NOBODY PUTS BABY IN THE CORNER! 100-YEAR OLD LINE DANCER INSPIRES OTHERS TO STAY ACTIVE

100-YEAR OLD LINE DANCER INSPIRES OTHERS TO STAY ACTIVE

It’s never too late to start STAYING ACTIVE and anything is achievable if you put your mind to it #ThisGirlCan #SosaDanceFitness

This is Freda Kaye…she is 100 years old and still line dances every week! I am fortunate enough to teach this wonderful lady in my U3A line dancing class, and every week she amazes and inspires us all with her fantastic attitude.

I remember so clearly the first time she walked into the dance studio about 6 months ago now. So beautiful and elegant, wearing a pretty skirt and blouse, hair and make-up immaculate.

The instant I met her she melted my heart. ‘I’m here for the line dancing dear’ she said to me, we had a little chat and I asked her if she had ever done line dancing before and she said ‘yes I go to classes regularly’, in such a sweet gentle voice.

I remember watching her during the class thinking she had great coordination and she seemed to know all the dance moves already!

The following week, just before the class started one of the other ladies in the group came up to me and discreetly said ‘please could you get a chair for Freda just in case she wants to sit down seeing as she’s 98!’.

I won’t lie, I did a double-take! I thought my ears were deceiving me…

’Sorry did I hear you right?’ I replied….’98 years old?’

I was speechless, and believe me, this doesn’t happen often!

Skipping forward in the story, I can honestly tell you she has NEVER used the chair I put in the corner of the room every week before the class starts!

In fact, she often tells me that she likes the fast routines better than the slow ones, and has asked me several times when I’m opening an Advanced level class as she prefers more complicated steps!

When I ask her how she is every week, she replies ‘raring to go’ with a big smile on her face and a little sparkle in her eyes! She confessed to me a few weeks ago that she only started line dancing 13 years ago, at the age of 87!

Words cannot express the incredible pleasure and honor I feel as a teacher to be able to share the love of dance and enrich the life of this wonderful woman, who has so much energy and enthusiasm for life it warms my heart.

Freda, you are a true inspiration to us all and living proof that dancing keeps both your mind and body active.

I am so proud and delighted to tell Freda’s story in the hope that it will inspire a whole generation of women to stay active and KEEEEEEP DANCING!!!

On a final note, I asked her a few weeks ago if it was OK for me to take a picture of her in class next week as I wanted to write an article about her, and Freda’s reply to me was ‘I will put my new teeth in just for you dear!’.

Freda Kaye, you are simply a living legend and we salute you!

Katy Barrow, Founder & Creative Director of #SOSADanceFitness