For the elderly, knitting, gardening, playing a musical instrument or baking may perhaps be some of the things that make them busy in their prime years.
For two elderly women, it’s, well, pole dancing. Their age? Just 70 and 65.
Retiring in 2005, septuagenarian Dai Dali from Chengdu in Sichuan Province thought that attending dance classes might ease her boredom, according to China Daily.
Dai tried different dance styles and ended up choosing pole dancing as her top pick. She told Xinhua that when she gets to spin in the air, it makes her feel “fantastic.”
Committing more than three hours each day for practice, the former bookstore personnel can pole dance for more than 20 minutes.
With support from family and friends, Dai took her newfound passion to the next level by joining competitions. She was the grand winner during the Fifth China Pole Dance Championship in her age category and was a participant in "Amazing Chinese" and “Asia’s Got Talent.”
After her performance in “Asia’s Got Talent,” all four judges said yes.
During the comment portion, highly esteemed Canadian composer-songwriter-musician David Foster said, “I think I’ve met my next wife.”
Jiang Zhijun, 65, from Jinlin City, learned the physically challenging dance from her daughter, who happens to be a pole dancing instructor.
She joined the National Pole Dance Competition in Beijing in Oct. 2014. Together with her daughter, she competed in a talent show by CCTV, reported Shanghaiist.
"It's never too old to dance. When you feel the pleasure, the hardship won't be that hard," said Jiang to Xinhua.
Pole dance can be tough to learn because it combines dance and acrobatics. One has to have “significant strength, flexibility and endurance,” according to online encyclopedia Wikipedia.
“I want to be the oldest pole dancer in the world,” said Dai during a backstage interview at “Asia’s Got Talent.”
Jiang might then be the second oldest.
Now who says growing old can be boring?