The Research On The Potential Function Of Rural Square Dance

In ancient times, people tried to get rid of diseases and pray for the coming year’s harvest through the group dance, and this was China’s earliest group dancing form. In the 1990 s, square dance, which had swept the world, was introduced to China and soon prevailed in cities. The square dance has been regarded as the unique urban cultural phenomenon. However, in recent years, with the rapid development of the rural economy and the in-depth development of urbanization, the farmers’ living standard has greatly increased. Farmers do not feel satisfied with the needs of food and clothing. The pursuit of the spiritual needs of the farmers is on the increase. Farmers are also no longer satisfied with the single way of leisure. With the mechanization of agriculture, the efficiency of agricultural production has been greatly improved. Farmers’ leisure time increases significantly. So the public square dance spread from cities and towns to countryside rapidly. To farmers, the public square dance is a new leisure activity. Its appearance and development indicates that it must have a reason to exist. However, accompanied with its development, there have been some problems.In the thesis, I took a typical village--D village of Hebei Province as an example. The research was based on Merton’s theory of functional analysis, and was carried out through interviews. I explored the main reason of the rise of square dance, as well as the existence of its potential function. What’s more, I revealed the limited factors in the development of rural square dance.There are six parts in the thesis. The first part is the introduction part. It introduces the background and significance of the research, research methods and innovations. The second part expounds the five characteristics of rural square dance. They are spontaneity, congestion, recreation, difference and passivity. The third part analyzes the square dance in the countryside and the main reason for its rise from two aspects: farmers and the society. The fourth part applies for Merton’s theory of functional analysis and analyses the potential function of square dance. The fifth part expounds the limited factors in the development of rural square dance from two aspects: famers and the society. The sixth part expounds conclusions and suggestions. It expounds the author’s prospects and suggestions on the countryside square dance.