Grandma, 101, Says Dancing Every Day Is Her Secret To Long Life

Jan 25, 2023 by apost team

A 101-year-old grandmother, who was a former professional dancer, has no plans of retiring her dancing shoes and will continue to practice ballet every day because it makes her feel young and happy. 

Dinkie Flowers, one of the oldest people in the U.K., still goes to her dancing studio in West Sussex to get a good daily workout. She said she can't live without dancing and has even continued to teach young students. 

Born in May 1921, Flowers started learning ballet when she was 3 years old at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in Surrey. It's the same performance academy that was attended by celebrity siblings Derek and Julianne Hough of "Dancing With the Stars."  

After she finished school, dancing took Flowers around the world to perform for an audience that included Prince Philip of the British Royal Family. She also performed in Baghdad for the Iraqi Royal Family and was briefly jailed in Paris in the 1940s because she wore a red playsuit in one of her performances — the police mistook her for a prostitute.  

Flowers was known as the Ice Skating Queen and the only British acrobatic dancer at the prime of her performing years around the world stage. On her return from her travels, Flowers decided to open the Dinkie Flowers Stage School in her hometown of Shoreham and then met George, her husband, who worked at London's famous Raymond Revuebar theater and strip club in the Soho district. 

She and George had one child, Sarah, who also became a professional dancer and blessed Flowers with four grandchildren. George, however, passed away in 2005 and wasn't able to watch his wife make her TV debut on "The Greatest Dancer" on BBC in 2019.  

Despite being without her husband for nearly two decades, Flowers has remained upbeat about her life because of dancing. In fact, it's the one piece of advice she tells people who ask her about the secret to her longevity.  

"It does not matter how old you are. You could be 30 or 100 but as long as you have the movement you are fit and well."

Flowers said she sees a lot of people, young and old, just sitting all day, who don't realize that they have to get up and keep moving to make their bodies healthier. The dance teacher said some people might find dancing hard but once they know what to do with their bodies, as guided by a good instructor, then they will learn to love it. 

"You don't have to go mad, but it's good to keep on moving your body, bending your knees and stuff like that."

When the world closed during the two-year lockdowns, Flowers still didn't stop dancing even as her studio had to shut down. She did at least six workouts a day at home as a pledge to raise money for frontline workers. 

Lesley Tomlinson, Flowers' friend, said that this 101-year-old grandma is not on any maintenance medication and does not even have to catch her breath when she's doing her workouts. She surprises her doctors whenever she gets a check-up. She brags about the fact that she's still teaching dance and doing ballet barre.  

For someone who believes that dancing is her life, Flowers said she would likely never stop dancing until she's inside a box. And she hopes that won’t happen anytime soon.

apost.com

Keen to start dancing now? Do you agree with Dinkie Flowers that dancing can give the body longevity? Pass this story to someone you know who needs the motivation to be fit and healthy!