Shanghai in the Night
A Study of Urban Memory on Ballroom Dance Culture based on the Republican Shanghai Films(1920s-1940s)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51596/sijocp.v4i1.49Keywords:
Republican era , film, Old Shanghai, ballroom dance culture, ballroom dance hall, urban memoryAbstract
In the rapid process of modernisation, Chinese metropolises like Shanghai have gradually tended towards a homogenization – the city’s identity formed by its semi-colonial history, vernacular architecture, and locals’ habits has been largely replaced by modernist design, culture and lifestyle. To retrieve the vanishing urban memory, this study aims to use film as a method to trace back Shanghai’s past to one of its most distinctive urban images - the ballroom dance culture in the Republican era. The popularity of ballroom dancing represented Shanghai’s modern qualities, deeply influenced by Western lifestyles, which imparted the city with a unique charm of blending cultures. This study utilises filmic materials to explore the ballroom dance culture from an urban perspective. More precisely, after collecting all Republican Shanghai films (1920s to 1940s), a qualitative analysis was conducted to examine the related information embodied in filmic images. Through the lens of film, the urban memory of ballroom dancing is deconstructed into two facets: the venues and the participants. The venues are classified according to their architectural features, while the participants are explicated in terms of the character traits represented. Furthermore, the study interprets the filmmaker’s intention and viewpoint, as well as public attitudes toward ballroom dance culture, to unravel the social ideology of the time. By reviving such unique urban memory, this research polishes the city’s cultural image and strengthens the local spirit, thus providing valuable insights for the development of Shanghai by projecting its past into the future.
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