Meet the 90-year-old tap dancer from Te Awamutu

Ninety-year-old Ed Clarke has taken up tap dancing, learning from his granddaughter, Jade Wilson. Photo / Bethany Rolston

Ed Clarke is proving you're never too old to try something new.

The 90-year-old Te Awamutu resident is learning tap dancing, taking weekly lessons from his dining room at home.

Tap dancing is something he has always wanted to try, and he took the plunge this year.

Ed is a showman at heart and has been involved in theatre since the age of nine.

He is a well-known member of the Te Awamutu Light Operatic Society, having performed in numerous productions including Can-Can, The Wizard of Oz, Oliver, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Fiddler on the Roof.

Ninety-year-old Ed Clarke has taken up tap dancing, learning from his granddaughter, Jade Wilson. Photo / Bethany Rolston

"I'd always thought, while I was in various other shows, that tap dancing was a very clever way of presenting theatre," Ed says.

So this year he approached the best tutor he knows - his granddaughter Jade Wilson, a dance teacher at Te Awamutu School of Dance.

"I said to Jade, 'hey, you teach tap dancing, don't you? Would you teach me?' And God bless her she said yes!"

For Jade, her new student is very different to most of her regulars.

"I've never really taught somebody of his age," she says.

She has to simplify the movements and let Ed take lots of breaks – and a puff of his inhaler.

Ed Clarke is a well-known face around Te Awamutu. He is pictured riding his mobility scooter in the 2018 Te Awamutu Christmas Parade. Photo / Bethany Rolston

However, she says her granddad "will give it everything that he's got" during lessons.

"I'm actually very surprised at how much he's picked up and how much he's improved."

Jade says her grandfather is a well-known face around Te Awamutu.

"He's quite a character and can get away with anything. He drives his little scooter around town and everybody seems to know him."

Aside from feeling tired and out of breath, Ed says he feels healthy as a result of his weekly lessons.

"I mentioned to the doctor over at the hospital that I was thinking of taking up tap dancing and she said 'that's good because that will help you with balance'."

Ed Clarke, known for his quirkiness, pictured in 2011 with his "musical pen pal" Yvonne McDonald. Yvonne was staying with Ed and his wife to record a disc The Rainbow Connection. Photo / File

Some people are shocked when they hear about his new hobby.

"Usually there's a bit of a pause while they take that on board - they don't really believe it.

"Most of them say 'well, good on you, you're having a go and you're not just sort of sitting still all the time doing nothing' … which I do quite a lot of the time."

Ed hopes to eventually stage a performance to show off his moves.

"I'm never going to be a Fred Astaire - I'm not that clever at it. But somewhere I think possibly I might be able to put on a little bit of a demo."

Ed's advice to others keen to try something new.

"If you fancy doing something like this, go ahead, do it."