“If you are good at dance, and like it, do it. Join!” said Shawn Semana, a two year MTHS hip hop dancer. The new year has begun and hip hop and break have started anew with tryouts and upcoming performances.

There was initial doubt among the students at MTHS as to whether there was going to be a break team this year, since the majority of the breakers had graduated. However, a surge of interest has lead to a stream of new recruits preserving the size of the original team.

“It’s going to be better this year because we’re cutting people, the past three years we haven’t and the team has been really really bad,” said three year dancing veteran, junior Alexis Williams. “Dance is my life, I love to dance. I can’t wait to go dance my emotions out.”

“The main focus this year is to have the team reinvent themselves, get serious and make some changes,” said MTHS history teacher Hartline, who has become the new full-year adviser after previously sharing the position part-time. The team has not yet participated in any competitions, and do not intend to until at least much later in the year. Hartline is optimistic, saying she sees good leadership and self starters that could lead to many accomplishments.

“We’ve got a lot of new super promising talent this year that I’m excited about participating on the team… such as Airy Lowery,” Williams said.

The breakers and hip hop dancers follow a strict schedule of rehearsal Mondays and Thursdays after school from 2:10pm to 4p.m. Tryouts started Oct. 1.

Hip hop dancers trying out for a spot on the team were greeted by a former breaker of the MTHS team, Danial Ghaffari, who had also come by to assist this years’ breakers, giving them some words of advice and demonstrating how to improve their dance skills. Hartline stated her pride in being the advisor for break and hip hop, seeing it as a way for a special group of people to develop unique skills in the arts. “Sophomore year was my first year at the school, but I’ve always been a dancer so I joined the team,” said senior Britney Buxton. “I saw there were tryouts and I wanted to get involved and meet people. A lot of us have become really close best friends and hang out all the time,” Buxton said, “It’s really diverse. There are a lot of people on the team so you get to learn a lot because everybody brings their own style.” Buxton said the team taught her cooperation, and how to work together as a team.

“Even though I’m not a hip hop person, I recognize its importance,” said Hartline. Break and hip hop are long-standing MTHS traditions.

Though tryouts have finished for this year, the teams seek new talent annually, and are always on the lookout for fresh technique to keep up the strong image of a major contender in the local hip hop and break dancing scene.