These senior citizens may each be almost a century young, but for Kara, (94) Maynie, (95) and Terri (93), the journey to Las Vegas and the World Hip Hop Dance Championships is just the beginning of a life's journey.

Along with twenty-four other nonagenarians they defy the odds and hip-hop their way into the hearts and minds of thousands of young fans from around the world.

Led by their exuberant and ‘I must have been mad’, manager Billie Jordan they learn to throw away their wheelchairs and walking sticks and push their bodies and artificial joints to the absolute limits of old age. “You’re all going …even if it’s in an urn,” she tells them.

But there’s only ‘sixty dollars in the bank’ and it’s not easy when you ‘don’t really like the music’ and all you can do is ‘worry about how to get your socks on.’ But with the help ‘I’ve never danced in my life’ of Billie and young hip hoppers from Street Dance New Zealand, they begin to believe.

Along the way we hear how these extraordinary characters contributed to New Zealand as we know it. Their stories are a reminder of our history as a nation and the joy of living life to the fullest.

As Terri says… ‘Long Live Hip Hop’.

• Hip-operation is a simple character-driven documentary that tells the humorous, heartfelt and life-affirming story of an elderly Waiheke hip-hop dance troupe and their life changing journey to the world hip hop championships in Las Vegas.
• The group performed at the World Hip-Hop Championship Finals in Las Vegas (11th August 2013), competed in the New Zealand National Hip Hop Championships (2013 & 2014) and have been featured in the news media all over the world from the front page of the Wall Street Journal to the BBC News in Europe to Chinese, American and Australian primetime television. They have become an internet sensation!

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