Passers-by wondered what is going on when they see Michael Keida and his friends on a makeshift outdoor dance floor. They typically set up their 10-by-10 foot piece of linoleum somewhere on campus, but they can also be spotted at different locations throughout the city.

Keida, a 25-year-old Ohio State graduate with degrees in psychology and Italian, has been involved in organizing break dancing get-togethers around campus for the past six years.

“There are around 30 total members in the group at any given time, but it is informal and people come and go,” he said.

Keida, who has been “b-boying” for 12 years, was one of the founding members of the OSU Break dancing Club that existed from spring 1999 until fall 2002.

“It was more of a pain than it was worth,” he said.

He said the group, which primarily dances to old school funk and hip-hop, did not want to deal with the formalities of having a sports club through the university. Now the group meets at 11 p.m. every Tuesday at Bento Go-Go, (1728 N. High St.) They practice outdoors every now and then, or in a gym when there is room available at Larkins, he said.

Robert Blecker, a junior in architecture, said he spends about eight hours a week practicing with the group, including the four times a week when they have pretend battles.

Dean “That Damn” Parham, a senior in microbiology, was practicing gymnastics at Larkins his sophomore year when he met Keida and other break dancers who were practicing nearby.

Parham, who was a varsity diver at his high school in Reynoldsburg, joined the group after the gymnastics club lost its facility at Larkins.

Some members of the group have traveled to battles, or break dancing competitions, as far as Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Miami, Parham said.

“We get hired every once in awhile at bars or concerts,” Blecker said. “Sometimes we get paid, sometimes we don’t.”

Keida said he almost quit dancing last summer because he had been hurt several times. “It really beats on you,” he said.

Over the years he has sprained his wrists, pinched a nerve in his back and tore a rotator cuff and a muscle in his lower back. “I had to go to a chiropractor for a year,” he said.

Fellow break dancers say that despite possible injuries, b-boying does have some health benefits.

“When stress builds up it’s a good way to get rid of extra energy,” Blecker said. “It’s the only exercise I ever get to do.

Blecker said his style is a mix of foundation b-boy steps mixed in with a lot of power moves and transitions. “I think I’d be in a lot worse shape if I didn’t dance,” he said.

Parham said the key is developing your own style while staying true to the basics.

“There are some well known b-boys out there but I wouldn’t say that I idolize them or want to be like them,” Parham said.

At the same time, understanding the foundations of the dance style is important, he said. “You get some weirdoes out there who only do power moves or footwork.”

Parham said his favorite part of b-boying is practicing and working on new moves.

“I’m working on flares and my ’90s, and am trying to work on halos a little bit more,” he said. A 90 is when you spin on one hand while whipping your legs around, he said.

“There’s so much diversity in it,” Parham said. “You’ll see somebody do something amazing one day and someone else do something completely different but just as amazing the next.”

Parham said the group does not advertise, but people who want to break dance somehow are able to find them. Becker heard about the group by word of mouth after moving from Las Vegas and starting school at OSU two years ago, he said.

“Anybody who wants to learn is more than welcome to come,” Becker said. “We get to meet a lot more people that way and it’s a lot more fun.”