Resident finds fountain of youth on the dance floor

Many people have searched for the proverbial fountain of youth in an attempt to slow the ageing process and it seems that Rod Kruger (73) has found a form of it.

Rod considers himself a man of many talents, not only is he the local historian at the Kloofendal Nature Reserve, but also an avid photographer and dancer. He grew up in Florida and matriculated from Florida Park High School.

“I was born with a camera in my hand [sort of] and had an interest in photography since I was about nine years old. This interest never left me and I wanted to pursue a career in movies, but I had to settle for an apprenticeship as an aircraft mechanic at the South African Airways [SAA],” he said.

He added that he worked at the SAA for 10 years, before leaving as a senior mechanic.

“During this time, I had learnt to fly a plane as a hobby and was invited to help the Methodist Church mission in Northern Natal. I worked as a hospital maintenance foreman and flew missions as needed.”

This was not enough for Rod, and he returned to RAU (now known as the University of Johannesburg) where he studied video editing and production.

“From there, I almost retired, even though I am still not fully retired, and worked as a freelance cameraman and video producer,” he said with a smile.

Rod’s interest in dancing started just after high school, “I started dance lessons, not just because I loved to dance, but also because I wanted to meet girls! I was a student for just over a year when I got engaged to my wife, Madeleine and stopped the lessons,” he said.

When Rod celebrated his 62nd birthday, he took up dancing again, after producing a video for the Dance Palace in Horison, saying ‘I learnt how to do ballroom and Latin dancing’.

Rod explained that his daughter started to enter dance competitions, which he photographed.

“While taking photos, I wanted to try my hand at competitive dancing as well and joined Dance Central. I have participated in four competitions, and have a gold, silver and bronze medal, as well as a fourth place for ballroom dancing. I also have two gold medals for line dancing.”

He added that, even though he is 73, he still believes he can do everything he did when he was 19 and he gave some advice.

“Dance! Any dance! Dancing keeps your head and feet working together and gives you a young attitude. People say, ‘Oh, I have two left feet,’ but dancing makes your feet right. You have to practice at any sport and dance is no different. It takes at least six months to become a competent dancer. I will never grow old. Dance keeps me young in body and mind.”