8am every other day at a lakeside near The Huc bridge in Hoan Kiem Lake, Hanoi, a group of more than 30 women aged 50 to 80 gather to listen to hiphop music, their feet begin to tap, and their bodies swivel from side to side with beaming smiles on their faces.

The members, who are keeping up with the times, listen to instructions and follow the directions of a young man carefully.

The hiphop dancing class for the elderly was established six months ago by Nguyen Viet Thanh, head of Big Toes, one of the country’s popular hiphop dancing crews.

“Half a year ago, when I was practicing hiphop at Hoan Kiem Lake, some elders approached me and asked what I was doing. I said I was practicing hip-hop and they asked me if they could do it,” Thanh recalled.

“After that I chose some easy-to-practice hiphop moves for them,” the 35-year-old instructor added.

Since then, the class has drawn a lot of participants, mostly elders. Originally the class had five members, now more than 30 old people join the team.

“I spend a lot of time inventing hip hop exercises and music appropriate for the elderly to do,” Thanh said.

According to Thanh, hiphop dancing moves help relieve pain in old people’s neck, shoulders, and back.

80-year-old Pham Thi Tien, who has attended the class for four months, said: “I used to attend a dancing class at Hoan Kiem Lake but dancing moves make me dizzy because I’m not young anymore. I really feel sassy after dancing to hip hop music.”

“Although I’m quite busy running a business as well as managing Big Toes, I’m trying to arrange time to instruct them thrice a week because they told me ‘don’t quit the class, teacher!’,” Thanh said.