POLAND: DJ Wika mixes a snappy rumba and gets dancers jiving to modern disco beats, no mean feat given that DJ Wika is 71 years old

Record ID: 808123

  • Title: POLAND: DJ Wika mixes a snappy rumba and gets dancers jiving to modern disco beats, no mean feat given that DJ Wika is 71 years old
  • Date: 14th January 2012
  • Summary: WARSAW, POLAND (RECENT - JANUARY 4, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DJ WIKA IN DJ BOOTH VARIOUS OF ELDERLY PEOPLE ON DANCE FLOOR VARIOUS OF DJ WIKA SELECTING CD VARIOUS OF DJ WIKA DANCING VARIOUS OF DANCEFLOOR
  • Embargoed: 29th January 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Poland, Poland
  • Country: Poland
  • Topics: Quirky,People,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAF1EJZEKXKKTCANS68RIJ7G5CQ
  • Story Text: 73-year-old Wika Szmyt spends her retirement days behind a DJ console watching people dance to her rhythms. She plays disco, rumba or samba for a mostly elderly audience because she feels she is giving them a new take at life.
    "I think that retirement is like second life and we should organize this life in some way. There is nothing worse than standing in one place. For me, it's because I love music, I have always had a connection with art, cabaret, poetry," Wika Szmyt, or DJ Wika said.
    "Dancing changes their mood for the better, more fun. They don't think about passing, about preparing a gravestone and planting flowers on it. They think about life, and that's what music gives you. That's what music gives you," Wika added about her audience.
    The former youth counselor decided she can still share with others even after she retired. She learned how to use sound mixing gear by herself and says even experienced - and much younger - DJ's give her respect.
    "I come here to spend the last days of my life in a pleasant way, because we don't have much left to live," said pensioner Tadeusz Lipiec.
    "I come here pretty often for some time, every Wednesday. There is a group who likes to dance and it's great gymnastics," said another fan of DJ Wika.
    DJ Wika plays in a Warsaw club 3 days a week but has also been involved in other musical projects, including parties where she plays for a younger and more demanding audience.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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