It’s your freshman year, and you’ve ascended into a world of giant upperclassmen, intimidating high school parties and your first overwhelming class load. Now more than ever you need a mentor to guide and help you, but the last people you’ll talk to are your parents, and teachers are paid to give homework, not advice. This guidance is often hidden where you least expect to find it. For many teenagers across Seattle, it comes in the form of a dance crew called the Massive Monkees.

The Massive Monkees are known worldwide for their b-boy style on Americas Best Dance Crew, an MTV show that holds auditions across the country and scouts the best dance crews to perform and let America’s votes decide the winner. However, Seattle knows them for more than their intricate choreography. Rather, they serve as role models and instructors for our city’s youth with their unwavering desire to inspire and give back to the community that raised them.

Almost all of the Massive Monkees attended Seattle public high schools like Franklin or Garfield and met each other during their adolescence. They began dancing together which turned into the foundation of their friendship that would, in turn, define their future.

“We lived life together. We caused trouble at Meridian 16, we shared Christmas and Thanksgiving together, we shared our lives with each other, and never let anything break our affiliation, because it was more than affiliation, it was family,” says member Marcus “CornBread” Rader, Garfield graduate, class of 1999. Few people are lucky enough to find this kind of friendship at any point in their lives.

For them, dancing was a creative outlet that took the pressures off of average teenage life. Most members began dancing in their early high school years, motivated by older siblings and local crews, though Rader mentions that he has a “picture [of himself] breakin’ in preschool in OshKosh overalls.” Throughout high school they developed their individual styles as dancers and in 1999 combined two groups: the MASSIVE (Manifesting Artistic Street Styles In Various Expressions) Crew and the Untouchable Style Monkees/BOSS (Breaking Old School Style) crew.

In the mid ’90s many of them looked up to an older dance crew called DVS for direction, but the help they received was limited by the small number of members and their available time. Instead, most of them turned to each other for help with moves and motivation.

“We all motivated each other and were our own role models,” explained Florentino Francisco, another Massive Monkee member.

They each have their own favorite parts of dancing, be it the competitions, practices, or shows, but it’s clear that what they love most about being in the crew is the family they’ve created: both the siblings they’ve found through dancing side by side on stage and the children they’ve taught and watched grow as dancers and people.

At Garfield, we rarely look to other schools for guidance or friendship, let alone a rival school like Franklin. But as teenagers, the Massive Monkees went to different schools and would dance side by side, whether or not one was a Quaker and another a Bulldog. The dancing united them, regardless of outside opinions, and now they continue to use dancing to bring together others.

Come April 26, the first thought to cross your mind most likely won’t be, “I wonder what Seattle holiday is upon us,” but let it be known that in 2006 this was officially proclaimed Massive Monkees day. The following year they were again recognized by Greg Nickels with the Mayor’s Art Award. They have performed in numerous competitions across the country and internationally, but none of these things were mentioned when they were talking about the most rewarding part of their profession.

On the subject of teaching Seattle’s youth, Jonathan Higuchi, another member, says “You look back at how you did things and how much better it would have been if there had been a mentor there to help you. We kind of had mentors and [dance] teachers back then, but now there’s more one on one time. Kids are able to take classes, so they’re developing their moves and style sooner than we did. It’s cool to see that we’ve helped create something that’s becoming something way bigger than we started.”

Their impact doesn’t go unrecognized. Garfield freshman Ariel Loud is one of the many teens influenced by the crew. “After working really hard on a move and finally getting it down, it felt really good to get props from the Massive Monkees,” he explains. Clearly, he looks up to the crew and respects them a great deal.

Though they now spend time in all parts of the world performing, they still find time to stop by Seattle schools and dance venues. While here they spend time with youth to discourage drugs and alcohol, hold drives to encourage voter registration, and host dance battles for teenagers. But no matter their location or activity, they teach through their moves the joy that can come from life if you work hard and strive to achieve your goals.

Loud started dancing at Kimball elementary not because he’d recently watched “You Got Served,” but because there was an afterschool program that some of the crew members danced at where Loud could watch and learn.

Loud fondly recalls the days he would go to the Monkees’ open practices at Jefferson Community Center and learn with the crew: no pressure or stress, just an open area where people could drop in and help each other out. Not only did he learn cool moves to show his friends at the practices but he also learned about the Seattle dance scene. “When you go to a show or a practice, it’s a really humbling experience. You get to share something with people who you might not know. When you’re walking down the street you can’t always say ‘Oh, he dances too’ so it’s really cool to see all these people who are new to each other come together and show their stuff.”

Loud doesn’t feel like the Monkees are different people now that they’re household names. They’re his friends and he knows them as such. “The only thing different is that it’s weird to see them referred to by their b-boy names when I know them as Marcus or Flo.”

When the fourth season of “America’s Best Dance Crew” (ABDC) aired, many Seattle viewers didn’t expect to see a crew representing their hometown, but the Massive Monkees soon won millions of Americans over nation-wide with their west coast b-boy moves.

The Massive Monkees took third due to America’s lack of votes, but for the thousands of people who did vote for them, their loss was an upset. Unfortunately, the show’s prior victors, Jabawokeez, Super Cr3w and Quest Crew, had similar b-boy styles. So the Massive Monkee’s moves were deemed repetitive, despite that their crew had formed years before any of the others and had a significantly more impressive list of accomplishments before entering the competition, including winning the World B-Boy Championship in 2004.

Of the “15-plus” people in the crew, only six danced on the show. These few were chosen based on availability. All the members are skilled and all of them have earned their spot as a Massive Monkee, though not through a rigorous audition process. Instead, the group was defined by a youthful motto: friendship first.

“You have to be our friend before you can think about getting in the group,” Francisco explained. “Because otherwise it would be like accepting a stranger into your family.”

Thankfully, the show seems to have not had a large impact on their community style, Monkee life. “We are still Massive Monkees. We still fight. We still get hungry for more success. We still value our name. We still share our time and break bread as a family. The only thing that has changed is that we have moved away from being an underground phenomenon with a 10-year history to becoming a house-hold name,” Rader clarified.

T hough they may be known to the world as a crew that was on ABDC, they are known in Seattle as respected community figures. They encourage the belief that we live in a city of some of the most talented — but more importantly, the most down-to-earth — people across the globe and their attitude is reflected in everything that they do.

And when it comes down to it, the show hasn’t changed their outlook on life. For reference’s sake, I asked Rader what year he graduated Garfield. “The only year that can be thrown in the air like a gang sign, ’99. Save the best for last. The worst is yet to come.” Clearly, not much has changed when it comes to class spirit, and hopefully our generation will follow in the Massive Monkees’ perfectly timed two-steps after leaving the halls of Garfield.