Getting Floored at the Dance Complex
Last weekend was my birthday, so I did what any newly-turned-30-year-old would do: I tried breakdancing. But don’t be misled — this was no third decade life crisis. I’ve always thought breakdancing is one of the more badass forms of physical activity out there, and I’ve always wished that I, too, could spin upside-down on my head or swing my legs around my body while balancing only on my hands. Without breaking myself, that is.
While I definitely don’t feel like an adult, one thing turning 30 did was motivate me to start crossing things off the bucket list, since, according to my 20-something friends, I’m officially old and will probably die soon. So to the Dance Complex I went to take Lino Delgado’s drop-in beginner breakdancing class. In 1981, Delgado started The Floorlords — arguably one of the country’s best b-boy/girl groups, which just had its 30th birthday in June.
For an hour, six of us (four girls, two guys) learned foot and floor work-like top rocks, a few crouching spins and kicks, the six-step, a freeze, and a few other things my aging, feeble mind can’t recall, and put them together in some semblance of a short routine. The pros? Delgado’s focus is on having a good time, and I was so busy trying to get the steps down that I didn’t even have time to worry about how idiotic I must have looked — but after getting the hang of the six-step and a freeze move that involves balancing on one arm with a leg up in the air behind me, I realized I’m not entirely hopeless.
Even though some moves are difficult and involve coordination I don’t have (yet), it’s still a blast to try. The cons? Your knees take a beating, and balancing and shifting your body weight between arms can be challenging. But with all the difficulty comes lots of smiles, laughter, good exercise, and (eventually) a some sweet party tricks, all of which are foolproof ways of staying young at heart.
Tuesdays, 6:30 p.m., $12, the Dance Complex, 536 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-547-9363, dancecomplex.org.
