Driven by advances in medicine, increased life expectancy and a new attitude towards aging, many retirees are deciding to break the codes of old age. Scrabble games and retirement homes? Very little for them. Mise de focus set out to meet these “seeagers” who experience retirement like a second adolescence.
At the beginning of October 2024, an unusual scene took place in pouring rain at the Place de la Gare de Delémont: dozens of seniors gathered for a flashmob. On the song “Je suis fou”, they dance and sing, claiming their youth of spirit.
“We were crazy! I always dreamed of having the chance to do a flashmob, I didn’t get it, so I’m doing it now,” laughs one participant. Noé Mayer, responsible for Pro Senectute activities for the Jura Arc and co-organizer of this event, explains: “We wanted to confront the aging image of seniors with the dynamic approach of the flashmob to show that elderly people can very well do young things”.
A retirement in the spotlight
In Leysin, Alain Peyrod, almost eighty, starts his day at dawn. This retiree displays impressive musculature, acquired after taking up bodybuilding at the age of 60. “I didn’t even know what ‘seeager’ meant, but I like it. That’s exactly what I’m experiencing,” he says with a laugh.
Former president of industrial services in Geneva, he is today a YouTuber followed by more than 200,000 subscribers on Instagram and TikTok. Even the famous YouTuber TiboInshape invited him to his channel. “If I maintain my body, it is out of aesthetics, but also out of vanity. On the internet, I receive a lot of female proposals, but I remain wary,” he confides.
His coach, Martin Charbeau, praises his determination: “In his head, he absolutely doesn’t look his age and it’s even up to me to calm him down in his goals. It’s truly remarkable, at 79 years old, to always want to progress and try new things. We can only be inspired by it.
Enjoy without restraint
John and Jacqueline Allemann, 160 years old between them, refuse to let themselves be locked into clichés. “Our son is saving to buy a house. We spent everything at Club Med and on Costa cruises,” says Jacqueline with a laugh.
A retired French and Italian teacher, she now gives dance classes, while John organizes painting exhibitions. “We are in good health and we are making the most of it,” he says. When we talk to them about knitting, they joke: “Lord, you made me anxious for the rest of the afternoon!” reacts Jacqueline.
You feel old later
According to a study by the Confederation, in 1990, people felt old at 69 years old. Today, this age has been pushed back to 80 years. Christian Suter, sociologist at the University of Neuchâtel who participated in this study, explains that progress in medicine and the increase in living standards contribute to this change, but not only that. There is also a question of values here.
-“These new generations of older people were young teenagers or in their twenties in the years 1968-70. Some were perhaps also punks in the early 1980s. So it’s a generation that also has other values and especially individuality, which is very important to them,” he explains.
An ageless celebration
Once a month, John and Jacqueline go to MAD, the iconic Lausanne youth nightclub, for the “Forever Young” evening, reserved for over 60s. “As we love to dance. We said to ourselves that every end of the month we would go there to have fun, to have fun,” says John. “When you really dance, you have no age,” adds Jacqueline.
For their part, Brenda, Corinne and Emma enjoy an aperitif before also going to the evening. For Brenda Spencer, a former doctor of English origin, we must fight against the stereotypes that weigh on seniors: “It’s as if we become invisible. Especially when we have had an important professional career, we may have a body that ages, but deep down, we are still ourselves, we are still the same person who was having fun. When we love music, we don’t stop loving music, when we love dancing, we can’t stop loving it dance,” she testifies.
Inside the establishment, the atmosphere is electric. “We need to move, funky, disco, just because we’re 60 doesn’t mean we have to stay at home,” says a participant. DJ Vkee Madison confirms: “They built our world and they want to continue profiting.”
Claude, 85 years old, performs dance steps. “I don’t have time to be flirted with, I travel too much,” he says with a laugh. As for Jacqueline, she enjoys: “It’s wonderful. Everyone lets go, it’s a physical and psychological need.”
And when the youngest join the party around 11:00 p.m., many seenagers decide to stay on the dance floor, as if nothing could stop them, not even the passage of time.
TV report: Jérôme Galichet
Adaptation web: Tristan Hertig
