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Kids Dance Lessons

Like most dance schools, Funkmode’s classes are mostly packed with girls. But we were impressed that the Pleasant Hill school offers one of the most unique dance classes around. It’s for boys only and teaches them to break-dance.

By Martha Ross

Like most dance schools, Funkmode’s slammin’, jammin’ hip-hop classes are mostly packed with girls. But we were impressed that the Pleasant Hill school offers one of the most unique dance classes around. It’s for boys only and teaches them to break-dance.

"Mighty," the self-taught b-boy who leads the class, says boys need a class with more spontaneity and fewer rules. Funkmode cofounder Cara Young says the class builds boys' confidence. The boys lose any shyness as they perfect their moves, which they show off in solos during the dance “battle” that ends each class.

As 11-year-old Foxx Molinari of Benicia says: “I like how you can be free to express yourself without having to explain anything.”

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1948 Oak Park Blvd., Pleasant Hill, (888) 386-5663, funkmode.com.

Published: Diablo, July 2009

Author bio: Martha Ross is an associate editor at Diablo magazine, and a mom.

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