Every Monday night from 7-9 p.m., members of the Pioneer Breakers Club gather in the Centennial Towers ballroom to rehearse, socialize and engage in urban art.
Founded in 2006 by ‘09 business alum Steven Silva as a way to create a community, Silva hoped the Breakers would be centered on the idea of “overcoming all obstacles, of rising to the occasion and pushing yourself to a level that inspires others,” said Silva.
In 2012, Joie Ha, a current sophomore considering an anthropology major from Aurora, took over as the current president of the Pioneer Breakers. Ha is a rookie in breakdancing but an avid follower of the hip hop movement.
“It’s a really warm and open and nonjudgmental group of people,” Ha said.
It was this welcoming environment that inspired Ha’s passion for hip hop, leading her to conduct academic research on the movement and soon, she began to promote the culture on campus.
“There are arguably five elements of hip hop: breakdancing, DJing, MCing (rapping), graffiti, and beat-boxing,” Ha said.
The breakdance style in general incorporates intricate body movements, coordination, style and aesthetics. It’s recognized for its rapid acrobats in which different parts of the body touch the ground, its high-energy as well as its spontaneity.
The club is comprised of six regulars: Cooki Cookster, Jeremiah Chen, Mike La Rosa, Brian Gonzalez and Justin DelRosario. While none of these five gentlemen actually attend DU, they comprise the Lost in Translation Crew, headed by Cookster, and have been part of the Breakers since 2008.
Since then, the team has become a campus source for urban dance, offering open sessions for anyone interested in this unique dance culture. The club is open to members of the Denver and DU community and is a space in which to learn and practice the art of breakdancing.
Last week, b-boys/girls, short for break dancing boy or girl, invested a larger amount of dedication than usual in preparation for one of the biggest jams in Colorado. On Saturday, Feb. 9, Aurora’s School of Breaking (a dance school where Silva serves as an instructor) housed the fifth annual King of Hearts (Breakdancing) Competition, hosted by Dance2Live, a non-profit organization committed to the Colorado dance community.
“Breakdancing evolved as an alternative to gang violence in the Bronx,” said Ha. “Some people decided to branch out and handle their conflicts through dancing, and that’s why they call it ‘breakdancing battles,.’ It’s basically fighting with your personal style, your movements.”
The benefits of breakdancing stretch further beyond its mediation function, however, offering an outlet for self-expression and personal growth. Cookster explained the valuable lessons he has received from breakdancing.
“B-boying provided a way to turn negative energy into something positive,” he said. “No matter how heated it gets, in the end, it’s all respect.”
The modest-sized Pioneer Breakers Club provides a foundation, a place of return where they can practice in peace and share their passion with others curious about their art. Indeed, since its birth, breakdancing has developed into a phenomenon of highly artistic dimensions.
“A lot of things I apply with breaking, I apply in real life and vice versa,” Cookster said. “If you can go into a cypher circle (a circle of bboys/girls, in the middle of which dancers compete) and be confident about yourself, you can easily go into an interview. It’s just as scary as many other things you encounter in life, but if you can get through that, you can bring that same courage into life.”
“It is art,” said Ha. “And although it’s not considered ‘fine art’, there is critique in it. Hip hop is culture-it’s a cultural shift; it’s a movement; it’s a community. And it’s art.”
