At 76, Atlanta ballet dancer proves it's never too late to start
Keiko Guest says she never let a late start at her life's passion for ballet knock her off her feet.
Guest didn't start taking lessons until she was 20 years old. She's still dancing at 76.
"When I went to see the Louisville Ballet's Swan Lake, I actually sat in the audience and went, oh, holy, holy. Me me me me," Guest said. "And so I went to enroll in a ballet class the very next day."
Guest came to the US from Japan; she was born to an African American serviceman and her Japanese mother. Her mother gave her her love for the arts.
"[B]ecause my mother instilled the love of dance in me, I just couldn't stay away from it," Guest said.
Once Guest moved to Atlanta, she danced for the Ruth Mitchell Dance Theatre, now the Georgia Dance Conservatory, and other small dance troupes.
Guest went on to perform at theaters including the Fox, Cobb Energy Center, and Symphony Hall. Last year, she leaped into the role of the sugar plum fairy in the Nutcracker.
"It's a sense of self," Guest said. "It's like a community, a family of people…I've known them almost all their lives."
Rebecca Crawford Harman is the founder and director of The Neighborhood Ballet dance studio. Guest has known Harman since she was a child, when Guest was a company member at Ruth Mitchell; Harman was still a student.
Now, Guest regularly takes classes at Harman's studio several times a week.
"She's such an inspiration to so many of us," Harman said, "just showing that dance is truly for everyone."
Guest launched a second act as a photographer. She's photographed countless dancers from schools and companies across Atlanta.
Guest took a pirouette into tumbling to keep her strong and limber.
Antonio Coleman, the general manager of The Peach Pit Brookhaven, where Guest takes tumbling classes, says she's always striving to improve.
"It's not just her age. It's her attitude, her passion for her can't give up disposition about what she wants to do," Coleman said.
Guest doesn't plan on slowing down.
"The whole physical aspect of life is so important to keep you going. The more you stress your bones, the stronger they become…" Guest said.
She says pushing herself to the limit is what being a dancer is all about.