Four dancers from Soul Street Dance Company will make their debut at Eastern with their “Breakin’ Backwards” show at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in The Theatre in the Doudna Fine Arts Center.

A second show will also be at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the same location.

The team of dancers is based out of Houston, Texas, and they perform choreography ranging from Vivaldi to rock to hip-hop.

Soul Street Dance Company has completed two European tours and will prepare for an upcoming tour in Haiti.

Dan Crews, interim director of programming, publicity and promotions, said the staff at Doudna thought it was a good idea to present Soul Street Dance Company two times so it gives students extra opportunities to attend.

Staff at Doudna thought the week before Thanksgiving break was an appropriate time to have them perform because students can enjoy a show before returning home for a week, he said.

The four members come from different backgrounds and some have been in previous dance groups before joining Soul Street Dance Company.

Javier Garcia and Rock Williams are both co-founders and make up half of the group of Soul Street Dance Company. Garcia has been performing for over 10 years and Williams has 24 years of experience under his belt.

“It’s hard to tell if they are dancers or athletes,” Crews said about the dancers’ talent.

Crews said not only will students think the performance is entertaining, but a lot of people will also enjoy the music they are dancing to.

“As they do their presentation, students will really enjoy it. It’s something directly connected to their demographic,” Crews said.

Soul Street Dance Company’s agent in New York City suggested to Crews that the group’s performances may be something of interest to the students at Eastern, he said.

“I gave them a shot, and I thought it was something we have not done in a long, long time,” Crews said.

The dance group not only performs choreography, but they also host workshops for dancers.

In conjunction with the two performances, Soul Street Dance Company will also host a workshop for students interested in learning techniques.

There will be an outreach program at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday at the LifeSpan Center.

While this will be the first time Soul Street Dance Company will be performing at Eastern as a group, Crews mentioned one of the members had been to Eastern previously around 15 years ago with a different group of dancers.

“We hope students will enjoy it, and I know they will,” Crews said.

Kennedy Nolen can be reached at 581-2812 or kdnolen@eiu.edu.