:00:11. > :00:17.I don't think they know what to expect. Here a bunch of old ladies
:00:18. > :00:20.with shiny costumes and a a bunch of old ladies with shiny costumes and
:00:21. > :00:29.they a lot of make-up, and, what are they going to do? Then as we start
:00:30. > :00:38.getting into it, oh! People go, how can she do that?!
:00:39. > :00:44.It makes us feel young and everybody applauds.
:00:45. > :00:50.When I do the splits that really gets the attention.
:00:51. > :00:56.It is like you are back in high school.
:00:57. > :01:02.You feel special because that is how everybody looks at you.
:01:03. > :01:10.Look at those old ladies, they can really go.
:01:11. > :01:22.Sun city. An active new way of life. The concept of retired living,
:01:23. > :01:29.embraced with enthusiasm, looking ten years younger, it would be great
:01:30. > :01:41.to live there for the rest of our lives...
:01:42. > :01:50.This is my normal path from my home when I go to golf practice. Here in
:01:51. > :02:02.Sun City golf carts are not just use for golfing. We use them as a second
:02:03. > :02:08.vehicle. They are basically totally rebuilt the golf cart. Excuse me
:02:09. > :02:15.while I watch the traffic. Then they put in a different rear end,
:02:16. > :02:24.normally a golf cart only goes about 12 mph. Right now we're pretty close
:02:25. > :02:29.to 28 mph. The speed limit is 25, but they never drive 25.
:02:30. > :02:45.OK, let's go dance. Let's see you take the pyramid...
:02:46. > :02:51.Just go up, it will be fine... We are a senior dance group in Sun
:02:52. > :02:56.City, Arizona. We are 55 years old, or older, most of us, older, and we
:02:57. > :03:14.do choreographed dance routines, acrobatics, flying Angels... I just
:03:15. > :03:21.learnt how to do the splits. Oh, my goodness! People are so surprised. I
:03:22. > :03:26.am surprised also! I do the leg lift, and I do an angel, which is
:03:27. > :03:30.when we get somebody's back and stretch out. I used to do a
:03:31. > :03:36.handstand but I don't do that any more.
:03:37. > :03:39.I was diagnosed with severe osteoarthritis and 26 years old and
:03:40. > :03:45.they told me I would be crippled by 45. I said, I will not let it
:03:46. > :03:52.happen. This is as tight as I can get it. My palms are big enough that
:03:53. > :03:59.I can hold on to them. Arms have to be straight, up, down,
:04:00. > :04:05.you do the twisting, and that. It is really quite vigorous and very, very
:04:06. > :04:09.hard. We have been practising a routine
:04:10. > :04:14.and we will be performing that for the Veterans' Day parade, which goes
:04:15. > :04:20.through central Phoenix. It is viewed by several hundred thousand
:04:21. > :04:24.people. Three years in a row we have taken the outstanding marching group
:04:25. > :04:38.award. We are hoping to make it four in a row this year.
:04:39. > :04:48.I choreographed all the marching routines. I instruct the girls on
:04:49. > :04:52.how to do what I choreographed. They might be somebody just walking
:04:53. > :04:57.along, you don't realise it, they are a judge...
:04:58. > :05:01.The challenge right now is there's just a couple of weeks until the
:05:02. > :05:06.routine, we will do our best and show these people that we can get
:05:07. > :05:18.out and do tricks and shakes for two and half miles, nonstop.
:05:19. > :05:32.You have to get those 80-year-old feet...
:05:33. > :05:38.We are the bad girls. I mean, she really got mad at me yesterday, she
:05:39. > :05:44.yelled at me. I said, God, don't let her yell at me anymore!
:05:45. > :05:49.Actually it was not her fault. They gave us the wrong directions and we
:05:50. > :06:04.were running late. She is saying, we have to go right, it is on seventh.
:06:05. > :06:11.I said Ginger, what is that street? I keep my costumes altogether. In
:06:12. > :06:18.here, and this year is really... They like the shaky shaky.
:06:19. > :06:28.Especially the men. And these are poms. You never know
:06:29. > :06:34.when you are going to need them. This will be worn with the red
:06:35. > :06:41.earrings and red tassles. You feel very attractive. I feel young. You
:06:42. > :06:46.really do. And you feel special because it is how everybody looks at
:06:47. > :06:49.you. I was forbidden to dance when I was growing up. It was just a
:06:50. > :06:55.profession that my mother did not want any of us to have. My husband
:06:56. > :06:58.was very old-fashioned. I was not allowed to work until we had our
:06:59. > :07:05.three children in college. So when we moved here, we got here on
:07:06. > :07:08.Thursday, by Monday I was in class. I was going to learn how to dance
:07:09. > :07:15.event was the last thing I did in my life! Years of blood, sweat, and
:07:16. > :07:21.tears, let me tell you! This is a picture of me when I was
:07:22. > :07:27.little. Me and my sisters. That is my grandfather. I was petrified of
:07:28. > :07:34.him. He was a very big man. He was from the old country, as they say,
:07:35. > :07:45.he was an immigrant, he came from Bohemia. Modern-day Czechoslovakia.
:07:46. > :07:49.I am a first-generation American. Nowadays women are stronger and more
:07:50. > :07:54.sure of themselves and not afraid to fail. That is important, not being
:07:55. > :07:58.afraid to fail. Because a lot of people do, they pick themselves up,
:07:59. > :08:03.shake themselves off, start on the path, not the path they were
:08:04. > :08:08.supposed to be the first place, but they succeed. And that is what I
:08:09. > :08:25.seen young now. A courage that we were never even allowed to have.
:08:26. > :08:33.This picture, I was 18 years old, my brother had the picture taken.
:08:34. > :08:42.Although everybody cringed when I got out the baton, they didn't trust
:08:43. > :08:49.me X? Here it is, there are many miles on this one! I don't dare
:08:50. > :08:54.break another light. When I was a junior in high school I
:08:55. > :09:01.was diagnosed with polio. In those days there were polio epidemics. My
:09:02. > :09:11.back is affected, my left leg, so my paralysed.
:09:12. > :09:22.My diagnosis was to exercise a lot, so baton twirling became a therapy.
:09:23. > :09:36.This was my first group. Right out of high school, I started teaching
:09:37. > :09:45.them. Then we went on to Pat's Paraders in Milwaukee. When I first
:09:46. > :09:50.saw the cheerleaders perform it piqued my interest, but my husband
:09:51. > :09:54.said, over my dead body. He had seen enough of me in show business and
:09:55. > :10:00.performing for 20 years of our married life. So it was not until
:10:01. > :10:07.after he passed that I realised, this is the time now for me, the
:10:08. > :10:18.poms will be my new life. I should not say this, but I broke my
:10:19. > :10:23.mother's knows! I was in a parade, she came up behind me, and I did not
:10:24. > :10:31.know she was there, so I picked up my baton, and my mother was there,
:10:32. > :10:39.and cracked her on the nose. Not one of my finer moments! A year ago I
:10:40. > :10:52.was diagnosed with stage for breast cancer, which has missed aster into
:10:53. > :10:56.my liver. It is like, well, I better catch up on all the things I should
:10:57. > :11:02.have done before now. Chemotherapy just knocks your socks off. You just
:11:03. > :11:55.have to make up your mind that you were glad to get the best of you.
:11:56. > :12:03.I have been doing this since 2014. I absolutely love performing. And I
:12:04. > :12:17.absolutely love being part of a group, with all the women. Hi,
:12:18. > :12:24.honey, how are you? Ten litres? They took ten litres! I'll get back to my
:12:25. > :12:49.car, OK? All right, I love you. SHE SOBS.
:12:50. > :13:04.My husband is not in good health. He is pretty ill, almost bedridden.
:13:05. > :13:11.But he wants me to have as complete a life as I possibly can. If I did
:13:12. > :13:15.not have this... And is so fortunate to have so many friends and family
:13:16. > :13:16.that can help, because it can't be him. They will come in and watch for
:13:17. > :13:53.a while, it just means so much. I am going over to the recreation
:13:54. > :13:59.centre, it is about 6am, and I will be on the elliptic machine for an
:14:00. > :14:04.hour. Then I will do some strength exercises for about 15 minutes. Then
:14:05. > :14:10.normally dance practice for two hours. But I will still do the
:14:11. > :14:18.elliptic in the morning for an hour. Ageing is for wine and cheese. It
:14:19. > :14:23.does not mean anything to me. At the Veterans' Day parade I play to the
:14:24. > :14:27.audience. When I start moving out, I will say to the spectators, you
:14:28. > :14:32.know, I'm pretty tired. I wonder if I should rest for a while. And then
:14:33. > :14:36.they suddenly get concerned. Is there anything we can do? Do you
:14:37. > :14:46.want to sit here? Then suddenly I will be down in a split. Oh, look at
:14:47. > :14:51.her! I lived in Chicago all my life, until I moved to Arizona 20 years
:14:52. > :14:57.ago. I don't have any immediate family. I was an only child. About
:14:58. > :15:01.all that I have now is my husband and myself. I was pretty much a
:15:02. > :15:05.career lady who went and did my own thing, in a field of men, mainly,
:15:06. > :15:10.being in mathematics, there were men in my field and not very many women.
:15:11. > :15:17.We spend so much time together it is like a sorority. So much a part of
:15:18. > :15:21.my life now. My husband thinks it is a little frivolous, silly, for a
:15:22. > :15:29.lady of 80 years old to be doing this, but of course, I don't think
:15:30. > :15:33.so! Hello, hello. I have been at the doctors all afternoon. We are going
:15:34. > :15:38.away and I wanted to get a shot of some kind before we left, but that
:15:39. > :15:45.is not going to work. So I'm going to go away with the pain. So... Why
:15:46. > :15:51.won't it work? Because you cannot get in. Once I see him it takes
:15:52. > :15:59.another three, four weeks, before the insurance approves things. I
:16:00. > :16:10.have a lot to look forward to. I have a crew is coming up to
:16:11. > :16:17.celebrate my 85th birthday. Just fancy, glittery things, but the
:16:18. > :16:22.black pants, and... Well, this will take care of me for the next few
:16:23. > :16:29.weeks, if you can see all those, there are at least 15 in every
:16:30. > :16:37.container. So this, it is not fact, this is all pills! That is what I
:16:38. > :16:42.keep telling myself! I keep saying I'm going to retire. But I don't
:16:43. > :16:52.know how. I just don't know how to retire. But little by little I will
:16:53. > :17:02.edge out of it. Let's say that I hope I am around for the next grade.
:17:03. > :17:08.Everything I do, every day, I think, I hope I am able to do this next
:17:09. > :17:18.year. It is a funny feeling, when you are diagnosed with cancer. And I
:17:19. > :17:37.have liver cancer, stage four. So, who knows? Did you see that? No, I
:17:38. > :18:02.heard about it last night... Front page! And I kicking my leg right?
:18:03. > :18:16.Get the elbow out to the front. I still seeing elbows over here.
:18:17. > :18:23.We really have to get up to speed. We go practice in the morning,
:18:24. > :18:47.walking. So we really give the neighbours a show.
:18:48. > :18:56.They are always better in a parade. But they are out of practice.
:18:57. > :19:27.Practice usually stinks. We will see you tomorrow, good luck.
:19:28. > :19:34.I had at the other way the last time... I am feeling OK. It is a
:19:35. > :19:57.little early, but I am anxious. All right, as we march, making sure
:19:58. > :20:04.you are in a straight line. You have a smile on your face, and you are
:20:05. > :20:09.not talking to anybody. Candy, gum, anything in your mouth, get rid of
:20:10. > :20:14.it. Watch the spacing between lines, so you don't get too close. All
:20:15. > :20:40.right, we are ready now. There is the flyover.
:20:41. > :21:05.They look gorgeous. That is girl power, right there! It was euphoric.
:21:06. > :21:08.You have two one half miles of crowds, yelling, waving flags,
:21:09. > :21:17.cheering you. It was euphoric, really. You push yourself to do
:21:18. > :21:24.things that you never thought you could do before. Sometimes you think
:21:25. > :21:32.you cannot do it, but you like the little Indians that could. You know
:21:33. > :21:39.that book? I think I can, I I can. It has fulfilled all my dream. I
:21:40. > :21:43.would be lost without this. It is important in life to make as much of
:21:44. > :21:49.a contribution that I can, in any way that I can. You feel like you
:21:50. > :22:03.have a purpose, no matter your age, you have a purpose.
:22:04. > :22:10.Most of my life I have prepared the end. I always think dying as a part
:22:11. > :22:14.of living. Just do not let illness, age, anything else get you down.
:22:15. > :22:16.Just keep going and do would you have got to do. The rewards will be
:22:17. > :22:46.many. Do you want to hear my philosophy? I
:22:47. > :22:54.was Miss philosophy among the Arizona seniors. All you can do is
:22:55. > :22:59.sit down and laugh. And then do all they could you can, for all the
:23:00. > :23:04.people you can, in all the ways that you can. In all the time that you
:23:05. > :23:13.can, and as long as you can. And now that I have reached my golden years,
:23:14. > :23:19.may he continue to aspire, to inspire, before I expire!