{"id":77636,"date":"2026-08-19T11:20:45","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T03:20:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=77636"},"modified":"2026-08-19T11:20:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T03:20:45","slug":"how-ballet-helps-these-seniors-keep-their-bodies-and-brains-feeling-young","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=77636","title":{"rendered":"How ballet helps these seniors keep their bodies \u2013 and brains \u2013 feeling young"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">At 66, Canny Chan laced up her first pair of ballet shoes, chasing a childhood dream to dance like a prima ballerina. Two years later, the Hong Kong retiree can effortlessly glide through basic routines and move gracefully to music \u2013 a proud physical feat in itself. But what most surprised her was not her improved flexibility; it was the sudden sharpness of her mind. She never imagined that the dance form would help her think and feel better, too.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">\u201cNot only has my overall physical form and alignment improved; I also feel more focused and alert,\u201d shares the former banker.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">\u201cWhile dancing, we have to stay mindful of every single finger, the position of our arms, the placement of our feet and the control of our spine, shoulders and abdominal muscles, all while memorising the choreography. So besides challenging my body, doing ballet has been like putting my brain through an intensive workout.\u201d<\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Mary Chan \u2013 no relation to Canny \u2013 <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">also took up ballet two years ago<\/span>, at 80 years old. She began watching ballet performances at a young age, after her father gave her a music box that housed a ballerina figurine dancing to Tchaikovsky\u2019s <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">Swan Lake<\/em>. The music and the tiny dancer captivated her, so when she had the opportunity to learn ballet decades later, she signed up straight away.<\/div>\n<div class=\"image-inline-container e1a5rv550 css-1llrc1m e1yqhwb40\" data-qa=\"Component-renderMap-StyledDiv\">\n<div class=\"image-inline caption e1fvabeq0 css-19sk4h4 ea9pn0s0\" data-qa=\"Component-Container\">\n<figure class=\"image-inline caption ea9pn0s1 css-d3pq8q e1gf69pb0\" data-qa=\"ArticleImage-ArticleImageContainer\">\n<div data-qa=\"ArticleImage-handleRenderImage-ImageContainer\" class=\"css-bjn8wh e1gf69pb3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Canny Chan (left) and Mary Chan both took up ballet two years ago. Photo: Jonathan Wong\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/08\/17\/3cb39cbf-eac0-47d9-8097-4e9bf4630c12_c592e17b.jpg\" title=\"Canny Chan (left) and Mary Chan both took up ballet two years ago. Photo: Jonathan Wong\"\/><\/div><figcaption data-qa=\"ArticleImage-DescriptionContainer\" class=\"css-1bj5zno e1gf69pb1\">Canny Chan (left) and Mary Chan both took up ballet two years ago. Photo: Jonathan Wong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The retiree credits twice-weekly ballet classes with playing a big part in helping her age more healthily. Like Canny, she has noticed a boost in her cognitive function and physical strength.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/health-wellness\/article\/3364245\/how-ballet-helps-these-seniors-keep-their-bodies-and-brains-feeling-young?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At 66, Canny Chan laced up her first pair of ballet shoes, chasing a childhood dream to dance like a prima ballerina. Two years later,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":77637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[5952,14588,938,9679,3724,5547,273],"class_list":["post-77636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-ballet","tag-bodies","tag-brains","tag-feeling","tag-helps","tag-seniors","tag-young","wpcat-33-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=77636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/77637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}