B-Boys find breakdancing heaven in Chelsea

A breakdancer busts a move at Friday night’s practice session at Chelsea’s O’Henry Learning Center, which is sponsored by the Hudson Guild Beacon Program.

By Alyssa Galella

A school gymnasium is the last place you’d expect to find New York City teenagers on a Friday night at 7 p.m., especially in the middle of a hailstorm. But on Friday, about 50 young adults gathered at the O’Henry Learning Center on West 17th Street to practice their breakdancing—just like they always do.

“B-boys and girls come out no matter what,” said Rudell Clark, 25, a Brooklyn “B-boy,” or breakdancer, who leads two-hour weekly gatherings at the school.

“It’s all about dedication,” he said, as hip-hop music blared from a boom box and the dancers communicated with their bodies—thrusting their legs in the air, contorting their torsos and even spinning on their heads.

Free and open to the public, the breakdancing sessions are sponsored by the Hudson Guild Beacon Program, which began in 1998 with funding from the Department for Youth and Community Development. While the Guild runs many activities under the Beacon Program banner, including art classes for kids, Friday-night breakdancing is one of the more popular ones, said Caroline Luther, a Hudson Guild spokesperson.

While an average of 75 people turn out each week, said Clark, he has seen attendance rise upwards of 150. And although most of the Beacon’s programs are directed toward middle-schoolers, he estimates that the breakdancers range in age from 14 to 40—from all races and genders, though the majority are male.

“It’s a really big community,” Clark said. “We don’t disregard anybody.”

Clark knows almost every one of the dancers’ names, or B-boy nicknames, which are often inspired by cartoons. For instance, Clark is in a “crew,” or dancing group, called “Footclan,” a reference to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Most of the dancers heard about the program through word of mouth, or from breakdancing message boards on the Internet. And while the majority are regulars who live in New York City, visiting breakdancers from Europe have also dropped in from time to time.

On July 21, dancers from all over the city will come to Chelsea for the fourth annual Kings of New York hip-hop competition, which will be held in the gymnasium and the outdoor courtyard at the O’Henry Learning Center and will feature 160 competitors. This year, Clark expects up to 1,500 spectators and is currently seeking sponsors for the event.

The competition has been so popular that Clark is also organizing a spin-off event called Kids of New York for dancers under the age of 18, like 14-year-old Nick Garcia, the youngest Beacon B-boy. The kids’ competition will be held at O’Henry on June 16 and will feature a grand prize of a Sony PlayStation Portable video game system.

“I didn’t expect for this to happen, but it did,” Clark said. “Word of mouth gets things recognized,” he said.

Many of the dancers at the Beacon program are practicing intensely for the big competition.

“Right now we’re training hard to get to the top with the other crews,” said Brooklynite Zen He, 17, who goes by the nickname “Nezzy Nice” and just started breakdancing a year ago. He is in a crew called “Higher Ground” with two other dancers, including Angel “Top Villain” Perez, 19, who has been breakdancing for two years and attends the Beacon program every week.

“We come out every time it’s open,” said Perez, who takes the subway down from Harlem.

Despite the looming competition, the atmosphere is still friendly. The “masters” and more experienced dancers teach and help the newcomers, until they become advanced enough to branch out on their own.

When novice dancers first arrive, Clark teaches them basic hip-hop steps, like the “top rock” and the “six-step.” After many hours of practice, dancers can move on to more advanced moves like a “windmill” or “headspin.” Once Clark has shown them everything he can, they “graduate” and practice with their own crews, or learn from other advanced dancers.

“Some of these guys are better than I am,” said Clark. “I’m not a master—well, not yet!”