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

The six square dancers. [Photo/Xinhua]

"To gain their trust, we needed to communicate with them in their daily lives," Wang said. "Twenty percent of the work depends on choreographing and directing, while the other 80 percent comes from the interaction among us."

During the rehearsal, Wang also interviewed the dama about their lives, collecting material for her creation.

Gradually, the dama got the hang of the play, and were even able to offer some helpful advice to the professionals. Chen even designed some of the movements, such as the combing and dressing actions in part of the play.

Wang and the dama gave three performances in Italy from October 14 to 16. For several months, they practiced for almost five or six hours every day.

Although they loved their retired lives, the intense rehearsal took up a lot of their time. But Chen said that the performers were all supported by their families. "My husband took on all the chores for me to concentrate on the play," Chen said, grinning.

After returning from Italy for several weeks, Chen looks back with pride at what they achieved.

"I'm very happy to have had this novel experience with our young team, " she said. "I think for those foreign artists and audiences, we were special, too. As amateur eldery Chinese performers, we told them a story that could never have been told by anyone else."