交谊舞到迪斯科:当代中国日常舞蹈的兴衰(上)

From Ballroom Dance to Disco: The Rise and Fall of the Daily Dance in Contemporary China(Ⅰ)

交谊舞与迪斯科舞同为1980年前后兴盛于中国大陆的社会文化现象,两者均为当代中国的社会变迁提供了一个来自民众身体、人际关系及日常生活领域的重要源头,与当时的意识形态、道德观念及文化政策法规产生了多层次的冲突与协商关系。本文分上、下两篇。上篇主要描述交谊舞在1979年之后的重新复归,它在社会上迅速而广泛的流传,以及交谊舞与此一时期精英文化及民众文化所构成的互动关系。作为一种民众日常生活中的舞蹈,交谊舞与政治意识形态及国家文化政策法规之间产生了激烈的"拉锯",由此形成了20世纪80年代社会变革过程中的一种民众文化主导模式。

The daily dance activities of the urban population in China have been closely related to the introduction of Westerners and the inf?luence of western culture in modern times. In the late Qing Dynasty, the Westerners who were living in Shanghai and other Chinese cities, started to hold the ballroom dance. Soon, the Chinese people opened a number of commercial dance clubs, making ballroom dance an important way of entertainment in urban life. During the 1930 s to 1940 s, the Communist Party also took the ballroom dance as an important entertainment in leisure time in Yan’an. It can be said that the ballroom dance, along with other forms of social dance in people’s daily life, was intimately connected with the process of westernization and modernization of the modern China and with the political, social, and cultural changes of contemporary China. A body-centered way of entertainment—especially the specif?ic dance movements, music, and places of each type of dance, the life and body experiences and emotional forms of the dancers, as well as the rise and fall and evolution of the dances—has had extensive and complex interactions with the macro forces of the country in the contemporary times.After the 'Anti-Rightist Movement' in 1957, the ballroom dance and the related music were treated as a decadent lifestyle, belonging to the bourgeoisie reactionary culture. They were regarded to not only corrupt the social conduct but also sabotage the revolution and construction of the emerging socialism. They had been severely criticized and forbidden and were replaced by other dance forms such as the 'loyalty dance' during the 'Cultural Revolution'.On the Chinese New Year’s Eve of 1979, the Government Off?ices Administration of the State Council held an evening party in the Great Hall of the People. China Central Television broadcasted one of the dance programs, a Waltz-based ballroom dance with the music 'Youth Waltz' composed by DU Ming-xin. It was the f?irst public appearance of the ballroom dance since it was criticized and banned more than 20 years ago. It marked the beginning of the country’s reform and opening up and signaled the changing of people’s daily cultural life.Young people in large and mid-sized cities started to organize balls, using the 'Sanyo' tape recorder, which was just introduced to China's Mainland from Japan, to play Teresa Teng’s songs. The themes of these songs were mostly about personal feelings. As a result, what they danced at that time featured more daily characteristics than the classic dance styles such as Waltz, mixed with the content that were considered as deviant or even 'illegal' contemporarily.In June 1980, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Culture jointly issued the 'Notice on Banning Commercial Dance Clubs and Balls in Public Places.' The notice pointed out that the postures of people at a large number of the balls at that time were tasteless and vulgar, ugly, and immoral. The dance places were chaotic, which not only debased the social morals but also became the places where crimes took place. These were the reasons why they must be banned.After the 'Ban on Dance' was issued, many people started to hold secret balls at home with the prevalence of tape recorders and the circulation of a variety of pop music cassettes. At the family balls, the narrow space, the participants combining acquaintances and strangers, dimmed lights, and music with slow four-beat rhythm such as Teresa Teng’s love songs—all encouraged people to build an intimate relationship, while the dancers paid little attention to the standard of steps. Family space was not suitable for classic ballroom dances such as waltz or rumba, because it was diff?icult for them to fully stretch their body;it was also the reason why there were always people dancing cheek to cheek at the family balls. 'Cheek to Cheek Dance' triggered controversy, being considered as a taboo violating social norms. Therefore, the government then strengthened the control of family balls, treating many activities associated with family balls as the criminal offense with more severe punishment.In October 1984, the government issued the 'Notice on the Improvement of Ball Management,' canceling the 'Ban on Dance.' This shows that different powers of the society negotiated on the balls, which made the prevalence of the ballroom dance like a 'tug of war,' similar with its movements. Once the balls became a new entertaining way in daily life that people got used to, it could mobilize different forces of society, market economy, and new electronic media, continuously confronting and negotiating with specif?ic laws and regulations, moral values, and political ideology. Through the confrontation and negotiation, a variety of cultural forms based on the contemporary people’s daily life have expanded their living space with diff?iculty yet dedication.