The dance crews are often on the road for three months straight, working six days a week for minimum wage, or about $250 a month.
Jackson Damasceno, 29, the co-manager of the Hurricane Truck of Happiness, said that while some dancers quit school to go on the road, the trucks have become safe havens for young men from poor neighborhoods who could otherwise get pulled into gangs.
“Most of the boys who work on these trucks smell of the streets,” he said. “It ends up saving these guys’ lives.”
