Go to M1NT or Muse on any Friday night and you’d be forgiven for thinking that the posing, shimmying and hip-jiggling of Shanghai’s beautiful people is a new phenomenon. In his book Shanghai’s Dancing World: Cabaret Culture and Urban Politics 1919-1954, Andrew Field proves that dance fever was alive and well during the city’s much-vaunted Golden Age.

The book charts the history of Shanghai’s dance scene from its origins in the foreign concessions of the post-World War I era up to the closing of the cabarets under the Communist Party in the early ’50s. Tantalizing details abound, such as a description of the early Black Cat dancehall in the Paris Hotel on Tibet Road, with a house jazz band called Felix and His Meows. The source material is equally vibrant, with anecdotes from foreign journalists, cabaret guests and social commentators of the time.

Field’s meticulously researched history of Shanghai’s dancehall world is rich with detail, but it is the social undercurrents that are the most compelling. He tells of traditional misgivings towards the modern dance craze among the Chinese community based on Confucian teachings that “men and women should not be intimate in their interactions.” But, as time went on, Field reports, “jazz helped to break down social and cultural barriers.” Details about the various strata and sub-strata of prostitutes and courtesans in the “flowery world” are also interesting, with the shuyu (storytellers) at the top of the heap and the “nail shed” girls at the bottom.

Well-known figures in Shanghai’s history crop up among the pages, including Green Gang head honcho “Big Ears” Du Yuesheng. Along with his gangster cronies, Du owned and managed many cabarets and dance venues like the Chai Loh Cabaret and Palais Hotel. He was instrumental in organizing “flower elections” to vote for the best “dance empress” at the World Amusement Center in the ’30s. The events of the early- to mid-20th century form the backdrop to the story Field narrates, with the Japanese occupation influencing the world of the dancehalls and the rise of the Communist Party finally ending the era of wu kuang (dance madness).

Aside from Field’s colorful, readable prose, what so strongly brings the book to life is the quality of the illustrations. Seeing the Paramount ballroom as it was in 1934–alone on Huashan Lu without the forest of high-rises that now dwarfs it–is a jolting experience for anyone who is used to the crowded urban landscape of modern Jing’an. Archive photographs showing the interior of the Canidrome and Majestic Hotel ballrooms are equally compelling, as are the portraits of “flower girl” hostesses in all their plump-cheeked beauty. With a history like Shanghai’s, in which so much has been lost along the way, the publication of these images is incredibly important– and poignant too.

Field has pulled off a seamless blend of political and social history that entertains and teaches in equal measure. With its yellow cover and jaunty illustration of dancing legs, it is attractive on all counts–a must for history buffs, Old China hands and anyone who wants to know more about Shanghai’s exuberant past.

DETAILS

What: Shanghai’s Dancing World

Published by: The Chinese University Press

Where: Available on Taobao

How much: RMB158 plus RMB12 shipping