China's estimated 100 million "dancing grannies" – usually groups of casually-dressed elderly women and men performing loosely synchronised dance moves to traditional and pop songs in public squares at night – have been ordered to conform to new regulations. Their nocturnal antics, although done in the name of fitness and socialising, have resulted in a backlash from residents sick of their G-rated disturbances.

In 2013 a Beijing man lost the plot when he fired a gun in the air and set three dogs on to a group of 'square-dancers', scattering them. In Wuhan, residents in an apartment building dumped the contents of toilets onto a group of dancing grannies below. But the craze – known as Guangchangwu – is so big it's already gone global, after groups of Chinese women have been snapped performing synchronised dance moves in New York's Sunset Park, Moscow's Red Square and outside the Louvre in Paris.

"Square-dancing represents the collective aspect of Chinese culture, but now it seems that the over-enthusiasm of participants has dealt it a harmful blow with disputes over noise and venues. So we have to guide it with national standards and regulations," said Liu Guoyong, chief of the General Administration of Sport of China's mass fitness department.

The official Government news agency, Xinhua, said the dancing would no longer differ from place to place but become "a nationally unified, scientifically crafted new activity that brings positive energy to the people."

China's General Administration of Sport and the Ministry of Culture released a joint statement saying public square dancing must now follow 12 sanctioned dance routines which need to be taught by approved fitness instructors. The approved songs would include last year's viral hit Little Apple, by the Chopstick Brothers.

The government added that it will consider publicly-submitted routines, although crucially it has not provided any information about recommended volumes, where people cannot dance and what time time the music and dancing should stop.

The routines will be rolled out across 31 sites nationally over the next five months, and one of the country's star fitness instructors, Wang Guangcheng, has been seconded as a trainer for instructors but also a government spokesman.

"All the negative comments on square-dancing are about reckless practicing without caring about the public benefits," he said. "The unified drills will help keep the dancing on the right track where they can be performed in a socially responsible way."

Wang is in favour of more rigorous dance routines such as samba and zumba also on the record saying he wants to to see "more young people dancing in public squares". To date the dancers have been organising themselves democratically, albeit one square at a time. Some coordinate outfits, but most do not – partly to make it accessible and cheap. At each square, the best dancers lead at the front, allowing less proficient dancers to learn by following.

How the government plans to police elderly citizens who prefer to do things their own way remains to be seen, but the Chinese government could inspire a dance-led defiance from its most placid citizens. According to Andrew Jacobs, of The New York Times, reaction to the guidelines on the streets has been hostile. Xiao Kai, 50, called the new rules "ridiculous".

"This isn't a business," he said. "Dancing is free and voluntary, so why does the government need to get involved?"

Other reactions have pointed out that new fitness venues are what is needed, not sanctioned routines, and that the Government needs to address the wider issue of noise complaints not target peaceful groups of retirees yearning for social interaction.