From public square to public theater: China's dancing 'dama' take on the world

One of the square dancers Tian Ying is practicing. [Photo/Xinhua]

The play premiered at the sixth Beijing Nanluoguxiang Performing Arts Festival in Penghao Theater in July last year.

"It is an interesting idea to bring ordinary people, like these dama, into the theater," said Xie Pang, PR manager of Penghao Theater."The idea fits with Penghao's aim to draw common people nearer art. That's why we included it in the festival."

As one of the leading private theaters in China, Penghao is popular among young theater lovers, many of whom are theater students and well-educated white collar workers.

The tickets for these dama's debut sold out, and due to popular demand they gave three more performances in September last year.

At that time, Pietro Valenti, art director of Vie Festival, was on a visit to Penghao, and on seeing the play he immediately decided to invite them to perform in Italy.

However, the performance had more than its fair share of difficulties. Wang described it as "a negotiation between the young twenty-something professionals and the aging amateur performers."

Rehearsals started in March last year. At first, the elderly performers did not understand Wang's work and acting methods.

Counter to what they knew, the performers were told to move at different speeds in different sections of the play, at Wang's suggestion. The dama found it difficult to find the right rhythm at first, and when they did, it felt awkward.

Sometimes the dancers were required to take on a certain mood, but they were not familiar with the specific movements to show happiness or sadness.

To solve these problems, Wang and her team bonded with the dancers, repeatedly explaining and demonstrating what they needed from them. They even ate, shopped and hung out together after rehearsals.