鈥淭his is a little embarrassing for me,鈥� Nick Nguyen says with a laugh. 鈥淎 lot of the other breakers say, 鈥極h I got into this dance by watching VHS footage or watching it in person.鈥� I watched Step Up 2.鈥�
Yes, the talented breaker and founder of the AV俱乐部 Breaking Society was inspired when he was about 15 by the sequel to a popular dance film starring a young Channing Tatum. 鈥淚t was interesting because I had no prior knowledge to what hip-hop dance was,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey were doing all of these things like 鈥榩opping鈥� or 鈥榖reaking鈥� or spinning on their heads.鈥�
After watching the movie, a friend happened to mention a jam (the breaking equivalent of a dance competition) that a local group was having. Wanting to check it out in real life, he stopped by and loved what he saw.
鈥淚 was amazed, fascinated that these guys could do flips, that they were doing all of these intricate movements with their legs and bodies,鈥� says Nick.
Afterwards he approached one of the organizers about lessons. The following year he signed up for his first breaking classes with Concrete Roots as well as Halifax Dance. Concrete Roots is a local organization that provides after-school dance classes for youth with a main focus on breaking. (Breaking is often referred to as break dancing or B-boying but Nick prefers the term 鈥渂reaking鈥� because it鈥檚 more gender-neutral.)
Pushing through the pain
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His introduction to breaking came at a pivotal point for Nick. The typical tough times of being a young teen were compounded by issues at home. Breaking provided a welcome鈥攊f not physically challenging and painful鈥攅scape for him.
鈥淢y parents just separated and it was that time in junior high when your friend groups sort of dissipate and you鈥檙e trying to find what group you really belong to,鈥� he says. 鈥淪o, breaking for me was my bizarre form of meditation.鈥�
Breaking still provides a source of meditation for Nick today. To add to the emotional stress Nick was already experiencing, some of his family members didn鈥檛 provide him with a lot of support for his new passion. They disparagingly called it a 鈥済hetto dance鈥� and told him it wasn鈥檛 鈥渃lassy.鈥� And many of his friends weren鈥檛 much better鈥攚hich was particularly difficult at an age where maintaining friendships is tough enough.
鈥淚 had a lot of friends that would say, 鈥榊ou look absolutely ridiculous.鈥� But I kind of just pushed through it,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 really like doing this and this isn鈥檛 really for them, which I finally realized. Then I just overcame that.鈥�
His family and friends eventually came around, particularly when he started volunteering and teaching others. It boosted his confidence and showed the skeptics some of the other benefits of breaking.
鈥淢ost people really don鈥檛 know that much about hip-hop,鈥� says Nick. 鈥淲hat they saw were the depictions in the media that breaking is associated with hip-hop and hearing all of these hip-hop songs that are like, 鈥榮ex, drugs, and money.鈥� 鈥�
Now teaching his own classes, Nick is trying hard to change this popular misconception and educate people about the depth of hip-hop culture鈥攖hat it鈥檚 about more than just the music and dancing.
鈥淚 taught with Dance Nova Scotia over the summer and I asked the kids what they knew about hip-hop,鈥� he says. 鈥淢ost of them think it鈥檚 just a genre of music or being gangster. Now I鈥檓 trying to switch that around. Hip-hop is actually something really positive as apposed to negative. It just happened to be rooted in negativity in the form of things like racial oppression.
鈥淒ance is just one element of hip-hop but real hip-hop is more complex鈥攊t鈥檚 a socio-political movement and culture that鈥檚 trying to share complex and intriguing history and knowledge, as well as encourage new art forms. It鈥檚 all about the idea that peace, love, and unity is equality and equity for everyone.鈥�
Anyone interested in taking up breaking can .
Video: Nick's Story
(produced by Tim Mombourquette)