Age No Limit

You are never too old to (belly) dance!

One hundred years old - and still dancing. Not just dancing, but moving it like the best of them.

Yes, you are never to old to dance and you are never too old to belly dance!

Kay First says "I don't feel a hundred"and puts her longevity down to being a nice person and 'keeping it all shaking'. She has always loved belly dancing and used to be a hair dresser - and she'd dance in her shop. "The more you do something for somebody, God would bless you. And that's what I done all my life."

Watch the video below of Kay below. At the end of the day, Kay is just one more example of Age No Limit.

Too old to do something new? Never!

Pretty well most people have heard of Christopher Lee. Star of zillions of horror films, played the role of Saruman in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.... Mr Dracula himself.

He's actually got a few strings to his bow. Apart from the many, many films he has starred in, he is also an accomplished singer. Classically-trained, he actually sung on The Wicker Man soundtrack as well as the credits of a number of television shows.

But when he turned ninety he felt like doing something different.

In 2010 he released his album 'Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross'. It was critically acclaimed. Then there was the sequel - 'Charlemagne: The Omens of Death'. Pretty dark sounding titles but what would we expect from the king of horror?

For his 90th birthday he released something a little different. A heavy metal single called 'Let Legend Mark me as the King'. At 90 he is the oldest heavy metal performer ever! Does that make him a king? Well, that's for his fans to decide. But it does prove one thing ... yep, you guessed it. Age No Limit!

Go see his releases

Old people are only fit for retirement - NO!

Let's get this straight. If you can afford to retire and you want to retire then go for it! It's a great opportunity to live life as it was meant to be lived.

Except that not everyone wants to retire.

And anyway, retirement is just a word.

Case in point, Barbara Beskind. She got her dream job. Ever since she was ten years old, she wanted to be an inventor. Now, she is working in silicon valley - where all the computer bits are made.

She's 91 years old! Not too old to start a new job and not too old to start the job she wanted.

Elderly people, she says, bring experience that can't be taught. Darn right.

And she has some very sage words of advice such:

"the beauty of being 91 is that you can look back and see how the little pieces fit into the big pieces of life, and life is a complete puzzle."

and

"Age is no barrier to performance."

and "Don't let 'old' become your identity. Everyone has untapped resources. You just have to find them. They may be in music, they may be in childcare, they may be in volunteering at the hospital or the library. I think with the aging, you so often lose your identity"

TODAY

Beskind uses her day-to-day life as a test lab for her designs, like modifying ski poles she bought at Costco to help her get around.

Barbara Beskind - truly showing Age No Limit.

Today's 90 year-olds are sharper than ever!

According to to a Danish report published in the medical journal, the Lancet, nonagenerians (those 90 to 100) are mentally sharper than those who turned ninety years ago.

They compared two cognitive test groups and found that today's ninety-somethings have got more mental faculties intact.

The first group was born in 1905 and tested in 1998. The other group were born in 1915 and tested in 2010. Average age of the second group was actually two years older yet they were twice as likely to attain a higher score than the first group.

They also lived longer. They were 32% more likely to reach 95. According to Kaare Christensen of the Danish Aging Research Centre, "Not only are more people living to a higher age, they are also doing so in better shape...".

Of course, that was in Denmark.

According to the World Health Organization, the U.S. and Denmark both have an average life expectancy of 79. It is probably safe to put the U.K. and Australia in the same ball-park, so the results likely apply to you and me too.

These findings offer hope - the benefits of exercise, social interaction, stimulation and so forth can lead people to continue to enjoy their life - their long lives.

Age might be blunting the edges but there's still plenty of go.

People have the faculties - they just need somewhere to facultate!

Or put more simply (but less humorously), Age No Limit.

Too old to make a difference? Think again!

Alfred - but he prefers Alfie - Date is 109 years old. And he is still making a difference.

Alfie has a rather unusual hobby, at least for men - so he's breaking more than one stereotype here. He knits. Yes, Alfie has been knitting now for over 80 years. And although he's 109, he is still knitting. Booties? No. Cardigans? No. Christening shawls? No!

Alfie knits sweaters for penguins!

Penguins?

Yes-sir-ee. Penguins are sometimes affected by environmental hazards such as oil spills. When they attempt to groom themselves, they ingest the oil and are poisoned. But thanks to Alfie and the Phillip Island Penguin Foundation there is hope.

Because Alfie is their saviour.

(Photo: Penguin Foundation)

Alfie Date - breaking stereotypes - still going strong at 109 - Australia's oldest man.
Alfie Date - breaking stereotypes - knitting tiny, delicate sweaters.
Alfie Date - breaking sterotypes - saving our wildlife.

Think you can't make a difference? Think again.

Alfie Date - another perfect example of Age No Limit.

(And yes, he does knit other things, such as scarfs and beanies for premature babies.)

Watch the video below:

We need more Alfies in this world.

Links

Australias oldest man still knitting for human and animal friends at 109
109 year old spends his days knitting sweaters for penguins

You are never too old to dance.

According to dancer and choreographer Eileen Kramer, you can still dance at 100. And she should know - she is!

She recently raised the money via her Insipiring Eileen project to allow her to put on her latest show which included a group of dancers, costumes, musicians and was a raging success over two days.

She says that she is not a highly acrobatic dancer - she is a soft dancer. But, according to Dr Maggie Haertsch, she is "an extraordinary ball of energy. She is completely blind in one eye and she is making all the costumes and creating the set."

Dancing, says Eileen, psychologically strengthens her.

Watch just one of the shorts produced in advance of her show:

Eileen Kramer from karl schwerdtfeger on Vimeo.

Most definitely, in Eileen's case, you can say without any doubt, Age No Limit.

Links

There are thousands of articles and news items about Eileen Kramer - the following are just a tiny few. Click through them, though, as there are some wonderful video interviews and more examples of the preparation for her stage show.

One hundred year old dancer Eileen Kramer still taking to the stage
Inspiring Eileen - Pozible project
Arts Health Institute
100yo dancer Eileen Kramer stars in new Sydney production

100 years old? Go jump out of a plane!

Two stories here - two centenarians who celebrated their 100th birthday by jumping out of planes.

Great Grandmother, Georgina Harwood (South Africa), did it in Cape Town. She described the experience as wonderful, as exhilarating. But it wasn't her first jump! Her first was at age 92!

And then, there's Eleanor Cunnihgham, also 100, from New York. She took the plunge in Gansevoort. This great-great-grandmother made sure to give her seven-month old great-great-granddaughter a kiss before that great flight. But again, this was not her first time! She's an experienced skydiver - starting young at ninety years old! Her doctor was fully supportive - her health was well up to it!

We tend to think of ourselves as 'past it' or 'too old'. Well, maybe that's just a state of mind - maybe that's just a label that other people give us, that all too often, we start to believe.

In reality, it's another case - two cases actually - of Age No Limit!

Links

Centenarian Skydive Thrills Great-Grandma for 100th Birthday
Skydiving Great-Grandma Celebrates 100th Birthday in Style
Great-great grandmother celebrates her 100th birthday by SKYDIVING
Eleanor Cunningham Celebrates 100th Birthday With Sky Dive