Youth on the move

Growing up in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Tony Ingram had difficulty finding other people to breakdance with, unless he ran into another “closet breakdancer.” So no wonder that when he was a physiotherapy student at Dal, he formed a b-boy crew with four other Haligonians.

But they didn’t stop there.

The group wanted to bring the positive, popping energy of hip hop to the community. Fast forward to now, only a few short years later, and their organization Concrete Roots was named Best New Business of 2011 by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce.

Concrete Roots is an organization that brings break dancing to the community by teaching youth at various schools across the city.

The founders of the organization are Mr. Ingram, who was a Dal physiotherapy student at the time; Igor Geshelin, a Dal commerce grad, and a mortgage consultant; Chris Beck, a commerce student at Saint Mary’s University; Michael (Toby) Richard, a graphic design student at NSCAD; and Drew Moore, a teacher.

Mr. Ingram says the group started making plans and applying for grants in the summer of 2007. By early 2008 they were teaching in five or six schools, about six students per school. Mr. Ingram says the group has reached at least 100 kids by now.

“It was important for me to get more people dancing,” says Mr. Ingram. “And the kid aspect of it, I mean, that was just great to get youth involved. We thought that was the best place to put our energy.”

He says it’s like being Santa Claus and watching the kids get excited for Christmas.

Dal grad Igor Geshelin hits the dance floor. (Andi Lo photo)

“You're teaching them and you're watching, but it’s really different. You're watching them learn whatever you have to show and then they go ahead and exceed what you taught them. And you see this thing, this art and creativity and passion emerge from what they're doing on their own. It’s awesome. It’s just so awesome.”

Mr. Moore says Concrete Roots was also showing the kids how to teach and to form their own crews. “So a lot of them carried on with it and quite a few of them are now junior instructors for us,” explains Mr. Moore. “They're now teaching their own classes and they train other crews as well.”

Winning the award from the Chamber of Commerce leaves Mr. Ingram hoping the group will expand. “We're hoping that this proves that we're not a flash in the pan group that kind of came and went.”

Mr. Moore points out that winning the award says a lot about Halifax being forward-thinking and community-minded. “I mean, we know what we're doing. The youth think it’s a good thing, and we know the parents think it’s a good thing. And I know the schools think it’s a good thing. It's just interesting that the private sector is recognizing what we're doing too.”

It can be difficult to access schools, community centres and government funding. “With this award, we're hoping that it kind of proves our legitimacy and makes things a little bit easier,” says Mr. Ingram.

Mr. Ingram graduated from Dal in October of 2009 and is currently working in St. John’s. He says if he didn’t have his student loans to pay off and a great job position in St. John’s, he’d be back with the Halifax crew. He misses the group and visits whenever he can.

But the beat goes on: he’s started another group to spur the break dancing scene in Newfoundland. “Some of the [crew] are up in Labrador this week, a show tour. Just to plant a seed and then we're going to try to create clubs, like what we did in Halifax.”