ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — When Maxine Smith started her dance school more than three decades ago, ‘”Hip-Hop” was something girls did for fun. Try skipping rope.

And break dancing? What’s that? Dancers are not supposed to “break.”

That was then.

Flash forward to 2009, and Hip-Hop, break dancing or “b-boy” style (which is an amalgam of hip-hop, break dancing and other moves) is all the rage. There are different “flavors” of the dance style, depending on where you’ve learned your dancing — East Coast, or West Coast.

The beat is pounding, not Tchaikovsky at all. And the form is a lot more “freestyle” than classical ballet calls for.

No, this is not your mother’s ballet studio.

“The young people love it,” said Smith a few Saturdays ago in her dance studio in Robertsdale.

That’s why Smith was happy to be able to host Benito Gallardo and his wife Jessica at Green Acres Dance Studio in Robertsdale June 13. Gallardo is sometimes better known a “B-boy” or Stress” and is a two-time winner of national “B-boy” dance competitions. He’s danced on MTV and has worked for Brittney Spears and the group, *NSYNC, among others. He’s also helped with Stevie Wonder’s stage shows.

“I have a friend in New Orleans who teaches,” explained Smith. “We want to have the latest thing here for the students.”

Normally, Smith added, members of the dance school, which she co-owns with her daughter, Wendy Smith have to travel out of town to see someone of Gallardo’s reputation and caliber.

“They (the students) enjoy seeing new things, especially what appears on MTV and television,” Smith said.

Dania Sykes, owner of the Marrero, La., dance studio where Gallardo teaches (He moved to the New Orleans area because that is where Jessica is from) says that his coming to her studio was, “luck, I guess.”

“I think he brings a different style,” said Sykes. “It’s that “West Coast’ style. The important thing is that he loves to teach, educate and spread the art.”

“The important thing is being individual and being your own artist,” said Gallardo.

The class agreed, and oohed and ahhed as Gallardo demonstrated a couple of headstand moves.