DANCING superstar Herb Shapcott is still busting a move at 93.
The Victoria Point resident was a special guest at the Lord Mayor's Seniors Cabaret earlier this month where he performed a rock and roll number with long-time dance partner Sonya Graham.
Mr Shapcott said he started dancing 15 years ago to take control of his life after losing his wife to cancer.
"I saw an ad in the paper at the time about learning to dance to rock and roll," he said.
"I went along to some lessons at the bowls club at Carina. Prior to that I hadn't done much dancing other than some old fashioned stuff.
"After someone dies you are lost, so I started going to the pub and having a few beers but I thought to myself 'there is no future in this'.
"That is when I started dancing to rock and roll."
Mr Shapcott said he met Ms Graham, a former dance instructor, after about three years of lessons and many days spent testing his moves at local clubs.
Together they reached the semi-finals of the Senior Superstar competition in 2012 where they competed against other dancers, vocalists and instrumentalists.
"After that we didn't have a lot of contact...but she likes to go out so I met up with her at Redlands Sporting Club on Wednesdays and then the Lord Mayor's concert came up," he said.
Mr Shapcott is living life to the fullest, having recently taken a trip to Vietnam to meet up with an old friend.
He said he enjoyed the social and physical aspects of dancing, which were helping him cope with the isolation of old age.
"If I didn't go out today I would be sleeping in but I got out and when I come home I feel happy," Mr Shapcott said.
"My wife died of cancer and I have two daughters with cancer but you can't let those things control your life. All you can do is deal with it.
"I don't know how many more years I have got but I want to make the best of what I have left."
Mr Shapcott said elderly people should organise their lives so they are not wondering what to do next.
"When you get to our age you've got to create something so you don't get bored," he said.
"When I go out I know so many people so I don't feel lonely.
"That makes me feel happy."
Read more local news here.
