This article was originally written by Adam Dutton and James Connell for SWNS — the U.K.’s largest independent news agency, providing globally relevant original, verified, and engaging content to the world’s leading media outlets.
At age 100, twinkle-toed Bernard Gilbert put a huge crowd through their paces — and proved he’s still got the moves — when he led a flash mob dance in the middle of a busy city center in Worcester, England.
A video making the rounds on social media shows Gilbert, believed to be Britain’s oldest dancer, performing kicks and flicks in time to Roger Miller’s 1965 hit “King of the Road.” And he showed no signs of slowing down as more than 200 people joined him for the flash mob on Sept. 19, which was part of a charity fundraiser for Alzheimer’s disease. “It was a wonderful event and the crowd did well to keep up with me,” he told SWNS.
Remarkably, Gilbert’s love affair with dancing began only after an injury ended his hopes on the rugby pitch. The retiree started dancing in 1942 after breaking his leg playing rugby at age 16 and, despite his reluctance to swap rugby boots for dance shoes, he was a natural. He’s been foxtrotting and jiving ever since, and now posts videos of his dance moves online.
“My whole life is dancing, but it wasn’t always that way,” he said earlier this year after a video of his went viral — amassing more than 3 million views. “When I was a teenager I was a decent rugby player and that was my passion but then I broke my leg during a game.”
Gilbert said that, following the injury, his bone healed, but he struggled to rehab the muscles, even after a regimen of doctor-prescribed exercises. “I asked them if I’d ever play rugby again and they advised me to hang up my boots,” he recalled. “They told me ‘go dancing’ and I laughed and said I’d never take up dancing.”
The doctors must be the ones laughing now, as a friend “dragged” Gilbert to a dance lesson, and the rest is history. His wife was a ballroom dancer, and her death 26 years ago inspired him to become a dance teacher at age 74.
He’s kept at it while living at the Fernhill House Care Home in Worcester, impressing fellow residents with his quick feet. “I love the dancing, once I get on the floor I forget everything, I just concentrate on what I’m doing — it brings me alive,” the centenarian said. “Dancing is not only physically good for you, it’s also mentally good, too. You have to remember things, you can’t just pick it up because you have to concentrate on what you’re doing.”
Tania Skerritt, a customer experience manager at Fernhill House who helped organize the flash mob, said Gilbert is “a testament that age is just a number.” She added: “Nobody at the care home knew what a flash mob was. They had to Google what it meant.”
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