During a special assembly for Black History Month, students at Penn Wynne Elementary School were treated to a performance by Clyde Evans’s “Chosen Dance Company.”

Chosen Dance Company aims to demonstrate that Hip-Hop dance is a true art form, accessible to audiences regardless of age, ethnicity or gender. The company’s founder, Clyde Evans Jr., is an Adjunct Assistant Professor and Hip-Hop Instructor at Drexel University.

Evans explained how various hip-hop dances developed on both the West Coast and East Coast, how various moves got their names, and which artists are known for popularizing the different steps that the dancers demonstrated.

Breakdancing, which was an exhibition at the recent Paris Olympics, and which involved the dancers daringly spinning on their heads, doing handstands and almost flying through the air, drew raucous applause.

For students, the highlight of the assembly was the opportunity for many of them to join the professional dancers on stage and creatively demonstrate their individual dance skills. For the finale, about a dozen brave teachers and staff took to the stage, much to the delight of their students.