Dancing is one of those things that we have to give up as we age, right? Not so fast. Groups of older adults have stepped up to show us that cutting a rug may just get better with age.
In fact, one group of active seniors has attached itself to an entirely unexpected form of dance: cheerleading. The NBA’s Washington Wizards have recruited a dance team comprised of entirely of members between the ages of 50 to 76, according to The Washington Post.
Dubbed Wizdom, the team fills spaces in the game when the team’s regular group of dancers takes breaks. And they dance for each of the team’s 40 home games.
“The first performance that they did, you would have thought that we won the game,” said Derric Whitfield, the group’s director. “They get a really intense crowd response — people standing up out of their seats, standing ovation.”
In a viral post on Facebook that has garnered over 15 million views, Mary Jo Antone shared a video of an elderly couple with moves of their own.
Dated April 7, 2018, it shows a 94-year-old man and a 91-year-old woman dancing together.
The horns bop, the piano rollicks and a jaunty drum beat propels the pair as a crowd claps. The setting is a formal hall — and it’s absolutely packed.
The couple wastes no time, spinning and twirling together. Early on, the man quite literally sweeps the woman off her feet, much to everyone’s amusement.
Then he dips her, letting her feet scoot across the floor in a controlled slide.
They break into synchronized steps as an appreciative roar rises from the people around them.
Finally, the man takes his partner all the way to the floor and sweeps her between his legs.
It’s an amazing display, and one I hope I can replicate if I make it to my ninth decade.
–westernjournal.com
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