by Dr. Iain Corness
Jitrapun
(Sam) Moore’s business card reads “South American Dance Teacher”,
but those four words go nowhere near describing this young woman’s
dedication to her craft. She is a living example of someone who never lost
sight of their dream!
Sam was born in a small village in Petchabun province,
hardly the epicenter of Latin Dance in Thailand. Or anywhere else, for
that matter! Sam was the fifth (and last) child born to a rice farming
couple, again hardly the breeding ground for Latin dancing either. In
fact, quite the opposite, Sam had to become an income earner to help the
family as soon as she could. That time came when she was 13 years old, and
leaving school and her little village, she went to another town where she
worked as a nanny, coming home at weekends only.
By the time she was 14 she had heard about Bangkok and
wanted to go to the big city - the city of opportunities. Despite the
misgivings of her parents, she went to the capital with a cousin, and
worked as a nanny again, this time in Pratunam. “I was afraid of the big
city,” Sam admitted.
In the little time off that she had, she began to
explore the area and found the Indra Regent and the arcade, where a lady
with a handbag shop offered better money, so she took it. What must be
remembered is that all this time, Sam, as a dutiful Thai daughter was
sending money home to help her parents in Petchabun.
The new job was not easy for her. “I found it very
difficult, because I couldn’t speak English very well.” After 12
months she moved on again getting a job in the Accounts department in a
factory. “I’m honest,” she said simply. The young accounts clerk
stayed there for two years, but then returned to selling handbags in the
Indra Arcade, where she stayed until a major turning point in her life
arrived. Some mutual friends introduced her to Graeme Moore, an Australian
expat living in Bangkok. Graeme was certainly no “Handbag Harry” and
very shortly the two were married, and not long after that, a family with
two boys became her occupation.
However,
she knew that she had missed out on her education, and pleaded with her
husband to help her. Graeme might have been a good procurement officer for
a multinational company, but he was not a good teacher. “You only teach
me rubbish English,” complained Sam. It was obvious that she wanted to
get on in life, and so for the next three years Graeme looked after the
children at the weekends while Sam went back to school, successfully going
right through to university entrance level.
As an outing, Sam and Graeme used to go ballroom
dancing once a month at the Ambassador Hotel in Bangkok. This monthly
dance evening opened the floodgates for Sam. “I had always dreamed about
dancing, but I kept it inside as my family had to come first. And then
being pregnant interrupted it again. I just fell in love with dancing,”
said Sam, with her eyes literally sparkling. There was a dancing school
she heard about in Petburi Road, but it was just too far away, but at
least there was the Ambassador.
Once again it looked as if dancing was going to have to
take a back seat as Graeme was transferred to Pattaya. Now the monthly
dance at the Ambassador had gone too. Sam did not want to come down to
Pattaya. However, she was driving up Tepprasit Road and saw a small sign
that said ‘Ballroom Dancing’. She immediately enquired and found that
they taught the Cha-Cha-Cha, Rhumba and Latin-American dancing. She
enrolled, and was put under an expat teacher who taught her the basics of
the Salsa. “That’s it! That’s the one I wanted to learn,” said
Sam. That was seven years ago, but after her first hesitant steps, her
teacher returned to his own country. It seemed as if she was destined not
to learn the dance form she really wanted.
She began ringing around to see if there was a teacher
anywhere, and eventually was put in touch with a lady with a dance studio,
who had a Cuban boyfriend. Things were looking up again. There was only
one small hitch. The studio was in Bangkok!
At this point, Sam acknowledged the help and support
Graeme gave her. “My husband has been so supportive. Graeme supplied a
driver to take me to Bangkok twice a week for my three hour lessons. I did
that for six years.” Graeme’s response was simple, “At 400 baht per
trip it was cheap insurance!”
With only two lessons a week, Sam knew she needed more
practice so she began to teach friends, “Just for fun.” Then three
years ago came her first big break. The Asian University of Science and
Technology was looking for activities for their summer camp, and had heard
of Sam and her Latin Dance abilities. With deep misgivings she did the
first summer camp, to be told by the Dean of the university at the end
that she was a natural teacher, and would she please do it again.
The next break came when she decided that perhaps she
should have a small Latin Dance night, and approached Rene Pisters, the GM
of the Thai Garden Resort, who offered her the use of their Moon River
Pub. One hundred people turned up for the first night! Now she knew there
was a demand.
The Moon River Pub also brought Nick Verbeek, who had a
dance studio in Holland, and the two decided to join forces and open a
studio in Naklua to teach Salsa. The girl from the rice farm was now a
fully fledged dance teacher. Determination and never losing sight of her
goal has paid off.
Now if I didn’t have two left feet I could even be
encouraged to line up for lessons myself!
