♪ ♪ somhing tt is perps town square in sichuan, china. ♪ ♪ middle aged and elderly people gath her aer ndown and begin dancing enthusiastically to the music. ♪ ♪

square are living out the rest of their lives while grappling with their own issues and finding joy in dance. ♪ ♪ aza bame popular locatns s for e middleged and derly. ♪ ♪ >> since the government started a campaign to create civilized cities in 2004, regional governments have begun promoting

exercise in places like these. ♪ >> eventually they spread all throughout china. the numbers grew and today, 80 million people of advanced age have joined the dance. ♪ >> clothing styles and music have diversified with new music being composed just for the dances. ♪ >> in china, so-called plaza dances have become a household word. >>t's gronto a maj socihenomeno there ang e ridlyging popation. e ridlyging popation.

lately, even young people have joined in on the excitent. ♪ ♪

one cple worksn a departme store durg the day. for them, dancing had an unexpected effect. >> in china, two kinds of plaza dances exist. one is performed as a group. everyone dances to the same choreography.

♪ ♪ >> the other is ballroom dancing where couples dance together and men take the lead. ♪ >> kunliang dances every day at this square. ♪ he started ballroom dancing in this plaza over ten years ago and has become proficient enough to lead quite skillfully. >> he lives in a residential area 15 minutes away on foot.

>> h gotivorce afteris s ou of the hou.obnd moved he has sine-handed cared for his eldly fher forver ten years.

ate-owne company as his nsions ane.iven tir ppares d feeis fathe

usthe bathom.nd helpsim he can't be gon forong so th o hou he spes dcing a the sare a the most he n get aw for.

>> bngngle, h muso all of theouse wk himself. ♪ple.

>> one day while dancing at a different square than usual, he encountered some trouble.

♪ ♪ >> the lack of clear rules in puic space cses occaonal ouble li this.

he is fling eecially hifather seral tim last py ght.

diffilt task fornyone. it's plaza dcinghat len hithe streth to t throug

li ping visits the same square as qunliang. she's only been dancing for a year and has much to learn. ♪ >> dancing in front of people has been a daunting challenge for her.

>> li gave up on her passion for dancing when she was a child. ♪ ♪ >> but after retiring, she was finally able to enjoy dancing in public. ♪ ♪

li grew up during the cultural revolution. people were encouraged to perform the loyalty dance which proclaimed their allegiance to mao. the cultural revolution continued for ten years starting in 1966. it was a mass movement to reform china's ideologies and culture started by ma onto protect socialist rule.

>> chen is a childhood friend of li's. li always looked up to chen for his good looks and dancing skills. but chen has her own bitter history with dance.

>> all people over the age of 60 in china lived through that turbulent era. ♪

come tether at thsquare. liu xiantao was a local judge for many years. ♪ for liu, the loyalty dance is a nostalgic memory.

>> liu loyally served the communist party for many years.

liu now hopes to become a professional dancer. as a fst stepoward thatoal sh joined a profeional dce team. ♪hhad onc lt bind. the dam t she sllarbors compl feelings about her past.

♪ ♪ ♪ li feels a large gap between her memories of that time and the reality. >> meanwhile, kunqiang's father has passed away.

no mter howld theyay grow,eopleoldn to thei hopes andreams. hi wish was to care for h ther unt the end, no matter w hardt mige. ♪ overen long years he saw it through. ♪

>> and li has achieved her own dreams. she finally became a professional dancer. her group tours all across china performing folk dance. ♪ ♪ >> not everyone can be front and center in the show and liu is literally starting in the back.

>> today, countless senior citizens are dancing at public squares. after living through challenging time, regaining some piece of their youth is the goal sought by these forgotten dancers. ♪ ♪ ♪

>> the u.s. house of representatives voted to triple pandemic relief payments. >> the agencies critical to our security have incurred enormous damage. >> president-elect joe biden warns america's ability to protect itself has been seriously weakened by the trump administration. ♪