Tao Porchon: The legend turns 98 years young

There are some people who are born to become legends; they have a spirit that the world salutes; it is not only about the work that they do but it is the outlook and the approach for life that makes them the headline world over. Their personality and aura is so strong that when such dynamic individuals meet us they leave a lifetime impression. Yes, it is true and it has happened to me. I have experienced as well as witnessed such a person. I am talking about a very petite Guinness record holder, the world’s oldest dancing dancer and yoga guru Tao Porchon Lynch.

Last week Tao celebrated her 98th birthday, yes you read it right her 98th birthday. New York’s Taj hotel was the venue for the celebration and I feel humbled to say that I was the special birthday surprise travelling all the way from India only for Tao. If you think that this birthday party was filled with old men and women taking support and walking with a walking stick or may be on a wheel chair then you are in for a total shock. This unusual party was nothing conventional. How does one expect a dancer’s birthday party to be Filled with loads of music and dancing right And rightly so, the floor was sent on fire all night long. It had everyone from teenagers to people in the ’60s all grooving to Jive, Cha Cha Cha, Rumba, Mambo, Waltz, Foxtrot, Salsa and more

Tao dressed in her shinny purple long dress with a thigh-high slit and her most talked about 3-inches silver heels opened the dance with the hit song ‘Sway’ dancing the Cha Cha Cha with me. Oh you will not believe how privileged and honoured I felt to be the chosen one. When she moved, people’s jaws dropped, moments became a picture, all the media cameras as well as the mobile phones of guests got busy capturing the sight of 98 years young Tao swirling, twisting, turning and stretching her slender body.

I first met Tao when she was 93 and since then each year we meet, practise, dance and even talk dance. At the celebration while thanking everyone, Tao said, “None of the people in my age group are alive any more, no friends, no family, no one and all you wonderful people present here are my new friends and family and will remain so till I dance to the other planet.”

I am sure most of the dance lovers have heard about Tao, who is addressed as the world’s ‘great living treasure’ and for those who don’t know much about her background, which was filled with glamour and entertainment, I would like give you a low down about this petite lady who has influenced my life a lot.

Tao Porchon-Lynch was born Täo Andrée Porchon, August 13, 1918; she is a yoga master, ballroom dancer, an award-winning author, and an inspiration to millions for her message of oneness and example of vibrant living. She discovered yoga in 1926 when she was eight years old in India and studied with Sri Aurobindo, B.K.S. Iyengar, K. Pattabhi Jois, Swami Prabhavananda, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Dr Roman Ostoja. Even now, being 98 years old, she still teaches six to eight classes a week in New York, and travels leading various programmes across the globe.

She started ballroom dancing when she was 85 and since then, this graceful dancer has won over 700 gold medals at dance competitions world over. She is an expert in over 16 styles of dances and also been a part of many dance shows out of which the most popular was season 10 of America’s Got Talent where she danced with renowned ballroom dancer Yard who is 60 years her junior. Tao who was best friend with legendary dancer actor Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers now practises and learns dance at their dance institute in New York. She also travels the world, performing at various ballroom dancing shows with other choreographers and dancers. Next, you will see her on popular French reality show ‘France’s got Talent’ in November this year for which she is practising four hours a day.

She is also the author of two books, including her autobiography, Dancing Light: The Spiritual Side of Being Through the Eyes of a Modern Yoga Master, which won a 2016 IPPY Award and three 2016 International Book Awards. Talking about Tao world renowned spiritual Guru Dr Deepak Chopra said: “One of the most acclaimed yoga teachers and dancers of our century, Tao Porchon-Lynch is a mentor to me who embodies the spirit of yoga and is an example of ageless body, timeless mind. Like her passion for dance and yoga, she teaches us to let go and to have an exquisite awareness in every moment.”

In May 2012, Guinness World Records recognised Porchon-Lynch as the world’s oldest yoga instructor at age 93; the previous record-holder was the the 91-year-old Berniece Bates of Florida. Tao is also an activist, oenophilist and competitive ballroom dancer. Over her 75-year professional life, she was a couture model, actress, film producer, international film distributor, television executive, publisher and a co-founder of the American Wine Society. She marched with Mahatma Gandhi twice and helped people escape the Nazis as a French Resistance fighter during World War II. She exemplifies her mantra: “There is nothing you cannot do” and seems to defy age through her youthful energy.

In a November 2015 ABC World News interview Porchon-Lynch was called the “Real-Life Forrest Gump” as she has participated in so many historic events over almost a century. In her autobiography Dancing Light, she describes personal encounters with many notable personalities, including Mahatma Gandhi, General Charles de Gaulle, Ernest Hemingway, Marcel Marceau, Marlene Dietrich, Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Wilding, Marilyn Monroe, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Burgess Meredith, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Lana Turner, Debbie Reynolds, Joan Davis, Jim Backus, Red Skelton, Vincent Price, Jack Cummings, Kathryn Grayson, Leslie Caron, Arlene Dahl, Richard Greene, Hugh O’Brian, David Sarnoff, Joan Crawford, Lucille Lortel, Duke Ellington, Katherine Dunham, Ilka Chase, Dr. Welthy Fisher, Jean Dessès, Jeanne Lanvin, Coco Chanel, Marcel Rochas, Jean Patou, Elsa Schiaparelli, Louis Vaudable, Robert Mondavi, Dr Konstantin Frank, among others.

Whenever Tao visits India she honours me by staying with me at my house and dances with me to inspire the Indian dance community. Today, let me tell you one secret about this amazing lady. Every morning when she wakes up, she looks into the mirror and tells herself “Today is going to be the best day of my life.” And believe me, she lives it all up, every moment she is dancing. If not dancing her steps, she is gracefully moving her hands and fingers just experiencing the joy dance movements bring to life. Many a times when I have been sad, low or stressed about something she told me that “mind manifests what we feed and what I feed my mind is only positivity and love of dance.” So simple do the same.

She once told me, ‘A dancer has to be creative, free, alive and liberated’ stressing about anything in life always becomes a hurdle and creates a block in the creative space for a dancer; so life should be kept simple. If we don’t know the future, why worry, if we know the future, then why worry, if one can do something about an issue then good why worry and if we can’t do anything then again why worry. So dancer wake up and just be free because dance means freedom, freedom from everything.’ Almost everything that this legend speaks are like golden words; they have so much depth and a lot of meaning behind them and if I sit back and think, I feel gifted that she guides me all the time not just with her mesmerising presence but even her words.

She is one person I can keep writing on and on about, but today before I say bye, please allow me to tell you an incident of a show in Mumbai where Tao then 95 and me were dancing Paso Doble (a Spanish Bull fight dance). The floor was not very smooth, it had few gaps and was uneven. While we danced, Tao’s 3-inches high heel got stuck in between the planks and she tripped. I immediately stopped fearing injury to her, I gave her a hand immediately and picked her up. This spirited lady got up without delay and said. “Sandip get your expressions right the show is on.” And she moved on the next choreographed step leading me into it, as I had fully blanked out.

Today with this story I would like request you all to please always keep Tao in your prayer, pray that she remains healthy and keeps dancing till she wishes to or let me say it like she says “till she dances to the next planet.”

Sandip Soparrkar is a choreographer. He can be contacted at sandipsoparrkar06@gmail.com