When the campus is empty and the lights shut off, Cal State Fullerton’s Break Dance Club dances in the hallways, in front the Titan Gym or any spot on campus they can find.
The club of about 30 CSUF members practice power moves such as head spins and windmills every Monday and Thursday night, inviting dancers from other schools and the community to join.
The club became an official campus organization in fall 2011 and has not stopped “breaking,” or dancing, since.
“We are one of the only dance-based clubs on campus,” said Matt Gan, club president. “We are dedicated to learning street styles.”
The CSUF Break Dance Club performs at campus events to show students what breaking is.
“The reason we do performances is to provide outreach,” said Theary Monh, club member. “If they are more curious about it we give them information on session times so they can come out.”
The club also reaches out to the “tight-knit” breaking community through Facebook and other social media, said Monh. They also attend open dance sessions at Quest Studio in Artesia, he said.
For dancers new to street-style dancing, Gan will teach them the roots and lingo of “b-boying,” the official name for break dancing.
“The real term is ‘b-boying,’” he said. “Break dancing” is the term that was given to this style of dance by the media, he said.
Gan also teaches new dancers the basic moves of b-boying and encourages “self-expression” through dance.
“I tell them that breaking can be anything,” said Gan. “You build your own style around it, which I think is really dope.”
Although head spins are not recommended for beginning dancers, Gan said the dancer would have to learn how to do a headstand first, then learn how to whip their legs around until they are comfortable.
“I think it’s a lot about trusting your body, learning from other people and learning from yourself,” said Shine Hong, the first girl to join the club. “I have previous dance experience but not really with break dancing. I take a lot of my old ballet moves and stick it into break dancing.”
For Monh, dancing allows him to break out from his structured life as a chemistry student. “A lot of the times with school you are stressed out, you just need something to do to feel free and I feel like breaking really helps me do that,” he said.
Senior accounting major Jerick Galang also finds serenity through b-boying.
“It’s just a really good outlet to find yourself,” said Galang. “The possibilities are endless when it comes to learning moves or creating a new style.”
And now learning new moves will be slightly easier for the dancers as they recently got permission to practice in a dance room with full-length mirrors in the Kinesiology Building.
When the club practices outside, they look like a “giant mob” and are sometimes prohibited from dancing in certain areas, said Monh.
Having the dance room “will make things a lot easier for us,” said Gan.
Contact the writer: 714-796-6703 or jrubio@ocregister.com
