anhui province. Zhang Yanlin / for China Daily

Dancing in the square is best accompanied by impromptu Bai ethnic tunes sung a cappella. "Listen to it, we dance to say how lovely we Yunnan 'golden flower' girls are," Yang says.

Just like the whip dance, the Kazakh traditional dance Karajurha tells the story of how men ride horses and wrestle and how women sew and children play. This traditional dance has also evolved into an engaging square dance and a morning exercise at schools.

"We're used to dancing it whenever there is a wedding or happy get- together," says Ersen Heyzat, from the Altay prefecture of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

He led his group of dance enthusiasts to the Galaxy Awards. He has also designed a set of school exercises based on Karajurha.

"When the tribe still lived on the grassland, it was danced while on a horse. Therefore it's the same tempo as the horses prance," he says.

"It's easy as long as you know how to shrug, as most moves are in the upper body," says Heyzat. "For the Karajurha square dance, there is nothing you can't learn in a minute and no standard you can't match."

"That's the point of square dancing. It's easy."

In Usu in Xinjiang, young and old participate in ethnic square dancing every evening in the summer in several plazas around the city.

"We don't wear an owl's feather or ultra-long sleeves (the traditional dance clothes) for daily square dancing," Heyzat says. "But the movements still reflect our moods, that we are very happy with our lives."

Square dancing can be witnessed across the country in the morning and early evening in warm weather, but it is not always welcome.

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