DJ Hip Op leads raving oldies in YouTube dance craze
Elderly Dubliners have been showing their passion for hip -hop music, rapping and dancing in a new YouTube clip to promote positive ageing.
Marian Kelly, from East Wall, takes on the roll of DJ Hip Op, the stage name chosen after she had an operation on her hip.
"Whaasup?," DJ Hip Op says in the video. "I rap because it's fun, because people enjoy it.
"There is no difference between old and young people. Age is just a number. Get a life 'beatch'."
In the tongue-in-cheek video, the older people are shown learning hip-hop dance moves, rapping in the classroom and pronouncing phrases such as "fo' shizzle my nizzle".
The clip, which is already a YouTube favourite and has achieved close to 1,000 views, is aimed at making people think twice about stereotyping.
Eamon Timmins, from Age Action Ireland, said they were approached by Mediacontact.ie who wanted to create a video for a charity as a case study in social media.
Mr Timmins said the group that feature, including DJ Hip Op, Paddy Behan, Pauline Kelly and Jim Reddington, attend free classes in the city centre.
"The dance classes keep the older people fit, active, mobile, but it's also a social network," he said.
Arthritis
"One man in his 70s was into heavy metal and garage music," he added.
Although some of the older people admit to suffering from arthritis, they said that they simply like dancing and the classes help them to move.
One of those featured in the clip, Paddy Behan, said that his father lived until he was 88 and was out dancing three nights a week. He hoped that he could beat this achievement.
Mr Timmins said that he hopes this video would help older people embrace online social media.
The creative concept for the film, Growing Up is Optional, came from playwright Micheal Lovett, who also directed. It was recorded by Richard Doyle of Creative Productions.
clairemurphy@herald.ie
- Claire Murphy
