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Struthers Academy brings back breakdancing

Times Observer photo by Lorri Drumm(those labeled breakdance) Students who attend the Struthers Library Theatre Academy recently took part in a hip hop workshop instructed by professional dancer and former break dance competitor Nick Abreu.

From the time he was a young boy, Nick Abreu was dancing.

“My parents had a lot of parties,” he said. “We had a dance floor in our house. I learned that dance was fun.”

Abreu had a lot of fun as part of both a six-man crew and a duo that won a lot of break-dancing competitions “back in the day.”

“I was break dancing before it was called breakdancing,” he said. “We didn’t do it to show off or get famous. It was fun.”

Abreu, from New Jersey, recently spent time inspiring the “younger generation” to pop, lock, spin, football roll, partner dance and, yes, even do a helicopter, not at a club in a big city, but right here in Warren.

He and his family moved to Warren a couple years ago. His wife and children have had roles in “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” at the theatre.

More than two dozen young members of the Struthers Library Theatre Academy recently took part in hip-hop workshops taught by Abreu. SLT Academy offers diverse training opportunities for students interested in performance and technical theater, according to Chuck Gray, artistic director.

“We decided our first hip-hop workshop would train SLT Academy students,” Gray said. “In order to have a manageable class size and to begin to prepare students for the SLT Academy Awards show on June 1, we offered the workshop to 26 students in the senior and junior competitive troupes.”

The students ranged in age from nine to 15 and had limited to no hip-hop training, according to Gray.

The students were captivated while Abreu told them about break dancing at a club called the Fun House, a spot where celebrities, such as Madonna, went to dance and learn the latest moves.

“My crew, we did a little bit of everything,” he told the students. “We had such a good time. That’s what dance is.”

A good time.

Abreu then cranked up some tunes and soon he and the students were kicking, spinning, twisting, vibrating, rocking and rolling to the music.

“When you’re dancing, the music moves you,” he told them as they moved up, down and around in a circle. “The words of the music move you also. They tell a story.”

There was one instance where Abreu told the students to let someone else control their movements — partner dancing. “One partner has to be strong and lead the other,” he told the students. ‘The other has to let go and follow.”

In a male/female dance duo, the man would typically lead, Abreu said. He laughed as he admitted the dance partnership may not always work the same way in everyday life.

Prior to the beginning of the workshop, Abreu promised the students that they would “do a helicopter.” While not everyone in the room was aware of what that entailed, the “woah” that came from the students signaled something worthy of anticipation.

Abreu selected one student from a number of volunteers and instructed her to run at him and jump, much like Jennifer Grey practices with Patrick Swayze in the movie “Dirty Dancing.” The student volunteer was then told to make her body flat “like a surfboard.”

There’s an added twist here. Swayze didn’t spin. Abreu did. He spun swiftly. The move literally resembled a helicopter.

As if that wasn’t thrilling enough, that move evolved into a three-person version of the dance move with one student on Abreu’s shoulders and another holding on in front.

Even more amazing — there were no helicopter crashes.

Abreu was first recruited by the SLT Academy to serve as dance instructor and judge for the upcoming awards show, according to Gray.

On June 1, SLT Academy will present the National Rural Musical Theatre Award Shows, Gray said. The shows are public performances built around a musical theater competition open to all students age nine to 17 throughout the region.

The shows will bring together the best rural talent for audiences and allow the student performers to compete for prizes as well as receive training and constructive performance feedback from professional judges, Gray said.

Gray and Abreu agreed that, due to popular demand, and an extreme level of funness, more hip-hop workshops are being planned.

Abreu said he is also looking forward to choreographing “Bugsy Malone Jr.,” scheduled for a July performance at the theatre.

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