Instructor Chris Torchia watches break-dancing students John Nieves (left) and Brandon Ambrosino practice a new move. "You can take it any direction you want to go," Torchia says of the hip-hop-style dance.
Torchia first abandoned his skateboard to rock a beat five years ago.
Torchia takes Nieves (from left), Ambrosino and Michelle Gonzalez through a new move.
Not too long ago, Chris Torchia wasn't interested in break dancing — or any kind of dancing.
He was more into skateboarding, which he pursued almost to the point of obsession for more than a decade.
Now, five years after he first rocked a beat, Torchia says he believes anyone can learn how to break dance — and he can teach them.
"I like to stick with one thing," he says. "Now it's break dancing."
Torchia, 23, teaches the hip-hop-style dance to children in the School District of Lancaster's after-school program.
He now offers organized break-dancing lessons for adults, Tuesday and Thursday evenings, at the Pennsylvania Capoeira Academy, 329 N. Queen St.
As much as Torchia, a 2008 college graduate, loves teaching children how to break dance, he sees even more potential to boost ability in adults.
Born in the inner-city streets, break dancing combines athleticism, dance skills, flexibility and style, with everything from intricate footwork to explosive power moves.
"You can take it any direction you want to go," says Torchia, who also performs with a break-dance "crew."
Break dancing is a great way to get in shape and have fun, he says.
He also hopes it can help squash negative perceptions of hip-hop culture and urban life.
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Break dancing originated in the mid-1970s, long before Torchia was born.
Its popularity soared in the '80s, fueled by MTV and superstar Michael Jackson.
Break dancing was an original element of hip-hop culture, Torchia says, an impromptu way to express the struggles of inner-city life.
For many urban youth, it was also an alternative to violence and gangs.
Torchia knows something about heading down the wrong path. As a student at Penn Manor High School, he overindulged in the party scene.
God changed his life, Torchia says, but dancing became a vital outlet for self-expression.
Torchia was intrigued when his identical twin brother, Matt, and other friends took up break dancing.
He soon abandoned his skateboard and joined in.
"I picked it up pretty fast and dedicated a lot of time to it," he says.
Torchia now dances with the four-man Break Free Crew at events in Lancaster and Philadelphia. He's the style man, he says, known for adding artistic flair.
Last summer the crew, which includes Torchia's twin brother, performed at a jazz festival in Switzerland, attracting a huge crowd.
Torchia, who shares a suburban Lancaster apartment with two Japanese roommates, cobbles together enough dance-teaching gigs with schools, church youth groups and others to make a modest living.
He graduated from Lancaster Bible College last year, with a degree in intercultural studies (missions).
Eventually he'd like to incorporate dance into some form of ministry.
"I see it as a ministry now," he says.
The break-dancing lessons aren't religious, he explains. But they are a way to forge positive connections with others.
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A narrow, freshly waxed wood floor stretches before Torchia and his students on a recent Thursday evening.
The studio is on the third floor of a historic factory warehouse turned space for bands, artists and dancers.
Torchia cranks up the boombox, and a strong instrumental beat drowns out the sounds of a band practicing below.
Compact and muscular, Torchia wears a black T-shirt, faded blue jeans and lightweight athletic sneakers.
His lessons attract mostly 20-somethings and teens.
He focuses on break-dancing foundations. From there, students can develop their own personal style.
Break dancing has four main elements, Torchia explains.
"Toprock" moves are performed while standing up. "Footwork" is done with the hands and feet on the floor.
Dancers pause in certain poses, called "freezes." "Power moves" are the big tricks, like head spins.
Keith Webb, an actor who works at Sight & Sound Theatre, hopes to get some dance skills on his resume. He finds break dancing's freeform nature especially appealing.
"It's a blast," says Webb, of Strasburg. "It's always new."
The dancers watch their reflections in a wall-size mirror. Torchia devotes plenty of time to individual practice, patiently correcting students' missteps.
When it's his turn to dance, Torchia moves lightly and effortlessly, his feet making no audible impact when they land on the floor.
Torchia hopes that by providing a safe environment for young people to build confidence and have fun, he can make a positive impact on the city.
It all starts with a single dance step.
BREAK AWAY