NEW YORK, Jan 9 — Tao Porchon-Lynch is not your ordinary dancer. “I’m 99… I don’t feel any age at all.”
She’s the oldest female competitive ballroom dancer in the world, according to the Guinness World Records.
“I do nearly everything from Jitterbug to swing to waltz… foxtrot…and I don’t stop.”
But that’s not all. Five years ago she was named the Oldest Yoga teacher.
Tao was born in 1918. Her mother died in childbirth and she was raised in India by her uncle, a railroad businessman.
India is where Tao discovered yoga after seeing young boys stretching themselves into odd positions.
Her love for the practice grew and she now teaches seven classes a week.
Tao eventually moved to Europe, Hollywood and then ended up in Hartsdale, New York…picking up ballroom dancing along the way.
And despite three hip replacements, she hasn’t stopped moving.
“I’m the boss,” she says.
Her 26-year-old instructor says Tao is an inspiration, to himself and his other students…
“They say, ‘Oh, I’m old.’ Look, don’t tell me, I have a student who is 99, and she never tell me she’s old. Don’t tell me when you’re 65, that you can’t do it,” Anton Bilozorov said.
Tao says her energy to move and dance comes from one place:
“The breath of life. The breath of life is right inside of us. To feel the dance of life within you and know that nothing is impossible, that I believe.” — Reuters
