Gentle Chinese Dancing Group celebrate 10 years at Fed Square

Hi Joanna and Jacki! Can you introduce yourselves and tell me a bit about when you started with the group?

Joanna: My name is Joanna, I’m the group’s President. I was involved when the group started, in 2015, but we were legally registered as the Melbourne Line Dancing Group in 2016.

Jacki: I’m Jacki, I’m the secretary of the group, and I’ve been involved with the group since about 2015. I found the group very accidentally. I was just meeting a friend at the gallery, and I saw this group, dancing and having fun, and I thought it looked much more interesting than yoga. And I was probably at the point in my life where I needed something else other than working by myself. My kids had left home, and so I joined, and I’ve been there ever since. 

Why is it called ‘Melbourne Line Dancing Group’?

Joanna: In the beginning, we did a lot of line dancing.

Jacki: More like the jitterbug, dances like that.

Joanna: So then, because all our members were Chinese (apart from Jacki!), we thought how about we introduce to the public our traditional Chinese dancing? Maybe that’s better for Australian people – there’s line dancing everywhere. But seeing Chinese dancing in this place is unique.

Many Australian people don’t know Chinese dancing, so in this place at Fed Square it’s very nice to be able to share our tradition in dancing. Then Fed Square started calling us ‘Chinese gentle dancing group’.

And because China has 56 different cultural minority groups. Each minority has their own unique dancing, so we try to include different dances from different cultural minorities as well.

Jacki: And you know, there’s different props we use, there’s umbrellas, there’s fans, and sometimes two fans, sometimes two really long fans. There’s all sorts of different skills to learn.

How has the group grown and changed since it began?

Joanna: In the beginning, we only had seven people. And because our practice time wasn’t regularly held every Thursday, lots of members had trouble remembering the time, and would forget. Also, one hour wasn’t long enough. So when I came be the leader of the group, I made a few changes: we made our practice regularly every Thursday, from ten-thirty to twelve o’clock.

Then, some members of the group said they would like to have longer practices, because they were travelling from far away. I was happy to volunteer to run the classes for longer, so it became ten-thirty to two o’clock or two-thirty. But if we have a bigger event coming up, then we will finish a little bit later.

What does the group do outside of practising at Fed Square?

Jacki: The group has been involved with Chinese New Year, Dragon Boat Festival, Moon Festival, various Chinese cultural events, but also some of us have performed at the Arts Centre, at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl for the opening of Rising when it began again after Covid. And some of the members of the group been involved with videos and film clips. We’ve done lots of things outside of the Chinese community. Also we’ve done Moomba, and also performed at Kids’ Day Out.

I think that’s what’s interesting about the group. That it’s very broad in what we put our hands up to do. Personally, I think it’s fabulous being in the semi-public area here in the Atrium at Fed Square, and bringing it to the public like this every week. For me, that’s why I like being here.

I would never would have thought I would be dancing in public. And this is just sort of so outside my comfort zone. But people just sort of love it, and they sort of get drawn into this entrance of the Atrium, and they really get captivated by the dancing and stay – and school groups join in. People really get excited by it.

It sounds like it’s more than just the dancing, there’s also a real community connection between members.

Jacki: Yeah. Because the group also looks after each other, too. Particularly during Covid, you know, people were quite isolated. But, you know, as soon as Covid cracked open a little bit, and we could get together, we had some picnics, and we went on a bus trip to Sunflower Farm. We do have regular meals together, and we sometimes have little trips together, social occasions and to celebrate birthdays.

I think for some people coming and going from China or going through things with family, you know, the group’s quite stable. It’s very social.

Joanna: A lot of people come here from China, with no English, and they feel very isolated. They’ve migrated here, and their children are busy working. Many are very depressed and they come to us looking quite lost. We are a big, warm welcome to them, like a family. When they come here to dance, they are cheerful. They’re happy. It’s like happy therapy.

For me, the important job is to make bring up the dancers who have less experience, while making it interesting enough for the dancers with more professional experience. Sometimes I organise a professional teacher to come, so everyone pays a little bit of money to get that special tuition.

Jacki: I’m also very dependent on other people. I’m always asking people to tell me what they are doing, to help me, because sometimes I’m in the wrong spot. But people help each other.

It’s just a lovely relationship you develop with other dancers and other people in the group, you know, because you’re a team. You want the best. You want to look good, and you do want to have fun, and it can be very hard. But, as Joanna says, do your best, and see what happens.

I never thought I’d be performing, but Joanna said, look you’re going to enjoy it, too.

The group is mostly older, retired Chinese migrant women, with limited English language (except for Jacki). How does everyone learn the dances?

Joanna: I have to say, Jacki, when she came here in 2015, she’d never danced before. But it’s so amazing, she can understand our language. She’s very smart. The body language keeps her going. Then now, she’s been dancing for 11 years, her movement is very graceful, and she has such a beautiful smile, and she’s just gorgeous.

Jacki: Joanna works really hard, too. She has to learn almost all the dances that we are taught. We do occasionally have other teachers come and help. But Joanna basically rehearses, studies, learns the dances, and then takes us through step by step.

And for me, it’s just counting and watching, but Joanna is very diligent. She also does lessons in other dance groups, as well, like, just this is just a small part of Joanna’s life.

Joanna: Our group has a wide range of different dancing backgrounds. Some people have a very professional level of training and some people have never danced before. I have to work to make sure the performance matches.

Jacki: There are a lot of people in the group you can see they have ballet training, or a background in dance. It’s just the way they hold themselves and the way they move. They pick up Joanna’s teaching very quickly, and Joanna very carefully brings people along. She takes you step by step through everything, and we use a lot of videos to communicate with the group, to go over things.

Just seeing yourself and correcting yourself. It’s a major media enterprise, teaching and sharing.

The costumes you wear in the Atrium are particularly vibrant, all of you in red. Who is responsible for cracking the whip there?

Joanna: Yeah, everything’s me.

Jacki: I think in the early days, we just wore track suit pants and everyone looked different.

Joanna: And I said Oh. No, no, no. We are dancing, it’s a performance. The costume is part of that.

Jacki: I think it’s the mass of colour.

Joanna: The colour, and the tradition.

Jacki: Particularly in the Atrium, I love this area. I think it’s fantastic. It’s a sea of red in here, and then you use some crazy sort of fan that make a lot of noise, like the gold fans. I think the mass of colour, it just sort of unifies the group.

And I think it helps you get into the zone of what you’re doing, because you know that for this particular dance, you need this particular skirt, and it’s about graceful movements. Or you put on a different outfit, and we’re doing a snappier dance. I think the change of costume helps carry the dances better.

And getting a little bit dressed up each Thursday is kind of fun.

Joanna: I ask everybody, I tell them that their hair has to be up. You’re dancing, you make yourself look nice.

I teach people how they can do their make-up, or eyelashes. It’s a performance, because we’re in a public space.

Jacki: The other thing that happens in the group is you absolutely have no time to think of anything else going on. Just the dancing. You actually need to concentrate. I need to concentrate so hard, just to just stay up with it. But I think it’s nice you leave all that behind. You put on your face, and it’s fun.

Joanna: Every Thursday, people can forget their problems in these five hours. Everybody has baggage, everybody has family issues going on. Sometimes people are upset, or depressed, then they come here and forget about everything. They listen to the music, dance, and get to enjoy all this for five hours. That’s the major reason people come here.

Jacki: But the group is also very supportive of people when they’ve had problems. And the group supports and looks after each other in a social way as well. Everyone cares about each other.

What are some of your highlights over the last 10 years?

Joanna: In 2017 we were invited by Arts Centre Melbourne to join the Asian festival every four years. We performed and had 100 people on the stage.

Then when we performed at the Spring Racing Carnival at the Oaks Day Opening show. And then in 2023 or 2022 we performed for the opening of Rising.

Jacki: For me, the highlight was mastering the first dance that I saw, that got me into the group, and that was the Soldier Dance. I thought, if I can do this, it’s good. I learned that, and now I can do lots of things.

Joanna: I’m proud that every year we join the Kids Day Out. It’s for the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal. We’ve been volunteer for three or four years already.

What does it mean to you to practise here each week at Fed Square?

Jacki: This group would not exist if it wasn’t for Fed Square. We have a fabulous relationship with the current team here, and they’ve been so good supporting us all this time.

Jacki: Without help, we’d be nowhere. This is a major, famous place. Lots of tourists and students and locals walk by. It’s a very good location. So, they have been very good taking care of us, so we want to continue to represent Fed Square and make it more colourful.