Dancing queen won't let age get in the way

Thursday, February 27, 2020
Eilah Cheek finishes up a dance number with a flourish, at Hillcrest Nursing Home Monday afternoon.
Lorri Sughroue/McCook Gazette

McCOOK, Neb. — It’s never too late to kick up your heels.

At 90-plus years old, Eilah Cheek of Las Vegas, Nev., gave a dance performance with her daughter, Joyce Thompson of St. Augustine, Fla., at Hillcrest Nursing Home on Monday. Eilah, the mother of Hillcrest Administrator, Brad Cheek, and Joyce, his sister, gave the impromptu performance as past of their visit to see him over the weekend.

“She’s a real inspiration for everyone,” Brad said of his mother. “She has 20/20 vision, all her own teeth, and loves dancing.”

Brad Cheek, Hillcrest administrator, tries to get a word in edgewise after his mom and his sister finish their dance routines.
Lorri Sughroue/McCook Gazette

Eilah said she belongs to several dance groups in Las Vegas and they perform at nursing homes, parties and other venues. “I love it, it makes me so happy and just changes my whole attitude,” she said. “It’s so uplifting and throws out all the bad thoughts.”

She was a late bloomer when she began dancing, taking her first dance lesson when she retired at 66. “I said I’d try it for three times. And it stuck.” Since then, she’s performed all kinds of dancing, including ball room, tap, the mamba and more. She no longer uses taps because of the risk of slipping, but that hasn’t slowed her down much. At Monday’s performance, she and her daughter performed several line dance numbers, clad in sparkly Western garb and Eilah working the crowd with jokes and one-liners.

Eilah said dancing keeps her on her toes mentally. “My thinking up here,” she said, tapping her head, “has to coordinate with the movements down here,” tapping her leg.

She demurred when asked for her actual age, explaining that the dance groups in Las Vegas don’t know her real age “and I’d like to keep it like that,” she said. “Just say I’m 90-plus.” In fact, one group she belongs to is called “Sweet 16 Plus 50.”

Eilah said she has no idea how she’s been able to stay so healthy, other than maybe good genetics. “ I do try to eat three meals a day,” she offered, with her daughter adding that her mom’s secret vice is sweets. “She loves eating candy, she has to have a chocolate bar or something every day,” Joyce said.

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