The hippest of hip-hop dancers perform pure magic. They do somersaults, cartwheels and flips. They're dramatic, eccentric, funny and highly creative. They slide in any direction, send electric shock waves through their limbs, glide across the ground like moonwalkers and twirl into body-punishing spins.
At U-Pride dance school in Yutenji, hip-hop dancers start out young, real young. The preschool and elementary school children might not match their American contemporaries in the black communities of urban America for technique. But for these little dancers, the experience matters far more than perfecting the dance style. Hip-hop, for them, is all about having fun.
"Kids get tired easily. They expect it to be fun, like a game, and continue for that reason," says Daisaku Kikuchi, one of the hip-hop teachers at U-Pride. "If we make an objective, they lose interest. The first priority is to have fun."