Students “break to the beat”

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On campus

Headline: Students "break to the beat"
Sub-headline: UVSC club expresses themselves through breakdancing.

Britnee Nguyen
News writer

The UVSC Breakdance Club is open for students who are interested in learning breakdancing moves. Breakdancing is a form of hip-hop that originated from street-style dancing, and the club originated last year from the strong student demand to start one. Students Stratton Allen and Jeremy Hannon were able to convince UVSC that it was beneficial to have the club on campus.

“Stratton’s smile I think is what ultimately made it all happen and form into what we have today,” said Hannon, vice president of the UVSC Breakdance Club, who has been breakdancing for seven years. “The reason we did it was simply to show people how we express ourselves and hope to share that with others.”

Allen is the president of the UVSC breakdance club and has been breakdancing for 2-3 years. “Breakdancing is a fun way to release stress, achieve exercise and have fun. We teach cool breakdance moves that you can show off at dances.”

Newcomers are taught the basics of breakdance in the club. This includes up-rocking, down-rocking, freezes and stalls. They also teach power moves such as head spins, windmills, flares and swipes.

“Breakdancing is an intricate and very physical interpretation of music and movement,” said Hannon. “Breakdancing is 100 percent about you and expressing your uniqueness through dance.”

Many of the club members are experienced and perform and compete in separate crews all over the state and sometimes out-of-state. Hannon, for example, has performed in Utah Jazz halftimes, Closing Ceremonies for the Utah Winter Olympics, various dance companies and has danced for charity and fundraising events. Allen hopes to have a club performance at the end of the school year to showcase all of their talent.

Breakdancing is an extremely physical dance that takes time and effort to learn. “What we do is a dance. Please don’t do the worm or a back flip and tell me you know how to breakdance. It is like saying that because you know how to use a hammer, you can build a mansion,” said Hannon.

The club encourages all students to attend their practice sessions if interested in learning. The club meets every Thursday from 9-10 p.m. in PE 112.