Every day night, it is not hard to find a sizable group of students, usually with elder retired women as leads, dancing on the Youming Playground. This is a very trending entertainment and exercise among students in the lockdown in not only CCNU but also in other colleges， as there is very little skill required to get started—Square Dace (Guang Chang Wu). In fact, this type of simple and natural movement is enjoyed by millions of elder people over a couple of years. And thus, the strange contrast between elder people’s activity and young faces forms an inarticulate fascinating effect, which comes as a welcome respite from the dense study pressure.
每天晚上，佑铭操场上不乏有学生跟着退休阿姨们一起跳广场舞。广场舞动作简单，易于跟学，已经成为封校期间学生群体中十分流行的娱乐和锻炼方式。不仅仅是华师如此，很多其他高校也同样流行着大学生跳广场舞之风。实际上，广场舞已经在中国老年群体中风靡了十几年，这一老年娱乐活动和年轻面孔的奇怪碰撞让人感到十分有趣，广场舞也成为了学生们舒缓学习压力的方式之一。
But do you know the origins of the craze?
但是你知道广场舞是如何兴起的吗？
The craze for communal dancing could be traced back to the 1990s. people back then has lots of time, a strong desire for health and entertainment, but with less money as well as lacking public facilities. Dancing in public could solve all these obstacles. This interest heated up in 2008, when the government encouraged a national wide fitness program to welcome Beijing Olympics. Nowadays, younger people choose to workout in the gyms to build chisel body while older ones find square dancing more interesting and capable given their health conditions. The hot outdoor activity rapidly sweeps at home and abroad, as more and more people join in, a happy atmosphere has gradually formed and it has become an essential part of Chinese folk culture.
广场舞的起源最早是在1990年代，那个时候的人们虽然有许多空闲时间也热衷于锻炼身体，但是没有足够好的生活条件，也缺乏公共基础设施。在公共场合跳舞就完美解决了所有问题。2008年国家迎接北京奥运会，大力推动全面健身，广场舞作为一种大众健身的方式也应运变为一股热潮。如今，健身房给年轻人们提供健身塑形的场所，而广场舞也让老年人们觉得足够有趣，也足够满足他们对锻炼的需求。广场舞风靡国内外，越来越多的人加入到这个活动中来，伴随着欢乐的气氛，广场舞也逐渐成为中国民间文化中不可或缺的一部分。
There are some tips if you wanna have a try for the square dance in CCNU. Firstly, it’s better to go from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., for it lasts nearly one and a half hour after supper. Don’t dance on an empty stomach. Before you get started, warm-up exercises, such as twisting wrist, kicking legs, and twisting waist, are quite important to effectively reduce the risk of straining muscles. A 5-minute to 10-minute warm-up is ok. Do you want to have a try?
这里有一些广场舞小贴士。首先，广场舞活动持续一个半小时左右，最好在晚饭后七点到八点半到达操场，可不要空着肚子去哦！其次，在开始之前，做一些热身活动，比如扭扭手腕，扭扭腰，踢踢腿都是可以的，热身运动能帮助我们有效降低肌肉拉伤的风险，五分钟到十分钟的热身就足够啦！那么，你想要去试试与广场舞的碰撞吗？
Author: Yang Siyu
Date: April 9, 2022
