Which teacher most influenced you?

I did not learn from class, I learned on my own. The person that most inspired me when I was younger was Michael Jackson, as I would watch his performances and almost obsessively learn the steps and movements. I have adapted his style into a lot of my movements and even into my performance philosophy. Breakdance wise I would cite the Japanese and Korean break dance crews and groups, starting from the pop groups like Deuce to Ichegeki and the Gamblers.  I started learning breakdance before anything else, and it is what originally sparked my interest in dance.

What do you students most enjoy about breakdance?

Breakdance is style that you can do a lot of tricks or cool movements within a freestyle dance structure. Many of the moves at first appear hard and somewhat impossible to learn. I think the feeling of finally getting these moves and then applying them to a dance they made up or a routine they can performance anywhere is the thing they most enjoy and find gratifying. They feel a sense of accomplishment in doing something that they originally thought hard or impossible, and that others woo about.

What is the most difficult aspect for a beginner?

The understanding of how to use your body and how to balance is always the hardest thing to learn. They need to understand that you are depending more on form, balance and technique rather than just pure brute strength. Often times you are simply controlling your body’s natural momentum. Second, they have to understand their own body and what their strengths and weaknesses are. From there, they need to apply what they like performing and create a style of their own. Students have to understand that there is more to breakin’ as an art form than just power moves and flashy tricks.

What do you most enjoy about teaching?

By far, teaching is rewarding in how you can change lives and see people grow as people and performers. I’ve seen shy, unhappy and introverted people blossom into outgoing, happy and confident people.

Who was your most difficult student?

Joel was one of my first hip-hop students at NYU (New York University). He was from an Orthodox Jewish background so he was rarely exposed to dance, but loved what he saw of it and was eager to learn. I remember him coming in the first day, showing me that he could barely touch his knees when he stretched forward. He was very stiff and jerky and had difficulty following counts in music. However, he stayed with it and eventually tried one of our studio’s (PMT Dance Studio) performance workshops. He worked day and night, literally, and over time developed one of the leads for a number of pieces. Will is another student I met in my NYU classes. Eventually, he tried our studio’s performance workshops. He had a very difficult time learning the steps and on two separate occasions we were going to kick him out. However, he pleaded with us and stepped up to the plate and was able to keep up. Now, it’s just amazing. He is one of our best students and always takes the forefront in every dance. For both Will and Joel, it took a lot of time and effort, but over months and now years they have become very accomplished performers in their own right.

What is the nicest thing a student ever said to you?

Here are two recent things students have said that meant a lot to me. Jess said, ‘I hope I have the strength to do what you did. What you’ve done is truly remarkable.’ And Marie, a member of my dance company, said, ‘It’s always cool working with you as a person and as a choreographer, I enjoy learning new tricks that about three years ago I never though I would be doing. When I first started taking class with you, I was seriously considering giving up dancing because I was in this company where the artistic director told me I sucked every day. You saved my dance life, dude. That’s pretty cool.’

Pavan Thimmaiah is director of PMT Dance Studio (www.pmthouseofdance.com)