San Jose, Calif. — Before rap videos glorified gangsters, flashy cars and "bling bling," there was a simpler hip-hop culture where rhyming, graffiti, beatboxing and break dancing ruled. It didn't require much more than a street corner, a few friends and a little bit of rhythm.
Now, two decades later, a glossy wooden floor in a Palo Alto community center has become a hip-hop throwback hot spot that's attracting break dancers.
"It's about being original, being fresh, being yourself and respecting other people," said Miguel "Zorro" Luna, whose slides, spins and rolls send the tassel of his hat - and the eyes of fellow breakers - dancing along with his every fluid move.
They call themselves "b-boys" and "b-girls" and they come to Palo Alto's Mitchell Park by the dozens every Monday and Wednesday night. It's a way for breakers like Luna to feel connected to a part of urban history - even if the dance floor is in a quiet corner of suburbia.
The city of Palo Alto noticed an underground buzz over break dancing and hired Jordan Quinones, a 27-year-old competitive breaker, to oversee the sessions. Having a dancer with street credibility staff the center - combined with the closure in recent years of popular breaking spots such as San Jose's Hank Lopez center - helped put Mitchell Park on the map.
About 40 dancers showed up one night last week to dance, falling onto their hands in a move called the "turtle" and twirling on their elbows in an "elbow air flare." There are breakers who can spin on their heads more than 50 times - with no hands - and others who can jump up and down on just the palm of a hand. Men usually outnumber women dancers 15 to 1, but two of the women bring their 6-year-old daughters to practice to even out the gender gap a little.
Some dancers sport lip piercings and tattoos. Some wear baggy pants and sports jerseys, others polo shirts and khakis. Sean "Mega Man" Burgessdances alongside newbies like 44-year-old Cindi Soo Hoo and 13-year-old Owen Metzger.
Owen said he's never been part of a scene like this. The eighth-grader said popularity at his school is based on being preppy or "jockish" in the same way that it's about being "thuggish" at other schools. But on the dance floor, what you wear or who you hang with doesn't matter, he said. Your skills gain you respect.
Break dancing emerged in the 1970s as a way for kids to compete on the dance floor instead of on the streets. Teens have kept it alive in back alleys, street corners and youth centers around the country.
Owen said break dancing first piqued his interest when he watched it in videos featuring hip hop stars like Missy Elliott. Many b-boys and b-girls at Mitchell Park say they're drawn to break dancing because it hearkens to the old days of hip hop.
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