At 103, Kitty Cohen didn’t let age keep her from running the bases at a Toronto Blue Jays game in July.
And she certainly isn’t letting it keep her from performing in front of an audience of 1,000 dance enthusiasts, either.
The courageous centenarian captured hearts and headlines in July after she ran the bases at a Toronto Blue Jays game and threw the first pitch. She said, in a televised interview at the time, that her next goal was to find a dance partner she could jive with.
Canadian choreographer Blake McGrath, best known for his appearance as a contestant on the first season of “So You Think You Can Dance,” heeded her call.
McGrath, who is scheduled to appear at a dance event at the Toronto International Centre on Sunday, is bringing Cohen along as his dance partner.
McGrath told CTV News Channel that when he saw Cohen on television, he felt she was speaking to him.
“So beautiful, (she) just reminded me of my grandmother who passed about 10 years ago. So I knew without a doubt, I was like, ‘I am your dance partner, Kitty, and I am coming for you.’”
On Thursday, Cohen took her new dance partner for a twirl around CTV’s studio in Toronto.
Cohen said she was happy she “had the nerve” to dance on TV with McGrath, especially considering her troubles with vertigo. Before taking to the dancefloor, she had wondered what kind of guy he might be.
“How would he hold an old lady? But I knew what I was going to do: dance cheek-to-cheek,” she said.
Cohen said, while her energy is “God-given,” she also has the will to try new things.
“Say that you can, and it’ll happen,” she said.
Cohen’s daughter Bernie Riley says, the “fabulous thing” about her mother is that she “dreams and she creates the dreams.
“Her mind is always open,” Riley added. “That this happened is just amazing, I’m thrilled.”
McGrath said he has no doubts about Cohen’s abilities on the dance floor.
“No, I saw her back there and I said, ‘She’s going to end up choreographing this thing.’ She was pulling me down the hallway,” he said.
