Teachers show their moves when hip-hop visits a school

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Hip-hop culture came to Bloomfield on Friday, Feb. 17, delighting students at Brookdale Elementary School, where a breakdance education company, Hip Hop Fundamentals, brought it on for Black History Month.

The assembly program, sponsored by the Brookdale Home and School Association, was a guide to breakdancing fundamentals. The presentation, by three dancers, was clear and instructional, making the hip-hop dance form, developed at early ‘70s South Bronx block parties, approachable and embraceable.

The program began with the dancers breaking to a funky soundtrack. When the children were asked what they saw and heard, they learned from their answers the elements of hip-hop culture: dance, music, rhyming and art.

The first part of a breakdance, the children were told, begins with a rocking back and forth. This is called the top rock. In breakdancing’s development, steps from familiar Latin dances were added to this, but reshaped with cross, backward and kicking movements. Rocking with steps was how breakdancers introduced themselves to an audience. All top rock movements are done standing up.

The second part of the breakdance is more gymnastic and known as six-step and three-step breaks. Unlike the top rock, these moves are done on the floor. The goal is to produce a variety of 360-degree corkscrewing movements with the entire body. Stability comes primarily from the shoulders and arms because the dancer starts in a push-up position. But the momentum for turning the body comes from the legs, which cross one over the other. The upper torso follows this twisting movement.

The third breakstep, the children were told, is called a freeze. This is when the dancer strikes a pose. The fourth and final move is the power move. This is a spinning move.

Several times, children were invited onstage, but the real cheering came when the teachers were invited. When a group of educators finally decided to chance it, a roar went up. Fittingly, the soundtrack played “Pomp and Circumstance.” One of the breakdancers asked that these teachers be applauded for leading by example, while those who remained seated also taught a valuable lesson: Don’t give in to peer pressure.

Finally, the children were told to celebrate black history all year and get involved with dance, because you might find out something about yourself if you do.