The crowd: Babyboomers and beyond looking for a social activity-cum-exercise that won't send the rheumatism into overdrive. But there are the occasional young faces who enjoy faster and more strenuous dances.
The hot spots: Community clubs; and places such as Far East Square on weekends, where 'jams' take place.
TOP OF THE LINE: Retirees Rita Netto and Ronnie Soo, who have a combined age of over 130, line-danced for more than 50 hours at a dance marathon last June. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
THEY may have a combined age of over 130, but don't mistake Ronnie Soo and Rita Netto, both 67, for sedentary retirees.
Last June, they emerged first and second respectively in a line dance marathon organised by the Country Line Dance Association of Singapore (CLDAS).
Mr Soo, a retired retail consultant who now dabbles part-time in real estate, danced for 25 hours 54 minutes while Mrs Netto, a retired schoolteacher, lasted for 25 hours 4 minutes.
Recalls Mr Soo, who has two grown-up children: 'To be honest, I could have continued. But I felt bad that everyone was waiting for me so I had to stop. After that, my wife and I went for a good dinner.'
The friends, both members of the line dance association, see dancing as a form of 'active ageing'.
'It's a combination of mind, body and spirit,' says Mr Soo. ''Mind' because you have to remember the choreography, 'body' for the exercise and 'spirit' for the fun of it.'
He 'fell in love' with line dancing after chancing upon a 'jam', an event where line dancers gather to dance, at Far East Square in 2001.
Over the years, he has memorised the steps to 200 songs and spends 45 minutes every day polishing his moves in his master bedroom at home.
'Nowadays, though, I prefer funky dances,' he says, referring to routines that are choreographed to pop songs instead of country favourites. 'That's why I wear this,' he adds with a cheeky tip of his fedora hat.
But Mrs Netto, a mother of two and grandmother of two, still prefers the cowboy ditties.
Since picking up the dance in the mid-1990s, she, too, has committed about 200 songs to memory, many of which she imparts to newcomers as an instructor in her condominium estate.
The regular exercise has not only kept her high blood pressure in check, but has also given her renewed purpose in her golden years.
She says: 'It's the best thing that has happened to me. Without it, I wouldn't know what to do with myself.'
'It's the best thing that has happened to me. Without it, I wouldn't know what to do with myself'
Retired schoolteacher Rita Netto on line dancing