SOQUEL — As a bass-heavy beat filled No Limits Dance and Performing Arts studio on a recent Friday night, a group of young adults in loose clothes flung themselves into seemingly impossible positions.
"I've always loved dancing, and hip-hop seemed like the dance where I could express myself the best," said Harry Weston, 16, of Santa Cruz, a tall, lanky Soquel High School student who was practicing his hip-hop moves, showing off freestyle dance steps and slipping into the style's robotic routines between songs that Friday evening.
But dancing isn't all the lessons aim to teach, according to instructor Harold McCord.
Through his Tru-School Hip Hop classes, McCord's goal is to counteract the negative image hip-hop culture has attracted by providing a positive and creative outlet for young people. The dance training, he said, gives them something cool to do as an alternative to drugs, alcohol and other destructive behaviors and keeps them off the streets on nights they could be out doing less-constructive things.
"It's bigger than coming in and jumping around," said McCord, 35, who grew up in a fatherless household in a tough part of Kansas City and first took up hip-hop there as a way to escape gangs and drugs.
"It's about self-esteem, discipline — this is about life."
The style of hip-hop he teaches — which he calls Tru-School in his own twist on "old school" — originated in the South Bronx around 1969, when frustrated youth in the inner city sought to develop a more positive and nonviolent form of self-expression than what they were exposed to in their lives, he said. People came together to compete with their dance moves instead of fighting, drinking, doing drugs and engaging in violence.
"It's capturing a lot of kids and keeping them busy," he said. "These kids could be doing a lot of things."
| Dancing in the womb |
"I started dancing in the womb," said McCord, whose lifelong dedication to dance and fitness shows in his muscular arms and trim figure. "My mom said I'd move around when she played funk or James Brown."
His first big performance came at 5 years old, when he was invited up from the audience to dance on stage with the Jackson 5.
He idolized James Brown, he said, and he also liked Gene Kelly, Sammy Davis Jr. and the Nicholas brothers.
He took classes in martial arts — something he incorporates into his style, along with acrobatics — but his dance moves evolved as he practiced routines with his brother. They entered local talent shows and won them, McCord said.
"In the ghetto, or the inner city, whatever you choose to call it, back then you could look up to pushers and gangs, or you could spend your time dancing all day," he said. "I got addicted to that — instead of getting addicted to smoking and drinking, I got addicted to people saying, 'Wow, I saw what you did.' "
To inspire and enlighten people feels good, McCord said. "That's fun to me."
He doesn't knock the more recent hip-hop artists whose videos portray women as sex objects and whose lyrics express aggression, but he says those performers have taken a departure from hip-hop's foundation.
"The negative stuff is not 'true,' " he said.
He also thinks kids can be weaned off the commercial "bling" products that exploit the profitable youth market, encouraging young people to be creative participants in the hip-hop culture rather than just consumers.
For classes that attract some girls but are mainly attended by boys and young men, McCord's example is invaluable, said No Limits owner Athena Harrah.
"He's just wonderful with the boys," she said. "He's more of a role model — he spends one-on-one time with them. He talks to them a lot after class and does a lot of guidance."
Spread the essence
But still ... hip-hop in Santa Cruz? The town is more well-known for wave-addled surfers, hippie drum circles, tourist attractions and an aloha-speed beach lifestyle than for a gritty, high-octane urban-youth dance form.
But that's part of the whole purpose of being here, said McCord — to spread the essence of hip-hop.
"I'm a disciple of hip-hop, and so are my students," he said. "So that's what I'm doing, taking it to places you don't think it is. It brings us all together — black, white, brown, whatever."
Student Weston agrees.
"Hip-hop is who you are," he said. "It's universal. Hip-hop is surfer, it's urban, you could be a cowboy."
Plus, the technique has skyrocketed in popularity over the past several years, said Harrah. Last summer, on a European dance tour through France, Germany and Austria, nearly everyone wanted to see hip-hop, she said.
Teaching it in dance studios is "extremely important, because most auditions, they want to see hip-hop," she said. "It's extremely popular. It's here to stay for sure, and it needs to be taken seriously."
The genre is now a $4 billion industry, according to USINFO, a Web site produced and maintained by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs.
It's become such a cultural juggernaut that even a major history museum has gotten involved. In February, pioneers from the hip-hop community donated objects to "Hip-Hop Won't Stop: The Beat, The Rhymes, The Life," a major collecting initiative by the National Museum of American History, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
The museum's multiyear project will trace hip-hop from its origins in the 1970s, as an expression of urban black and Latino youth culture, to its status today.
The Santa Cruz hip-hop students perform at various events around the county and the region, and McCord has also put together a dance crew called Total Chaos, consisting of advanced students and himself. Total Chaos has competed and won first and second prizes in dance competitions nationally, said McCord.
As for the hip-hop disciple himself, McCord came to Santa Cruz 15 years ago after visiting an uncle who lived in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and he's been teaching hip-hop at No Limits since it opened 10 years ago. He likes Santa Cruz because here, he said, he didn't need to wear a game face or have his guard up.
"I can meditate on the beach, and no one will bother me," he said. "Someone will probably walk up and ask if they can meditate with you."
Contact Gwen Mickelson at gmickelson@santacruzsentinel.com.
Tru-School Hip Hop
WHAT: Hip-hop and street dance classes.
WHERE: No Limits Dance and Performing Arts, 2800 S. Rodeo Gulch Road, Suite C, Soquel.
WHO: Boys and girls of all ages and skill levels. McCord's students range 5-23. He also teaches adults in private lessons.
WHEN: Harold's Style — Street Dance 1: Fridays 5:30-6:30 p.m.; Harold's Style — Street Dance 2: Fridays 6:30-8 p.m.; Beginning Breakdancing 5-8 Years Old: Saturdays 11 a.m. to noon; Intermediate Breakdancing All Ages: Saturdays noon to 1 p.m.; Advanced Breakdancing (by audition only): Saturdays 1-2 p.m.
DETAILS: 476-0390; harold@calcentral.com.
The elements of hip hop
Harold McCord defines the lexicon
of hip-hop.
Breakdancing:
The basic dance
of hip-hop.
Graffiti art: Graphic art with a message. McCord advocates doing the art in a notebook rather than on a wall since graffiti is illegal, but he says of the beginning days of hip-hop, 'That's how they communicated across town, writing on subway trains, letting people know about a party or just putting your name out for notoriety.'
DJ-ing: Mixing music, cutting and scratching.
MC-ing: Rapping.
Hip-hop 'til you drop
The Santa Cruz Parks & Recreation Department is inviting teens and community members to participate in its first-ever Hip Hop Festival, which will be 2-11 p.m. Aug. 26 at the Teen Center, 125 Laurel St., Santa Cruz.
The rec department is looking for young DJs, MCs, graffiti artists and breaking crews to help celebrate hip-hop. The event will include movies, spoken word and art exhibits.
For information, call 420-6235.
