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Suphatchaya Lattisophonkul, aka Bell Chinadolls, dreamed of being a dancer and singer when she was a child, and she recorded her first dance-music album when she was still a first-year student.

Later she dreamed of opening a dancing academy and becoming a dance trainer, and now she has achieved her second dream.

"Yes, I dream of things, and it's my luck I have kept my dreams alive," Bell says. "But you need to know that I never stopped looking for chances, I never waited for chances to crash into me. I try to catch them."

The young singer with the Chinese look has enjoyed the spotlight since 1999, but has now switched her career path to work behind the scenes as a dance trainer and executive director of a dancing academy named Shall We Dance. Bell invested in the academy with three friends, and is very happy that it is doing well, and is growing.

"I want to push kids, as new waves, into the spotlight. I understand that they have dreams like I did," says Bell, 26.

But in the real world, things can be tougher than expected. She and her friends were young and new to the world of business, so their first three months were a struggle. Knowing that starting up would be tough made it no easier.

"We faced difficulties. And the first time we struck problems we felt it was very hard to get through. But we kept our positive thinking and we learned from our hardship, so it'll be easier next time we have problems. But we couldn't just suddenly back off or we would have become losers because we were still standing at the starting point," she says.

Bell, who is studying for a master's degree in public relations at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, now believes that solving problems is a part of her job.

The dancing academy has been running for six months and, because she never gave up, it's flourishing.

By Suwicha Chanitnun

The Nation

 

XTRA

Step lightly now

>> Shall We Dance dancing and singing academy offers a variety of courses. It is located in Soi 11 of Siam Square.

Log on to www.ShallWeDances.net

(yes, "dances").