Arms and legs will fly everywhere at 'Busta Groove' battle

By Heather Williams

March 22, 2005 | LOGAN--Keith Wille and Ben Allred practice scissor-kicks, baby-mills, barrel-rolls and kip-ups in the middle of a blue gymnastic mat.

Not quite a place to expect break dancing, but that's exactly what Wille and Allred can be found doing almost every night of the week.

"It's creativity to the fullest," Wille said of break dancing, "Whatever your body can take."

Wille, 21, a junior in aerospace engineering, has been president of the USU break dancing club for a year and a half.

The club will sponsor a competition called "Busta Groove"on Friday, March 25 at 7 p.m. in the Ballroom, Wille said. The reason for battles in Utah is to show unique skills to competitors.

"It's a show-off dance," Wille said.

The gymnastic room on the second floor of the HPER is used to practice the athletic type of dance. The springy blue and gray padded floor keeps the dancers from getting hurt when they fall or land wrong.

The room smells like sweat, not the stinky body odor, but people working hard. It's a great place for the break dancing club to practice flips, Wille said.

Wille started watching b-boys (break dancing boys) in Salt Lake at Uprok Records three years ago. B-boys dance in a room in the back of the store almost every weekend, and hold a battle once a month.

"I thought it was a dance that no one does, I thought it would be cool to try," Wille said.

"On Friday and Saturday nights you'll see someone there," Wille said about b-boys at Uprok. He said if you just ask them, they'll teach you, or at least they'll tell you what you're doing wrong.

Wille said he goes to Salt Lake whenever he gets the chance, but in Logan he teaches himself, and whoever else wants to learn.

Wile wore a black T-shirt that had graffiti-style print, advertising a break dancing competition. His pants were black and loose, and his socks were white. His hair is light brown with side burns and a goatee, all of which is the same length, less than a half inch long.

Allred, 21, a freshman at USU said he wants to be a high school history teacher. He had a fresh home-from-the-mission look. He was clean cut with dark brown hair. He wore a long-sleeve maroon T-shirt, with gray khaki pants.

His feet were bare. In high school, Allred, who is from Bountiful, Utah, got involved in capoeira, a Brazilian martial art. He said break dancing had a lot of the same physical aspects, so he and a few friends started a break dancing club. Allred has been going to USU for one semester, since then he has been a member of the club.

"If I break dance three times a week, I have no stress," Allred said.

While practicing Wille wore elbow pads, his right elbow pad was covered in silvery-gray duct tape. The duct tape makes it easier to spin on the ground. He said it's not necessary to wear pads, but they help, and "they look cool."

Wille's feet move quickly as he does "top rock," meaning dancing on his feet, no hands at all. He goes into a handstand, his legs were positioned straight up in the air and moved back and forth, like scissors. Meanwhile, his hands hop up and down to keep his balance. This move was called a scissor-kick.

He then lands on his back, and does a kip-up. A kip-up is when the dancer simply pops up from their back to feet without using hands. This move came from karate, Wille said.

Most injuries Wille said he has had are sore wrists, sore muscles, bruises and rug burns. Whenever hurt, he said, it was because he knew he was doing something stupid.

An example of something stupid, he said, was of a time he lifted himself, using his hands to support his weight. While he was in the air he extended his thumbs out too far. His thumbs didn't support his weight as he came down from the position.

Sure enough, he said, while coming down, his thumbs bent back. One of his thumbs, which at the time made a loud popping sound hurt for a week.

"If you're taught by someone, you won't get hurt," Wille said.

The break dancing club is a place to be taught. He said the club has existed unofficially for two-and-a-half years. The club was officially registered with the USU's clubs for a year and a half.

The club meets every week Monday through Thursday at 8:30 p.m. in the HPER building.

Wille said anyone is welcome to learn and practice with the club.

"This is important: no matter what gender or strength someone is, they can do break dancing. It's easy to learn, but hard to stick with," Wille said. "It's all about friends."

Wille explained some basic steps in break dancing. He said the six-step is the move that you learn first. Basically, both hands are placed on the ground in front of the dancer for support as their legs move in a counter-clockwise circle beneath the person in six steps.

Next a person learns freezes. A freeze is a move that you hold for a few seconds. Usually a freeze is performed with the head, hands or elbows supporting the body, as the legs are in the air.

After the freezes come power moves. Wille said power moves are ones that nobody has done before, something that impresses. This could be a combination of moves and spins. Spins are when the dancers are on the ground
spinning on their hands, heads or backs.

According to a 2002 National Public Radio report, break dancing began as a means for Bronx rival gangs to set the location for rumbles and mediate differences.

"Bronx-area gangs in the mid-1970s would meet on neutral territory for a party, the day before a rumble was set to take place. The dance off, which pitted the gang leaders against each other, mirrored the upcoming confrontation and was used to determine whose turf would play host to the rumble," according to the NPR report.

The breaking that takes place in Logan is not based on gangs and rumbles. Instead, Wille said, breaking unites people. He said people who would have never talked get to know each other.

Wille said he became friends with a "homeless guy who was gangster to the fullest." Without break dancing they would have never talked. Even though break dancing unites people, Wille said they still have competitions, or battles.

According to the NPR report, winners are those who could bust out moves that cannot be matched by competitors.

Music that b-boys dance to has to have clean beats, Wille said. James Brown, Jackson Five and Michael Jackson have done a lot for break dancing.

Wille said break dancing is the "coolest thing in the world." He said he thinks about it all the time. When he sees a hardwood floor, he just wants to spin on it. Moves and combos occupy every moment of the day, he said.

"This dance is infectious. Once you start you can't stop," Wille said.

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