The Hua Hin Social Dance for Health Club recently organised a New Year’s party for all Members. The Club welcomes new Thai and foreign members of all ages and levels who would like to dance for good health before Thailand joins the ASEAN Community in two years’ time.
During the New Year’s festival in January, the Club held a party for Thai and foreign social dancers at Phon Kingpetch Memorial Park. All guests who came to the party joined in the dance games and many of them, especially foreigners, won a lot of prizes, said the Chairman of the Club Pol. Capt. Sudjai Butlee.
According to Pol. Capt. Sudjai, the Hua Hin Social Dance for Health Club was founded in 1999 with eight generations of dance trainers and 50 members for each generation. The members, now a total of 500, include Thai and foreign males and females aged from 6 to 70 years old.
With Lt. Col. Wiset Somsuk as an advisor of the Club, teaching social dance is based on a model and style from England. Lt. Col. Wiset learned social dance in Bangkok. He can teach several dance styles including the waltz, begin, tango, Talung and off beat as well as other internationally known social dances.
The main venues for teaching social dance are at the Hua Hin Red Cross Office and the multi purpose ground of the Fah Sikhram local community. The teaching takes place once a week at one of the two venues from 6 p.m. onwards. Each dancing pair will be taught by one trainer. It takes one or two months to learn each dancing step.
The main purpose of the Hua Hin Social Dance for Health Club is to encourage all Members to exercise. Those who learn dancing will have to move all parts of their body in a similar way to playing sports. Additionally those who know social dance can join social parties without feeling uncomfortable when they are asked to dance. The Club now has a lot of good social dancers. Many of them are business people, retired public officers and well known people of Hua Hin.
Those who would like to be Members of the Club do not have to pay for any membership but they should learn dancing regularly at the specific venues. As Thailand will become a member of the ASEAN Community in 2015, social dance is a way to upgrade the social status of Hua Hin people to recognised international standards.
