"Young at Heart" -Grandpa and Grandma Cheerleaders / 阿公 阿嬤 青春啦啦隊
"Young at Heart" -Grandpa and Grandma Cheerleaders
◎English text by Fang-Ju Lin
◎Photos Courtesy of Backstage Studio
Kaohsiung's Senior Center is home to Taiwan's most senior cheerleading team. The team is fondly known as Young at Heart and all participating cheerleaders are older than 60 years old, some members are even in their 80s. However, despite their age, the 40 member squad all take cheerleading very seriously. The team was created seven months ago and since then they haven't stopped practicing. They perform with astounding energy and demonstrate they are able to keep up with their younger counterparts. Cheerleading has brought about a new vitality in these seniors lives and their routines are crowd pleasers everywhere they go.
Last year a cheerleading competition was held in order to celebrate The World Games coming to Kaohsiung. It was during this competition the senior center's students performed the classic dance known as "Dragon Boat". The performance was a great success and marked the beginning of Young at Heart cheerleading team. The team practices at the Cultural Center every Tuesday and Wednesday. Unless someone is sick, the seniors show up for every practice. They have a great sense of honor towards their team and value the practices they have together. They work hard as they do not want to make any mistakes during their performances. "If you can still cheerlead at my age, it means you are very healthy", states 86-year-old Tian-Hua Ding He is deeply gratified he is still able to cheerlead.
Su-Lan Lin is their dance teacher. With more than 28 years of teaching experience she knows even a fall could be detrimental to the Young at Heart team. This makes it even more challenging when developing routines, as they cannot perform difficult acrobatics or dangerous stunts. This makes it extremely difficult for Ms. Lin to find the right music, choreography and rehearsal methods. In order to overcome these limits, Su-Lan Lin came up with an idea that she could keep the team in one basic formation; however, the squad could still perform with fantastic energy and in unison. These great performances are certainly a sight to behold.
Practice sessions are also interesting to observe. It is sometimes chaotic getting the squad in their starting positions. Seniors dragging their partners to their opening places is certainly a sight that could make anyone smile. However, they never miss a beat when they are on stage. These cheerleaders show a great deal of potential.
There has even been a documentary shot about the cheerleading team. This short film, entitled "Old Man" was filmed by director Li-Chou Yang on July 16, 2009. The cheerleading squad also made appearances at the Tchouball and Korfball events. The performance began with eight elderly gentlemen appearing as "muscle men" and thirty-two elderly ladies entering with pretty mini-skirts, bright pink tank tops, highly made up. The audience delighted in the two routines performed to Lemon Tree and the Can Can. They particularly enjoyed the elderly gentlemen's transformation into "muscle men". Their performance was so spectacular the audience responded with a thunderous applause and called for an encore. The athletes and guests from abroad also thoroughly enjoyed the performance. Many people wanted to take pictures with the team, which greatly flattered them. 83-year-old En-Ching Chung could not believe his performance had been such a success. He never thought he could feel like a superstar at his age. Later he claimed he was so happy and excited he couldn't get to sleep until midnight.
阿公 阿嬤 青春啦啦隊
◎文／冠函
◎照片提供／後場音像紀錄工作室有限公司
高雄市長青中心有一支全台最年長的啦啦隊─「青春啦啦隊」，不同於時下的啦啦隊，他們的年紀都在60 歲以上，80幾歲的比比皆是。40名成員認真、活力且勇健，成員們在啦啦隊裏找到人生的舞台，成軍７個月來，勤於練舞與演出，贏得不少掌聲，絲毫不輸年輕人，也漸漸闖出名號。
去年一場以高雄世界運動會為主題的啦啦隊比賽，長青中心古典舞蹈班的學員推出精采的划龍船，贏得滿堂彩，促成「青春啦啦隊」的成軍。他們每週二、三在文化中心練舞，八十六歲隊員丁天驊說，到了這個年紀還能跳啦啦隊，表示很健康，他覺得很安慰。啦啦隊的成員都有份榮譽心，除了生病，都全勤參加，十分珍惜練習的時光，深怕出差錯。
擁有二十八年教學經驗的舞蹈老師林素蘭表示「青春啦啦隊」成員摔不得，沒辦法像年輕人一樣有拋、跳、蹲等危險且高難度的動作，因此，從找音樂、編舞、練舞到訓練等都煞費苦心，在諸多限制下，林素蘭靈機一動，想到以隊形變化取勝，透過整齊、活潑、活力等展現啦啦隊的效果，很有看頭。
有趣的是，每當啦啦隊排練時，總是有人找不到方向、記錯位子，靠著旁邊的老人「拉著跑」，為辛苦的排練增添不少笑料，說也奇怪，表演時，卻絲毫沒差錯，證明這群老人潛力無窮！
這支啦啦隊還被導演楊力州以「老人」為題材拍成記錄片，今年七月十六日的世運會時，在巧固球、合球的賽場裡，八名阿公身穿「肌肉男」服裝，三十二名阿嬤身著俏麗短裙、配上亮眼的桃紅色背心，搭配彩妝師醒目的亮片彩妝，啦啦隊在檸檬樹、康康舞的音樂聲中，隊形從圓圈、放射線等搖臀、擺手，熱力四射，當八名阿公一轉身馬上變身成「肌肉男」時，全場歡聲雷動，精采的演出，令眾人驚艷，現場安可聲、鼓掌聲、歡笑聲不斷。
世運期間精采絕倫的表演，讓國外選手與貴賓都豎起大拇指直說好棒！very good！爭相與阿公阿嬤合照，令阿公阿嬤受寵若驚，八十三歲阿公鍾恩慶開心的說，想不到自己也能跳的這麼好，沒想到這麼老了還覺得像當明星一樣，當晚興奮到凌晨，久久無法入睡。
啦啦隊成員在表演中找到人生的舞台，也贏得不少掌聲。
Cheerleading has brought about a new vitality in these seniors' lives and their routinesare crowd pleasers everywhere they go.
「青春啦啦隊」在世運比賽時的精彩表演。
"Young at Heart" gave a splendid performance during The World Games Kaohsiung 2009 in July
啦啦隊的故事被楊力州導演拍成紀錄片，並在高雄電影節放映。
The story of the cheerleading squad was made into a short documentary film by director Li-Chou Yang. It was shown at Kaohsiung Film Festival.