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Photos: Octogenarian Russian dancers prove age is just a number

Russian pensioners Maya Kachin and Lev Kitayev enjoy proving that age is just a number as they charm elderly audiences in Moscow with their dance moves, despite being well into their eighties. Maya Kachina and Lev Kitayev met on the dance floor in a park in the Russian capital over 20 years ago, neither of them was a professional dancer. Now they are the most mature dancing couple in Russia performing several times a week.

Updated on: Jan 30, 2020 4:16 PM IST

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Maya Kachina (82) and Lev Kitayev (86) perform at a social centre in Moscow. Maya Kachina and Lev Kitayev met on the dance floor in a park in the Russian capital over 20 years ago, neither of them was a professional dancer. Now they are the most mature dancing couple in Russia performing several times a week. (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 30, 2020 4:16 PM

Maya Kachina (82) and Lev Kitayev (86) perform at a social centre in Moscow. Maya Kachina and Lev Kitayev met on the dance floor in a park in the Russian capital over 20 years ago, neither of them was a professional dancer. Now they are the most mature dancing couple in Russia performing several times a week. (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

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Maya Kachina and Lev Kitayev are seen in the kitchen at their home in Moscow. They enjoy proving that age is just a number as they charm elderly audiences in Moscow with their dance moves, despite being well into their eighties. (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 30, 2020 4:16 PM

Maya Kachina and Lev Kitayev are seen in the kitchen at their home in Moscow. They enjoy proving that age is just a number as they charm elderly audiences in Moscow with their dance moves, despite being well into their eighties. (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

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Maya Kachina applies make-up at her home in Moscow. With wardrobes full of sparkling costumes and cabinets packed with trophies, dancing has given the pair a new life. “I’m terribly fond of giving performances. I’m terribly happy,” Kachina said after one of her many dance shows. (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 30, 2020 4:16 PM

Maya Kachina applies make-up at her home in Moscow. With wardrobes full of sparkling costumes and cabinets packed with trophies, dancing has given the pair a new life. “I’m terribly fond of giving performances. I’m terribly happy,” Kachina said after one of her many dance shows. (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

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“After the war, when I was roughly around 10 years old, my mother took me to the theater,” recalled Kachina, seen here resting after a performance in Moscow. “During the war we were evacuated to Omsk.(Russian ballet dancer) Galina Ulanova was performing. The music, it was a new world for me. It entered my soul so much, that I told myself that I wanted to be just like that. My dad was in the army, we went where they sent him, how could I dance?” (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 30, 2020 4:16 PM

“After the war, when I was roughly around 10 years old, my mother took me to the theater,” recalled Kachina, seen here resting after a performance in Moscow. “During the war we were evacuated to Omsk.(Russian ballet dancer) Galina Ulanova was performing. The music, it was a new world for me. It entered my soul so much, that I told myself that I wanted to be just like that. My dad was in the army, we went where they sent him, how could I dance?” (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

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Lev Kitayev is reflected in a mirror as he prepares for a performance at a social centre. “Several women agreed to dance with me. But I had one main criterion for the women: strong legs, a heart and desire to perform, and discipline,” said Kitayev. “If we weren’t in the right condition, we wouldn’t be doing it.” (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 30, 2020 4:16 PM

Lev Kitayev is reflected in a mirror as he prepares for a performance at a social centre. “Several women agreed to dance with me. But I had one main criterion for the women: strong legs, a heart and desire to perform, and discipline,” said Kitayev. “If we weren’t in the right condition, we wouldn’t be doing it.” (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

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Maya Kachina and Lev Kitayev arrange chairs before a performance. “We’ve been performing in social centers together for over 20 years already. Free of charge, before or after lunch, they make announcements about the concert beforehand. Pensioners can eat there for free and come to the concerts,” he said. (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 30, 2020 4:16 PM

Maya Kachina and Lev Kitayev arrange chairs before a performance. “We’ve been performing in social centers together for over 20 years already. Free of charge, before or after lunch, they make announcements about the concert beforehand. Pensioners can eat there for free and come to the concerts,” he said. (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

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Maya Kachina and Lev Kitayev perform at a social centre.“I used to go to the fields, the bare fields, and danced alone. I used to like it a lot. And I really wanted to dance and I’ve lived all my life in my dreams,” Kachina said. (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 30, 2020 4:16 PM

Maya Kachina and Lev Kitayev perform at a social centre.“I used to go to the fields, the bare fields, and danced alone. I used to like it a lot. And I really wanted to dance and I’ve lived all my life in my dreams,” Kachina said. (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

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Maya Kachina and Lev Kitayev play cards at their home in Moscow. (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 30, 2020 4:16 PM

Maya Kachina and Lev Kitayev play cards at their home in Moscow. (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

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Maya Kachina’s dance shoes are seen before a performance. Over the decades Kachina and Kitayev have developed a close relationship, enabling them to pull some of their most riskiest moves without falling. (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 30, 2020 4:16 PM

Maya Kachina’s dance shoes are seen before a performance. Over the decades Kachina and Kitayev have developed a close relationship, enabling them to pull some of their most riskiest moves without falling. (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

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When they first began to dance as a pair, Kachina had much to learn from Kitayev and felt like she had to prove herself. But after years of practice the pair has become one of the most senior dancing couples in Russia. “I saw that he dances, better than me, of course, I latched onto him,” said Kachina of their first meeting in Moscow’s Sokolniki Park. “Lev didn’t acknowledge me because I didn’t know how to dance.” (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 30, 2020 4:16 PM

When they first began to dance as a pair, Kachina had much to learn from Kitayev and felt like she had to prove herself. But after years of practice the pair has become one of the most senior dancing couples in Russia. “I saw that he dances, better than me, of course, I latched onto him,” said Kachina of their first meeting in Moscow’s Sokolniki Park. “Lev didn’t acknowledge me because I didn’t know how to dance.” (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

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The dancing couple, seen here riding the Moscow metro to a performance, said their motivation is driven by the need to share the joy of dancing with their audiences. (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

Updated on Jan 30, 2020 4:16 PM

The dancing couple, seen here riding the Moscow metro to a performance, said their motivation is driven by the need to share the joy of dancing with their audiences. (Evgenia Novozhenina / REUTERS)

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