Her fluid movements were constantly dynamic, and at times she seemed to be floating, twirling to quick and complex cadences.

At 83, Sung Yu-heng is more than alive and well. She is truly kicking. With the figure of a teenaged girl, she dances like a pro.

The retired Chiayi school teacher, who is a widow, began to dance only seven years ago, but has since wowed audiences all over Taiwan, shattering stereotypes and traditional beliefs about the kind of life elderly people should lead.

While many of her counterparts in Taiwan spend their days chatting in parks, taking care of grandkids or shopping and cooking for their families, Sung practices complicated dance steps for two hours during most days of the week. Through her lifestyle, she has encouraged her peers to get out there, if not to hit the dance floor, then to live their golden years to the fullest.

"I never thought my life would turn out this way ... so energetic and happy," Sung said.

Sung came in contact with dancing accidentally, at age 76. After her retirement, she said she worked in the morning as a quality control worker at one of the electronic factories owned by her daughter and son "to keep an eye on the children." She also spent a lot of time trading stocks by phone "to make some petty money," and played mahjong with friends into the evening "to prevent from developing senile dementia."

When her health began to decline and her wallet began to thin from all the stocks trading and mahjong playing, Sung told one of her mahjong partners that she probably needed to "overhaul" her lifestyle once and for all, such as by doing some physical exercises which were also fun.

Several days later, her friends took her to a dance club, where people danced social dance and made friends. In the beginning, she was not fascinated by social dancing at all.

"It was nothing but two people pushing and pulling," Sung said.

After about a year of on-and-off social dancing, a teacher of international standard dances, Shih Ta-chien, who later became her coach, realized Sung was potentially talented and "can be carved into a piece of jewel."

Shih, a professional ballroom dancer, persuaded Sung to be his student, recognizing that Sung had the conditions to be a good dancer, despite her age.

Partly because she was attracted by the 41-year-old Shih's charms, Sung became a good pupil, taking two-hour courses, four times a week.

She later proved Shih right.

After studying with Shih for several years, Sung said she progressed from "having two left feet" to a respectable level, albeit with a lot of hard work and money too.

"Sung has a good physique with muscles and bones that were much younger than her age and first and foremost, dancing is so natural for her like it was all in her blood," Shih said.

Shih's encouragement and spectators' applause at small dance events gave Sung a huge source of confidence, spurring her to want to learn more to master the steps and push herself.

Amazingly, Sung said, after putting in the effort and enjoying the process, she has become healthier than she was six years ago. And most importantly, she feels carefree and lighthearted every time she walks away from the dance studio after two hours of sweating.

"You expect more and more of yourself; it's something like an addictive feeling," she said.

Fame came naturally as Sung gained increased attention.She and Shih have been invited to show off their dance moves in Southeast Asia and Sung even danced recently in Shanghai with Zhou Jitian -- one of the top dance sport athletes in China. Zhou and his partner won the championship in the tango competition in the 2005 East Asian Games and the title for New Stars in the tango category in the World International Standard Dance Championship held in Germany in 2006.

Sung and Shih have appeared and danced in many of the major television variety shows in Taiwan and have been invited to appear on other educational TV programs.

She was cited by local TV hosts as a role model for retirees seeking to stay healthy and spend their later years happily.

The rejuvenated Sung's greatest dream now is to take part in international standard dance competitions abroad -- including, if possible, competitions in Blackpool, England, the mecca of professional ballroom dancers from around the world.

Meanwhile, Sung's children have turned a blind eye to her expenditures on private lessons, dinners for the instructor, transportation and an enlarging wardrobe of sequins and slick dresses -- while they steadily increased the money they regularly give her.

"So long as mother stays happy and healthy, the money we pay for her dancing is much more worthwhile than paying for caretakers or medical bills," said Sung's daughter, who manages manufacturing operations from Taipei County to Shenzhen, Shanghai and Kunshan city in China's eastern province of Jiangsu.

A born athletic type, Sung said that of the five varieties of the modern category of ballroom dancing, she likes skate, or Vienna waltz the most, enjoying its crisp yet smooth tempo, and slower pace compared to the quickstep.

In February, Sung and her instructor were special guests at the closing gala of the 2008 Professional Dance Championships Asian Tour Taipei Open. After demonstrating their perfect footwork, the pair was given a standing ovation by the packed audience, many of whom leading professional dancers from around the world.

The audience went wild with amazement when Sung spun clockwise in her record high of 33 times at one stroke.

Audience members were particularly ecstatic upon hearing from the emcee that the dancing lady was 83 years old.

Dancing by the elderly has become more popular in Taiwan in recent years, partly because of a declining birth rate which leaves many retirees free from the responsibility of caring for their grandchildren. Awareness of the benefits of exercising and of living a full life after retirement has also grown.

Many retirees in Taiwan often join dance activities at parks or community centers in the early morning, after dinner or on weekends.

Swimming and dancing are the best forms of exercise, said Shih, adding that dancing, however, is more sociable. "You get a mouthful of water if you try to talk while swimming," he said.

Few sports that human beings do are as healing as dancing, Shih said, explaining that when you dance, you constantly do backward strokes or reverse movement which help the body of the dancer to rejuvenate.

But most elderly people dance for exercise or just for fun. Sung is unique, as she has advanced to professional level.

"If possible, I will dance till I'm 120 ... I'm still so young," Sung said.