Sean Jackson makes break dancing look easy.
Balancing on his hands, he swings his legs around like a gymnast using a pommel horse, moving in sync with the beat.
It’s his best move, the one Jackson, 16, of Everett, mastered before learning the basics. It took a year to teach himself the technique, called flair.
He can do up to 30 rotations without stopping, but he knows it’s not enough. To make it past the first round of the 360 Beak Battle in Marysville on Saturday, his team, Diverse Skillaz, needed more practice.
The break dancing competition at the Marysville YMCA is expected to draw more than 400 teens, including teams from Portland, Ore. and Canada. The winner of the six-on-six battle gets a $600 grand prize.
The competition is the fourth the YMCA has held in the past year, but dancers say this isn’t a throwback to an ’80s fad. Break dancing is re-emerging as a blend of hip-hop dance moves and jaw-dropping gymnastic feats, a style teens from Marysville to Mountlake Terrace are working to make their own.
"People south of here make fun of us. They think we’re just a little town with a little bunch of breakers, but there are some really good people here," said YMCA teen coordinator Benji Travis, 19, who organized the upcoming contest. "It’s about the fun, the love of dancing."
Teens practice at the Marysville YMCA after school, and on Saturday nights cluster in the corner of the gym to test out new moves. Surrounded by basketball games, Diverse Skillaz trained together and checked out their competition.
The crew won the Breaking the Silence contest at the YMCA last summer, narrowly beating Art of Movement, a south Snohomish County group. More than 250 teens attended the competition.
Jackson knows they’ll face a much tougher challenge on Saturday. They lost in the first round of the 360 Break Battle in May.
Since then, "we’ve changed and gotten better," said Jackson, the five-member crew’s unofficial leader. "We’ve got confidence."
The crew practices a couple of hours a week, and most belong to Cascade High School’s break dancing club.
The team’s name reflects the dancers’ backgrounds and range of skills, said Diverse Skillaz member Bobby Nguyen, 17, of Everett.
"We’ve got Asian, black and white (dancers) and we don’t copy other people’s moves. We make up our own stuff," said Nguyen, whose father prefers he do karate. "We have our own style."
The group also includes a girl — a rarity in the male-dominated break dancing scene. Kristine Alvarez, who wasn’t at practice last Saturday, is an asset to the team, Jackson said.
Her moves have style, he said. Then there’s Steve Chan, 17, of Everett, whose break dancing benefits from his impressive upper body strength — he weighs about 130 pounds but can bench press more than 200.
An athlete’s skill paired with a dancer’s grace distinguishes Nguyen, who makes balancing on both hands look effortless. Also in the troupe is Hai Nguyen, 15, no relation to Bobby, who has a natural rhythm and a knack for picking up moves.
As for Jackson, "he always strives to do better," Bobby Nguyen said.
But the team is uncertain about their chances Saturday, and quick to say that other Snohomish County teams equal their talent. They’re also searching for someone to fill in for a dancer who recently quit.
"I’m nervous. I’ve never been in one of these before," said Chan, who’s been dancing a year and can spin on one hand. "(But) dancing is one of my favorite things. It’s like an adrenaline rush."
The challenge has put break dancing on the cusp of mainstream popularity, dancers say.
They expect it to generate more interest when Sony releases the movie "You Got Served" next week, the first major film about street dancing since 1984’s "Breakin’ 2."
"I thought break dancing died a few years ago, but it’s coming back," Bobby Nguyen said. "Everybody’s doing it now."
Reporter Katherine Schiffner:
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