Hip hop dance may not have the best reputation -- think 50 Cent videos -- but two local dance teachers are out to prove everyone wrong.
Serra Stewart and Tristan Forster are opening a new dance studio in September -- Vibe -- off Bowen Rd. offering hip hop, break dancing and more. They will also have drop in classes for beginner students.
"Don't ever base it on the music videos that you see," Stewart said, of what hip hop dancing is exactly. "But you could base it on So You Think You Can Dance, the hip hop in there is really similar to the style we do. We try to stay away from anything really sexual, that bothers me when I see that. . . . when I know their father or grandfather is going to be sitting in the audience, it's not going to happen."
Currently Stewart and Forster have a performance group of more than 50 students meeting at Harbour City Gymnastics. The students are all ages and of all dancing backgrounds -- from beginners to ballet dancers who have been dancing all their lives, to gymnasts who perform crazy acrobatics.
Stewart said the studio will be something new and needed in Nanaimo. The floor will be a basket weave, easier for break dance moves and less impact for dancer's joints.
"There's nothing like this in Nanaimo, everywhere it's a ballet studio, we're kind of going the other route," she said, adding hip hop is accessible to everyone. "There's a lot of kids who are really natural to movement, but not necessarily into sports and they don't want to do ballet, when you get them doing hip hop it's just really natural for them."
Forster added with the more masculine, physical aspect of break dancing, more boys are eager to give it a try. When Forster goes into local schools to do demonstrations, a lot of the male students are interested in learning how to dance.
"If you're not in sports as a guy . . . you sometimes just don't do anything," he said. "I think break dancing is something fun for the kids who aren't in sports. They see a guy come in and do break dancing and it's something they get into."
Forster got into break dancing about 10 years teaching himself by watching videos and his older brother and friends. He taught his first class on Gabriola Island at 15. The road to learning how to break dance was paved with sore necks and injuries.
"That's one of the greatest things about having a teacher, you can learn from some of their mistakes without making them," he said. "I've hurt my neck numerous times and it's nice for the kids to be able to skip that."
Stewart discovered hip hop in Vancouver after growing up doing ballet. She had to retrain herself to dance in the different style, but once she got it, she was hooked.
"It's nice, it's your own expression," she said. "There aren't really any rules, whatever you think works with the music goes."
The performance group on now at Harbour City is getting some local exposure, performing at VI Raiders show, the Ladysmith Strongman Competition and is getting a lot of support from local businesses. Registration for classes at Vibe will take place Aug. 11 to 13, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sept. 1 to 10, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Call Serra at 616-2726 or Tristan at 797-0966 or visit the website at [email protected]