They Hip-Hop Back to Revive Break Dance

It’s no joke. And it’s not a time warp. The group of about 25 San Fernando break dancers who practice together in the gym at Recreation Park say they’re serious.

So is their leader, a 26-year-old deejay/rap/hip-hop performer who calls himself DJ Hazze. Hazze said break dancing may have faded since its zenith about a decade ago, but it will never die.

“We’re getting people into it again,” said Hazze. The San Fernando resident volunteers to help coach a group of dancers three days a week. “It’s keeping kids out of trouble,” he said, adding that hip-hop and break dancing have nothing to do with gangsta rap, which many observers say glorifies gangs, guns and liquor.

Judging by the frenetic enthusiasm of the kids at the gym, Hazze--who looks like he just stepped out of an “Electric Boogaloo” movie in his purple polyester Adidas sweatsuit, super-fat shoelaces, helmet and kneepads--is right on target with his upbeat forecast for break dancing.

The San Fernando group got going late last year with a small clique of kids who used a corner of the gym to dance, said Gwen Indermill, recreation supervisor for the city of San Fernando. With the city’s encouragement and Hazze’s involvement, the group expanded. The city hosted a break-dance exhibition at Recreation Park in January that drew a crowd of about 200, Indermill said, and will host another performance April 12.

At a recent rehearsal, the group formed a circle on the basketball court and started “breakin’ down”--practicing routines involving spinning, sliding, miming and martial arts-style kicks and leaps, all to the backdrop of 10-year-old hip-hop tunes.

For more information, call the parks department at (818) 898-1290.