Breakdancing crew offers locals a chance to showcase their style

Breakdancing in the Bay Area

FOX 13's Jason Wright introduces Bay Rockerz, a breakdancing group in the Tampa Bay Area.

ST PETERSBURG - Breakdancing as an activity began in New York City in the 1970’s as hip-hop culture was growing. The moves and actions took on a style of one dancer versus another in a competition of floorwork, freezes and power moves.

Big picture view:

50 years later, breakdancing debuted in the Olympics and has been on the national stage in multiple variations, from music videos and television to the concert stage and music festivals.

But at its core, breakdancing is an expression of someone’s feel for the flow of the music.

A local dance crew wants to encourage the next generation to get involved.

"Bay Rockerz is a dance crew made up of 9 break-dancers that are local dancers from the Tampa Bay Area," explained Ramon Martinez.

For the uninitiated, Martinez said, "Breaking is made up of four elements."

There’s "Top Rocks", which is where the dancer enters the floor in sort of introduction, showing a bit of style and skill before the performance.

There’s "Footwork", which is where the dancer starts to show some different patterns, moves and style getting into the action with the beat of the music.

There’s "Freezes", which is the pause to pose in mid-performance. These bring style points and serve as an prompt to an opponent to try to do better.

And then there’s "Power Moves", which are the backspins, head spins, windmills and other high-performance and high output moves.

"Everybody loves power moves,’ admitted Martinez, "Actual breaker… they’re adding all of these elements."

Bay Rockerz is working to expose more people to the dance style that they love and works to host competitions to get more people involved.

"What's so beautiful about breaking," stated Martinez, "This culture, this community can impact lives in a positive way."

Dancers come from all walks of life and all sorts of backgrounds. All of that baggage stays behind as they enter the dance floor for competition.

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"We as breakers, we love to travel and compete… We don’t get many opportunities to do that here locally," admitted Martinez, so they changed that. "One of our goals is to be able to provide high-level dance competitions here."

What's next:

"Rockin’ the Bay" Volume 2 takes place July 6th at Nova 535 in St. Petersburg. Bay Rockerz is hosting the event and will put on exhibitions and competitions for youth, dance crews and performers of all ages. It starts at noon and continues through 10 p.m.

NOVA 535 is located at 535 Dr M.L.K. Jr. Street North, St. Petersburg, FL 33701.