Get Sorted: Respect for hip hop elders

The cast of Hip Hop-eration.

The film Hip Hop-eration pushes perceptions of retirement in the right direction.

If you haven't had the chance to see Hip Hop-eration - a film that has pushed perceptions of retirement (and even the very concept) perhaps like no other - there's still time. No "pulling back" from life or activity to be seen here; far from it.

The story of how 27 keen seniors on Waiheke form the world's oldest dance troupe, the Hip Operation Crew, and beat the odds to reach the World Hip Hop Championships in Las Vegas is inspiring. With an average age of 80, many have mobility or hearing issues. One is legally blind. Yet they continue to prove that, yes, you can even krump from a wheelchair if you so choose.

Billie Jordan, their untiring coach with an affinity for geriatrics, remembers childhood time spent with her own gran as a quiet oasis. She tells how, after enduring the Christchurch earthquakes, she fled to another safe haven among the elderly up north.

We meet some of the most endearing ninety-somethings ever: Maynie Thompson, 95; Kara Nelson, 94; Terri Woolmore-Goodwin, 93. By movie's end you may find yourself feeling like they're extended family, and you may wish they were: what they accomplish is extraordinary.

"We honour you," a member of Otara's Dziah Dance Academy tells the palpably nervous, excited hip hop grandparents before they head onto the Vegas stage.

With good reason: Hip Operation's chosen motto, Respect and Honour Youth (RHY), has been met with respect in return, and they have forged the most impressive intergenerational (and intercultural) bridge you've ever seen.

No matter their age, they continue to be their true selves. When Thompson - a former peace activist who once marched across the US for disarmament - walks through the line of kids triumphantly holding up two fingers and saying "Peace" to everyone, you know she's doing as she has always done.

This time she gets the respect she deserves.

Hip Hop-eration is in cinemas now.

Get Sorted is written by Sorted's resident blogger, Tom Hartmann. Check out the guides and calculators at Sorted - brought to you by the Commission for Financial Literacy and Retirement Income - at sorted.org.nz.