How 'the oldest person on the dance floor' became a Hamilton nightlife legend

DJ Julie Fazooli was drained. It was "hot as hell" in mid-June and she was getting ready to close out an eight-hour set at the Sidewalk Sounds outdoor music event on Hamilton's Concession Street.

Then the man she calls "the light" of the city's dance scene showed up.

Rohan Jayasekera started dancing and Fazooli got a second wind. She joined in and started cheering for him, singing along to the music, and bouncing up and down. Having fun, Fazooli stayed late so she could play a few more songs while Jayasekera danced.

When she stopped, Jayasekera helped take Fazooli's tent down and neatly pack gear into her car while they had a "genuinely amazing conversation," Fazooli said. "He's such a solid dude."

After moving to Hamilton five years ago, Jayasekera has become a well-known, if surprising fixture of the city's dance scene. That's in part because of his high-energy solo dance styleand partly because he's not who a lot of people expect to see breaking it down.

"I'm old," he told CBC Hamilton, without wanting to reveal his exact age. "I'm usually the oldest person on the dance floor." Sometimes young people will come up to him and tell them they love his energy.

"That's not what they expect," he said.

'Inclusive' Hamilton bar brought out his innerdancer

On his Instagram account, Jayasekera describes himself as a future go-go dancer. "Nobody has yet paid me to dance because I'm not young and hot, but it can be aspirational," he said.

Instead, Jayasekera earns his living in the tech sector, where he's worked for several decades, co-founding the internet service provider Sympatico, which eventually became Bell Internet,back in the mid 1990s.

He's lived in Montreal, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ottawa and Toronto, but didn't dance much until he moved to Hamilton. It was here that he discovered the dance bar Sous Bas on Main Street East and everything changed. The venue was "inclusive," he said, and he "felt comfortable as the old Brown guy."

He had a good time there and wanted more. "I [thought]: 'Why shouldn't I go out every weekend, especially when there's such agreat place like this?'"

Now, Jayasekera dances every weekend, often Friday and Saturday night if he can. Sous Bas changed owners and is now called Andthenyou. Jayasekera said he still dances there, along with a variety of spots includingThe Casbah, Studio L14 and the Collective Arts brewery, where he signed up for a dance-a-thon this Saturday. He keeps a close eye on Hamilton's events and will go to Toronto to dance, too.

When looking for haunts, Jayasekera said he wants a place "where people are accepting of my being a severe outlier." He excludes places where young people go to "try and hook up or impress people."

'He shines brighter'

For Jayaskera, the community aspect of the dance scene is important and what he loves. He said he wants to support DJs, some of whom he's become friends with. That means showing up at their different shows and"doing my duty" by being the first person on the dance floor.

Jayasekera thinks he's pretty good at it, too. "If there's a beat, I can dance to it," he said.

He often dances alone, liking to cover a lot of ground as he moves. While his wife will dance with him at home, going out to the clubs isn't her thing, he said.

WATCH | Rohan Jayasekera on how he feels when dancing:

How it feels when Rohan Jayasekera enters a 'meditative state' on the dance floor

9 months ago

Duration 0:51

Rohan Jayasekera is a fixture of Hamilton's dance scene, well-known for his high-energy dancing and unique presence. He tells CBC Hamilton dancing helps him clear his busy mind.

When he gets into the groove, Jayasekera says he enters a "glorious" meditative state.

"I have an overactive mind but when I'm in that zone, my thoughts are no longer busy," he said. "I'm just in the flow with the music and dancing. Sometimes it will even occur to me thatI haven't had any actual thoughts for a little while."

He describes his style as "just the way people have been dancing since the 60s."

Videos of Jayasekera in action often show him stepping side to side with his arms chest high, moving to the beat.

"He's a great dancer," Fazooli said. "He shines brighter than other people on the dance floor for me."

Doctor recommended

As a DJ with nearly 30 years experience, Fazooli said Jayasekera's self-proclaimed duty to hit the dance floor first is a blessing to DJs.

Playing to an empty dance floor is challenging and uncomfortable, she said, but often at the start of the night people won't dance until someone makes the first move.

Jayasekera's "not afraid of just givin' 'er," Fazooli said. He'll get other people out dancing, and when he dances at shows where she's DJ-ing, his energy helps her gauge a room. And that energy, she said, is impressive.

Jayasekera estimates he can regularly dance two hours without stopping. "I have a theory, actually, which is that I can dance efficiently because I've done it so much," he said.

And according to Jayaskera, his doctor encourages his dancing as a form of physical activity.

"Rohan will probably outlive us all if he keeps dancing," Fazooli said.