So You Think You Can (Break) Dance
Newtown Athletic Club's break dancing classes teach children ages 7 to 12 the basics of hip-hop dance
For 50 minutes, they spin, move, dance and sweat. Then, for the final 10 minutes of the hour-long break dancing class, teacher Tony Azzaro rounds up the boys, ranging in from 7 to 10 years old, and instructs them to make a circle. “This is how we’re going to end each class,” Azzaro announces. “This is a freestyle circle. When you get in the middle of the circle, you can do whatever you want. One by one, the boys enter the circle, each expressing themselves in whatever way they see fit – it may be a move they just mastered in class, something they saw on television, or a dance they learned from a classmate at school. This freestyle circle, Azzaro explains after class, is the essence of hip-hop dance: having the confidence to express your …
