100-Year-Old Ballet Teacher Shares 3 Simple Tips For Aging Well

If you feel like you dance with two left feet, wait until you meet Robert “Bobby” Barnett, who turned 100 on May 6 and is still in his dancing shoes.

Barnett, who grew up in Washington state and was born in 1925, discovered his love for ballet while serving in the United States Navy during World War II. On liberty in 1945, he saw the American Ballet Theatre perform in Los Angeles. A prior tap dancer, he had discovered his calling.

In 1958, after years of studying ballet in New York, London and elsewhere, Barnett and his wife, Virginia Rich Barrett, received invitations to become principal dancers and associate directors of the Atlanta Civic Ballet, later named Atlanta Ballet. Elevated to artistic director in 1962, he stayed in the position for 32 years.

Despite moving on from dancing, the last 30 years of Barnett’s life have been dedicated to what he loves — choreographing and demonstrating his own works.

“It’s one of my greatest pleasures. What I love to do the most is to coach and teach,” he tells TODAY.com.

As the company’s artistic director emeritus, Barnett was honored by the Atlanta Ballet with a performance on May 10, with hundreds of guests in attendance to honor his 100th birthday.

In his life outside teaching ballet, Barnett is still highly active. He drives and does all his own shopping, laundry and other daily chores, and he lives on his own floor of a house he shares with his son. Here are his tips for a long and healthy life.

Eating organically and limiting carbohydrates

Barnett has tried to eat mostly organic foods for his entire life. Though typically more expensive, eating organic foods can limit your exposure to pesticide residue, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Since being diagnosed with diabetes at age of 96, Barnett has limited carbs in his diet. He tends to stick to a protein and a vegetable for most of his meals and still cooks for himself.

Consuming carbohydrates has a significant impact on your blood glucose levels, according to the American Diabetes Association. For people with diabetes, monitoring sugar intake is crucial and consuming low-carb non-starchy vegetables can help limit carbohydrate intake.

“Keep moving” and staying active

Barnett still stays active, teaching Ballet classes and performances in Atlanta regularly. He’s stuck to a routine most of his life, whether that’s in the ballet or later in life as an instructor.

“I just feel that you have to keep moving,” Barnett says. “You have to keep doing something. I know so many people who are much younger than me that retire and sit at a chair in front of a television set, and then they wonder why they can’t move.”

In his prime years with the Atlanta Ballet, he would practice and perform nearly every day.

“If you miss one day, you miss two days of training,” Barnett says.

In a normal day, Barnett would take ballet class and head straight to rehearsal, which usually lasted five hours. After a three-hour performance and a bite to eat, Barnett went home and did the same thing daily, an intense physical routine that kept his body in shape for decades.

Later in his life, Barnett still sticks to a routine life, fixing his own breakfast, teaching classes, and seeing ballet matinees, which he drives to.

Barnett walks with a cane but uses a vibration plate in order to keep his muscles stimulated. Performed correctly under the right medical supervision, the benefits of vibration plates can include:

• Reducing back pain
• Improving strength and balance in older adults
• Reducing bone loss

Doing what you love, with who you love

Though Barnett is no longer performing, he continues to teach and demonstrate with the Atlanta Ballet. In July, Barnett is flying to Hawaii to work with Ballet Hawaii to teach one of his own dances to the company.

“I love working with the dancers,” Barnett says. “I can’t demonstrate like I used to, but I know musically what everything is and I can teach. I love doing that.”

When it comes to his personal life, Barnett spends plenty of time with his family, including his son, daughter-in-law and three grandsons.

“I’m very involved with all of them,” Barnett explains. “I love seeing them … and if I need anything, they’re there.”

Research shows that maintaining strong social connections are a major contributor to having good quality of life as you age.