Draft:Dancing girl (profession)

Dancing girl (China) is a new type of profession that began to appear in the early 1920s. Dancing girls dance with male customers in dance halls,this profession is different from Gējìs and prostitutes. This profession was abolished in 1949.

Origin
In the early 1920s, commercial dance halls began to appear in Shanghai, and the profession of dancing girl appeared in the dance halls to accompany men in dancing. Western ballroom dance has become fashionable in the eyes of a small number of Chinese who were the first to pursue Westernization. Pictures and news reflecting the image of dancing girls in dance halls frequently appeared in newspapers and periodicals. People's attitude towards the profession of dancing girl changed from initial rejection to curiosity, and then they regarded it as a topic of conversation after dinner, and they never tired of it. In 1922, the Yipinxiang Hotel opened by a Chinese held a social tea dance, launching the Shanghai dance style. In 1927, Yongan Company opened its first dance hall, "Dadong Dance Hall". The accompaniment band was hired from the Philippines, and the dancing girls were recruited from the public and specially trained. Since then, dance halls in Shanghai have developed rapidly, and dancing girl has become a profession.In 1933, the Paramount opened in Shanghai. It was a comprehensive entertainment venue and a dance hall, known as the "No. 1 yuefu in the Far East(远东第一乐府)".The image and dancing skills of the Paramount dancing girls were the highest overall among the ballroom dancing girls at that time.

Profession
Ballroom dancing girls not only provide backup dancers, but also provide entertainment activities such as accompanying customers to drink and party chat.At that time, ballroom dancing girls were also called "waist girls" in a derogatory way, because they danced social dances with men in physical contact to get paid, which was considered to be selling their waists.Most of the ballroom dancing girls during the Republic of China worked as dancing girls because their families were poor and needed to support their families. Some of them worked as maids, did odd jobs and farmed, but they were unable to maintain the family's livelihood, so they went to work as dancing girls in dance halls. Some dancing girls originally worked as waitresses and singing girls in teahouses and restaurants, but changed their jobs to become dancing girls in dance halls. There are also dancing girls who were originally high-end prostitutes who regained their freedom in brothels, and changed their jobs from prostitutes to dancing girls in dance halls.Only a handful of movie stars and wealthy college girls worked as dancing girls in dance halls for entertainment and social purposes.Dancing girls are usually young women between the ages of 16 and 25.

There are no cultural requirements to be a dancing girl in a ballroom,many girls with low education or even illiterate people take up this profession to support their families. However, the profession of being a dancing girl has requirements for dance, and a period of dance training is required before working.Most dancing girls have no dance foundation, preparatory dancing girls first went to dance schools for training. There were many such schools in Shanghai at that time, and they could graduate in about three or four months. Then the dancing girl often goes to the ballroom to find a formal dancing girl to "intern" and learn to dance, then she can officially become a dancing girl. Sometimes dance schools can also introduce students to dance halls based on their dancing skills.During the Republic of China in addition to Shanghai, there also were dance halls and dancing girls in some big cities in China. Dancing girls in large dance halls usually do not engage in prostitution, but some dancing girls engage in prostitution privately.They sign a contract with the dance hall, but they have free status. The dance hall does not provide accommodation, so the dancing girls need to rent a house to live outside.The personnel of the dance hall include not only the dance hall owner and dancing girls, but also the manager of the dancing girl. In addition, other people working there include waiters and musicians.Famous dancing girls have higher incomes,the dancing girls themselves can get 70% of their income, and the dance halls can get 30%. Ordinary dancing girls do not have as high an income as famous dancing girls, but under normal circumstances they can maintain their own expenses, rent and supplement family expenses. They usually share a 50% share with the dance hall, or the dance hall takes 70% share, while the dancing girls have 30% share. The Paramount(百乐门) Ballroom is also accompanied by a famous band. Paramount sometimes invites female singers to sing. The female singers invited were not Paramount dancing girls and singing girls, celebrities who were invited to sing.

There are only a few educated dancing girls, but some dancing girls use their spare time to learn knowledge. They do not want to work as dancing girls all the time and plan to enter other professions by learning cultural knowledge. Some dancing girls go to vocational tutorial schools to learn accounting, typing, arithmetic, and English during the day. These dancing girls generally did not want to dress themselves up in a flashy way, they appeared in the ballroom with a light makeup and elegant and refined image. They were called "student dancing girls" at the time. For dancing girls who are not yet married, becoming the concubine of a wealthy customer is a good choice. Some dancing girls will also look for a customer with some status in society during their career to become the man's mistress to resist harassment from men with ill intentions.

Prostitution
Dancing girls in small dance halls during the Republic of China were usually prostitutes who had a low income and also engaged in prostitution to earn income. The small dance hall is more chaotic and more like a brothel. The manager of the small dance hall also works as a pimp, taking income from the prostitution transactions of dancing girls and clients.

Abolition
In September 1947, the Republic of China government ordered the closure of dance halls, and dancing girls, musicians, waiters and others who relied on dance halls for a living faced unemployment. On January 31, 1948, dancing girls, musicians and others in Shanghai dance halls protested this regulation. On March 31, 1948, the Republic of China government lifted the regulations on closing dance halls, and the dance halls resumed business again.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the profession of dancing girl was abolished, but dancing girls in big ballrooms were not regarded as prostitutes. Dancing girls in big ballrooms did not have the complicated situation of prostitutes suffering from sexually transmitted diseases. The dancing girls at Paramount joined the Shanghai Women's Federation and established a dancing girl's fraternity. The Women's Federation sent two comrades every day to help guide their studies, including teaching literacy and sewing skills. The Paramount Ballroom also dedicated a room to house five sewing machines as the site of the "Paramount Underwear Factory". There are nearly 100 dancing girls in the Dadong Ballroom. They took the initiative to ask the Shanghai Women's Federation for assistance in setting up literacy classes. They also cooperated with the Paramount Underwear Factory. The Dadong dancing girls opened a yarn factory and woven cloth for the Paramount Underwear Factory to make underwear. There are also some dancing girls who have changed careers as nurses and nursery school aunts. After receiving technical training, the dancing girls became workers in New China and started a new life.

Famous Dancing Girl
Hu Feng(胡枫), a famous dancing girl in the Republic of China, was born in a bureaucratic family. She studied at Jinling Middle School in Nanjing, and her family moved to Shanghai in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War. Later, because her father was unemployed and her family was in dire straits, she went to work as a dancing girl at the Paramount Ballroom. Hu Feng is well-educated, educated and can write some articles, she is called a "literary dancing star".

Wang Ji(王吉) was a famous dancing girl during the Republic of China,she was born poor. She was a dancing girl at the Black Cat Dance Hall in Shanghai. Wang Ji is good at dancing,she is not only good at general ballroom dancing, also performs Spanish dance and Gypsy dance solo. In addition, she can speak English, French and Japanese, and learns painting from the famous painter Fu Tienian(符铁年). Wang Ji can also sing Peking Opera and Kun Opera. She co-starred in "A Dream in the Garden(游园惊梦)" with the famous Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang(梅兰芳).

Chen Manli(陈曼丽) was a famous dancing girl. She was also good at Peking Opera and had performed "Hongluan Xi(鸿鸾禧)" with Peking Opera masters Ye Shenglan(叶胜兰) and Ma Fulu(马福禄). In the late night of February 25, 1940, Chen Manli was shot and killed in the Paramount. There are many versions of Chen Manli's murder. It is generally believed that Chen Manli was assassinated by gunmen sent by the Japanese military because she refused to dance with Japanese officers.

The "Liang family four sisters(梁家四姐妹)" were all dancing girls and film actresses. They were Liang Saizhu(梁赛珠), Liang Saishan(梁赛珊),Liang Saizhen(梁赛珍) and Liang Saihu(梁赛瑚). The Liang family four sisters raised money for the Anti-Japanese War and had initiated many fundraising activities.

A very small number of dancing girls transformed into film actors at that time, such as Luo Huizhu(骆慧珠), Yi Xueyan(衣雪艳), Meng Yan(孟燕), Li Li(李丽), and Shu Xiuwen(舒绣文), who transformed from ballroom dancing girls into film actresses.