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WAYNESBORO ? Maybe being a jerk isn't all that bad.
At least that's what Khalyl McCarthy, Tyshawn Brooks, Kane Stinnett and Chris Turkiewicz tend to believe. Better known as Daffy Kilz, Show-Off, Johnny Millz and Turk, the four teens comprise the popular Waynesboro-based jerk dancing group called Metro Broz.
Closely related to breakdancing, jerking is a fast-paced dance style comprised of fancy footwork and lots of creativity and imagination. It even has its own music and culture, which often includes loud colors, skinny jeans and designer canvas shoes.
"It's just a way to express yourself," Brooks said. "It's fun. Jerking was made so kids would have something to do besides join gangs. We laugh and joke on each other. We just have fun doing it."
All the teens need are some skinny jeans, a vacant lot, some imagination and a Cisco Flip recorder.
On this particular day, the Metro Broz. members go back and forth, each suggesting different venues. Even as they are tossing out ideas, the teens pass by a vacant lot. It's perfect.
With the site established, the teens put their earphone buds in their ears, turn on the fast-paced music on their iPods, and start showing off their skills with moves like the swag walk and the coin drop.
The video shoot is a mixture of freestyle dances and choreographed steps. Sometimes, the teens just start dancing. At other times, they huddle and discuss intros, outros, angles and complex synchronized routine patterns.
The Metro Broz. usually make a Facebook event to let their friends know then they're about to make a video.
"We tag our people and tell them to come and tell anyone else they can come," Turkiewicz said. "It's usually at the Waynesboro City Park. We usually start on the basketball courts. We usually get a good amount of people, so that's pretty fun."
The video footage will be sent to a professional editor, and then placed on YouTube. Their most popular video is up to more than 8,000 views.
"We make videos for sponsors in California," Turkiewicz said. "We're trying to get our names out there for dancing."
The ultimate goal is to get enough buzz to attract deals with the hottest vendors within the subculture. The crew would love to earn a sponsorship with a group like Jerkaholics.
The Metro Broz. already have a little buzz on the Internet.
"We've been keeping up with a lot of contests online and staying connected," Stinnett said. "We hear about them from other videos or other crews. We just make sure we keep in contact with a lot of sponsors to make sure we know when the competition is coming. We just get the group together, and whatever we need if we need to buy clothing or anything, and we make the video."
While breakdancing is considered one of the original elements of hip-hop culture, HipHopDX.com editor Jake Paine says hip-hop has a curious relationship with jerk crews nationwide.
"Dancing has always been fundamental in hip-hop, with breaking being one of the culture's four pillars," Paine said. "Hip-hop began as reactionary dancing to music. Then it became supported by dance. Music ? like Joeski's Love's 'Pee-Wee Herman' or the 'Humpty Dance' ? has been about dancing."
However, Paine sees one big difference now.
"These contemporaries seem to be writing songs about dancing and dance-related things," Paine said. "It is definitely within hip-hop's lineage, but the rap community particularly distances itself due to a lack of substance or respect for the history."
While hip-hop has been hesitant to completely embrace the jerk movement, the Metro Broz. had little problem embracing Turkiewicz.
The crew laughs as they remember how they met Turk, who had just moved from Staunton back to Waynesboro.
Stinnett and the others were chilling outside the War Memorial Pool last summer, just listening to music and showing off their dance steps. Turkiewicz, whom the group had never met, asked to borrow the headphones.
Turk began doing similar dance moves, and a friendly battle emerged.
There were no hard feelings, however, as the teens decided to join forces rather than keep battling. From that point, they've decided to pool their talents into one collective force.
"When we first saw Chris jerk, we thought he looked pretty nice out there," Stinnett said. "We talked to him some, and then finally offered him a spot in our crew. He accepted it. He showed up, and from then on he's been there with us."
The Metro Broz. aren't the only local jerking crew. In Staunton, teens Bokeem Green, Rae'Quan Short, Weslee King and Rhashod Harrison have their own group East Coast Twisted Entertainment.
"It's a way to express yourself without words to me," Short said.
According to Valley Dance Theater director Kimberly Field, television shows like "Glee," along with dancing reality shows like "Dancing With The Stars," have put dancing in pop culture's limelight
"There's so much interest in dance," Field said. "Now all the major pop stars have amazing back up dancers. It used to only be Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. Now it's everybody. I think Justin Timberlake and Chris Brown had a lot of do with that."
Field even in traditional dance styles like ballet, the current trend is a fusion with influences from dance styles. The same is true with jerking, as other popular or retro dance steps from urban culture ? like the Dougie or the Harlem Shake ? can be incorporated.
"It changes every day," Turkiewicz said.
The Valley Dance Theater would love to have some give-and-take with the Metro Broz.
"I think they have a lot of raw talent," Field said. "I love that they use they are using their energy in a fun, creative way. I would love to have them come to my class."
