Woodburn Independent Online

WB grad dancing in front of Blazer crowds

JC Granados is part of the Portland Trailbreakers, which performs during Portland Trail Blazer games

• By: Charissa Bernard  
• Published: 11/9/2009 8:46:35 AM

Photo By: Charissa BernardBreakin' it down
Woodburn resident JC Granados displays his break-dancing moves in front of over 20,000 Portland Trail Blazer fans Nov. 3. Granados, 21, graduated from Woodburn High School in 2008 and recently tried out for the Portland Trailbreakers dance group. After making the squad, Granados will now perform at 12 Blazers games throughout the year.

Sandwiched between a row of cheerleaders and the likes of Brandon Roy and Greg Oden, 2008 Woodburn High School graduate Juan Carlos “JC” Granados made his debut performance as a Portland Trailbreaker on Nov. 3.
 
Granados, who recently turned  21, is the youngest member of the six-man break dancing crew which performs during time outs at home Portland Trail Blazer games. While the group has been dancing since 2005, this is the first year for Granados, who happened across the MySpace announcement for the Oct. 8 auditions.
 
The Trailbreakers were looking to fill two positions on the team. During the tryout, the 17 prospective dancers had a little over two hours to learn a routine from veteran Trailbreaker Brian Baker, and then performed in front of a panel of six judges.
 
During the routine, each dancer showed off their individual skills in a duo of short solos.
 
“There were a bunch of people trying to show off,” said Granados about the tryout. “I danced and I stepped out; I didn’t try to be more than I am.”
 
Apparently, this paid off.
 
“What stood out about JC was his energy, how well he learned the choreography, his attitude and his dynamic moves,” said Baker, who was part of the judging committee during the tryout.
 
After the tryout, Granados said he was hopeful, but didn’t know what to expect.
 
The next day, while stacking vegetables at his Woodburn Mega Foods job, Granados got the call he’d been hoping for. He’d made the team.
 
“It was great; it was amazing,” he said. “I just couldn’t stop laughing.”
 
Granados became interested in break dancing when he was a sophomore at Woodburn High School watching his older brother and uncle perform.
 
“I always watched them and I liked it a lot, so I started learning from them, started watching videos and started learning on my own,” he said.
 
Soon after, Granados and a group of his friends started their own break-dancing crew, Rhythm Effects.
 
“We usually just get together, practice downtown or we used to have this vinyl floor and we’d just roll it up and dance right there in the downtown plaza or at the library,” he said, also noting the group often performs for quinceañera birthday parties.
 
Dancing has never provided much income for Granados, who has worked full-time the past three years at Mega Foods.
 
With his father off working in Idaho and his mother at home caring for his eight younger siblings, Granados has become one of the primary providers for his family. After a house fire displaced the family last year, times have been tough.
 
“It is really hard,” Granados said. “That’s why I can’t even think about school right now, I have to be working and paying the bills.”
 
Granados does have plans to finish college someday, and is happy to take advantage of the $70 he gets paid per Blazer game to break dance.
 
“I get to stay for the game, and it’s pretty cool,” he said.
 
“I’m having fun, so I don’t really care how much they pay me.”
 
Practicing hand glides and head spins underneath the raucous Blazer stands Nov. 3, Granados seemed calm and collected, awaiting the nod to run out and perform before the 74th consecutive sellout Blazer crowd.
 
“I’m more excited than nervous,” he said. “I’m really excited to dance and perform. … I can hardly believe it sometimes.”

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