An 88-YEAR-OLD man starred in his first ballet production Sunday after learning to dance at the tender age of 79.

　　Retired teacher John Lowe, of Witchford, Cambridgeshire, has been busy perfecting his pirouettes ahead of his role in Prokofiev's The Stone Flower.

　　The pensioner, who has 11 grandchildren, said: "I practise each day and I've got a rope at home that I use to pull my leg up higher.

　　"I'm lucky that I don't have any problem with the routines but that's because I exercise."

　　Mr Lowe started ballet nine years ago, having watched his daughter Alison become a professional dancer.

　　"I think it's a wonderful thing to do and I can't understand why more men don't do it," he said.

　　"There's nothing effeminate about it — you have to be incredibly fit to dance. I see some people crawling around, hunched over smoking a cigarette — they should be doing ballet.

　　"It's a wonderful feeling. I had always wanted to dance and it's never too late to learn."

　　Mr Lowe, who is part of the Lantern Dance Theatre Company, acted a lumberman in the play.

　　活到老，学到老。这句话用在一位79岁开始“追逐”芭蕾之梦的老人身上最贴切不过了。

　　上周日，一位88岁的老人上演了他的芭蕾“处女秀”，他在79岁那年才开始学芭蕾。

　　这位老人就是来自（英国）剑桥郡威奇福德市的退休教师约翰?劳伊。劳伊的“处女秀”是普罗柯菲耶夫的芭蕾舞剧《宝石花》，在演出开始之前，他一直在练习脚尖旋转动作。

　　现享受退休金的劳伊共有11个孙子。他说：“我每天都练功，我家里有根绳子，专门用来吊腿。”

　　“我很庆幸自己做这些动作没什么问题，不过这主要是因为我经常锻炼。”

　　九年前，劳伊看到女儿艾莉森成为一名职业舞蹈演员，便开始学习芭蕾。

　　他说：“我觉得跳芭蕾是件十分美妙的事，我不明白为什么大多数男性都不愿意做这件事。”

　　“其实芭蕾并不‘女人气’，反而需要健康的体魄才能跳好。我看到一些人四处闲逛、弯腰驼背、叼着烟——他们应该考虑去学芭蕾。”

　　“跳芭蕾的感觉很美妙。我一直都想学会跳舞，只要你想学，年龄永远不是问题。”

　　劳伊目前是“灯之舞剧团”的一名演员，他在剧中饰演一名伐木工人。

　　Vocabulary:

　　tender age:the time when you are young or do not have much experience（幼年或没经验的年龄段）

　　routine:a set of movements（一套动作）