About - THE HIP OP-ERATION CREW

3About

The Hip Op-eration Crew is the world’s oldest dance group (Guinness World Records). They are the current world title holders.

The dance crew consists of seven senior citizens aged 72 to 97 years old. The average age is 80 and there are two men and five women in the crew.

One member is legally blind and partially deaf, one member uses a mobility aid, one member is profoundly deaf, two members have had major heart surgery, one member has kidney disease, many have artificial knees and hips, there is a married couple in the group (aged 83 and 85 years old) and all members have arthritis.

They are all neighbours and live on a small island off the East coast of Auckland, New Zealand in the South Pacific (Waiheke Island).

Please click here to view their latest performance.

The group is managed by 47 year old Billie Jordan who founded the group after being injured in New Zealand's worst natural disaster - the Christchurch Earthquake on 22nd February 2011. She is also the group's choreographer, dance teacher, publicist, marketer, event manager, transporter and friend. All her time is voluntary.

7im
The dance crew use hip hop dance as a vehicle to promote attitudinal change in our society towards aged persons and also to form stronger connections with young people.

Publicity Received
The Hip Op-eration Crew performed at the World Hip-Hop Championship in Las Vegas, USA (2013), competed in the New Zealand National Hip Hop Championships three times (2013, 2014 and 2016) and won their division in 2016 - receiving a score just 0.8 points below the world champion Bubblegum junior dance crew. You can view this performance here. They have also performed to an audience of 15,000 in the Taipei Arena, Taiwan and performed at Ted Talks in 2015 (as their manager Billie Jordan did an inspirational speech about aging). This speech was followed by a performance by the dance crew. You can view this Ted Talk by clicking here.

They have also 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, Japanese, Taiwanese and Australian prime-time television and online news media from the Huffington Post and Upworthy to the Daily Telegraph. The group attracts millions of hits when featured in social media.

They are also the subject of the award winning documentary Hip Hop-eration. You can view the trailer for this film here.

A Hollywood film production company has purchased the worldwide life rights of Billie Jordan.

The Manager

Founder and Manager 47 year old Billie Jordan recently did a Ted Talk which received standing ovations. Please click here to view her Ted Talk. Please click here to view the performance The Hip Op-eration Crew did after her Ted Talk.

An aged persons advocate, Billie is focused on creating extraordinary experiences for seniors to revolutionize ageing. To view her company and service offerings click here.

A top Hollywood film production company has acquired the life rights of Billie Jordan. To view a news story about this click here.

History
The group was founded by Billie Jordan in 2012. They started off as a Flash Mob in August 2012 doing surprise dance performances around Auckland, New Zealand. They were called 'The World's Oldest Flash Mob'. The video of their debut performance on 9th August 2012 has over 3 million hits on YouTube. Then in January 2013 Manager Billie Jordan set the group up as an official Hip Hop dance group called ‘The Hip Op-eration Crew’.

Beliefs

Ageism is a real issue in western society. A lot of people automatically presume just because you're a senior citizen you must be old fashioned, feeble, no longer able to contribute to society, can't learn new things, aren't engaged in technology, and don't like doing any activity that is supposedly outside of their comfort zone. Part of the group's aim is to also address those mis-perceptions and prejudices whilst forming a stronger connection with youth.

Please click here to visit The Hip Op-eration Crew on Facebook for videos, photos and the latest news.