When 60-year-old dance teacher Shirley Clements took part in an incredible hip-hop routine with her students, she had no idea that she was about to become a viral sensation. Dancing to ‘Uptown Funk’, Shirley bopped and grooved like she was a teenager, leaving the students who were watching screaming for more. This jaw-dropping video proves age really is just a number, and it’s no surprise that it has been watched by millions of viewers on YouTube since it was uploaded in 2016.
Although many people would struggle to pull off such fast and snappy movements at her age, Shirley had no trouble at all, looking stylish and sassy in a pink and black tracksuit and looking as though she was having the time of her life. Alongside energetic jumps and slick floor moves, at the end of the video Shirley shocked her audience even more by pulling off a ridiculously cool headstand, immediately cementing her legacy with both the students she taught and millions of viewers online!
The video was filmed at the school where Shirley taught in Canada, whilst the performance she gave with her students came as part of her pre-retirement celebrations. Knowing she was going to be leaving a job she loved, Shirley decided that, rather than dwelling on the past, she would instead take part in a competition that she herself had established at the school nineteen years previously, in the process ensuring she was a teacher her students would never forget. Talk about going out with a bang!
Most Music Man readers will have guessed by now, however, that this was not Shirley’s first time on a dance floor; she has actually done many performances with her students in recent years. One such performance came in Vancouver in 2015, when Shirley and The Surrey Dancers pulled off some fiery moves to a Taylor Swift remix. Far from letting her students do all the work, Shirley was leading one of the dance sections, and even added in one of her famous headstands at the end of the routine.
From these two videos, it’s clear that Shirley Clements is not your ordinary 60-year-old. She’s certainly not an ordinary teacher either – from the reaction her students gave her in the first video, it’s clear that she has the love and respect of many people she has taught, and even though she is now retired, there is no doubt whatsoever that her students will remember her fondly.
If you would like to see Shirley Clements’ amazing hip-hop routine, be sure to check out her incredible performance on her Instagram page for more stylish and sassy dance moves.