Growing up a gymnast in Peru, Marco Serena never imagined that he would be a Lindy Hop dancer and a part of a well-known break dancing crew in California.
Serena was 15 years old before he realized gymnastics just wasn’t giving him the personal satisfaction that he had forseen for his future, so he quit the team.
Before leaving Peru, he soon became fascinated with the tricks he noticed some break-dancers were performing. Shortly after he moved to California he started to learn and appreciate break dancing all together.
He first learned how to execute some of the tricks of the dance and soon became a skillful freestyler.
He mastered Lindy Hop, a type of swing dancing, New Jack and old school hip hop, within a short period of time. “Marco is one of the best dancers that I have in my class. Any time I need a performer he is willing to be there,” hip hop instructor, Amy Campion, said.
Serena is also a member of Outer Circle Crew, which is a team of talented dancers that have branched themselves to an entertainment brand.
They promote, host and DJ events along with productions. Serena has won several awards for his outrageous dance moves.
“I like break dancing cause you can make it your own style, there is no one way to do it,” he said.
Serena has had to quit working his full time job, just to put in more time and show more dedication to his schooling and dance crew.
He says that “if it wasn’t for financial aid and loans I wouldn’t be able to continue living independently.”
He would like to become a dance teacher. “I know I won’t be able to dance all the time, so I would like to become a Spanish teacher at a middle school or high school or maybe a translator,” he said.
“My education is very important, even if I have to break-dance on the side to make a little bit of money, I know that I need a degree. If I don’t go get one now, I know I wont get it later.”
Serena entered a competition with another member of his BBoy Crew, Pepa, which they won first place with a cash prize for “Rocking the Earth.”
“I want the everyone to see what I got, and feel my energy. Most importantly I just want to dance I really enjoy dancing,” he concluded.
