While the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library primarily serves as a space for students to study, the ground outside is also the stage for a community of breakdancers.
The group is not necessarily an organized club or directly linked to San José State. They are simply a group of people from the area that come together and breakdance every Tuesday night.
One of these breakdancers is Lando Zanotelli, a San José resident. Not only does Zanotelli dance himself, but he also teaches kids in the East Bay about breakdancing.
“I started teaching to show my moves and what comes with it (and) the culture too,” Zanotelli said. “It's not just about moves, (but) it's about the history of hip hop (and) I try to teach my students all avenues.”
Breakdancing originated in New York City around the late 1960s and early ’70s. It became a key element of hip-hop culture during the 1980s and ’90s and was popularized by the African American and Latino communities, according to a webpage from History.com.
Breaking became popular in the streets of San Francisco after the release of the 1983 film Flashdance, according to a July 24, 2024, article from NBC Bay Area. In the 1990s, dancers would come and practice in different spots around the Bay Area, according to the same source.
Joseph Felix, a 28-year-old San José resident, has been breakdancing since he was 12 years old.
“This (breakdancing) was a saving grace for me,” Felix said. “An after-school program for at-risk youth reached out to me, and that's how I found breaking.”
Felix goes by the stage name Scar, according to an Instagram post from I AM EXCLUSV, a photography studio based in Oakland.
The nickname was given to Felix by a teacher during his time at an after-school program called Hip Hop 360.
“(In) my first session with him he saw my energy and (that) I had a scratch on my face and he called me Scarface and it’s stuck and never left me,” Felix said. “I kinda didn’t like it at first but now it’s a Scar or Scarface.”
Hip Hop 360 brings creative arts into California middle and high schools to help students express themselves, according to a webpage from Unity Care, an educational services program.
Because of the intense body movement involved in breakdancing, the activity carries a high risk of musculoskeletal injuries, according to a study from the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy.
To prevent that from occurring, Felix takes preemptive measures to condition his body along with a balanced diet.
“I do a lot of running and calisthenics — a lot of calisthenics. It helps keep me in shape,” Felix said. “I would also say a lot of greens on your plate. You want your plate more green than it is anything else.”
Kevin Vu Huynh, a trainer of Felix who goes by the stage name Deja Vu, conditions primarily mentally rather than physically.
“As I'm getting older, I do morning meditation (and) breathing exercises,” Huynh said. “It's important to have peace with yourself because when your mind is clear, your dance is clear.”
Huynh is in a breakdancing group known as the HeadHunters Crew, a separate crew from the one at the library, which was founded in 1999, according to their Instagram page.
One of his crew members was the reason why he got interested in breakdancing.
“It's not a dramatic story,” Huynh said. “I went to a high school dance my freshman year and saw him in the corner dancing. I was inspired and I knew that's what I had to do.”
While breakdancing instructor Zanotelli also engages in physical training like Felix, he also shares the same sentiment as Huynh and takes a more mental approach when conditioning for breakdancing.
“Keep your state of mind good,” Zanotelli said. “Some days you have good days and you have bad days, so just go with the flow (and) don't force it.”
Like Zanotelli, Felix also teaches kids how to breakdance and serves as a mentor to them.
“It's kind of surreal,” Felix said. “It was always my dream when I was younger to teach, mentor and then also be a student of the game.”
The Bay Area’s hip-hop dance style served as a stepping stone for the interweaving of popping, a jerky dance sequence, with the groundwork of breakdancing, according to a September 14, 2022, article from Red Bull.
Felix hopes that the breakdancing community in the Bay Area continues to utilize the space at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library for years to come.
“This means the world (because) this is the only spot we have where able to give the kids a free space, let alone ourselves,” Felix said. “It's pretty much a blessing and I always tell people, ‘Hey, man, you have to use this space up, because one day this is not going to be here anymore, ’ so I never take it for granted.”
