The public is invited to join 40 North Andover youngsters as they get their first groove on.

The kids, from pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade, have been learning to hip-hop dance all year in an after-school program called Hip Hop and More, sponsored by the North Andover Community Programs department.

Wednesday, June 18, will be their first public stage performance. The audience will be involved in the show, and attendees will be invited to try some of the dance steps and stretches they're seeing on stage.

Lourdes Munoz, a North Andover mother with a dance and fitness background, began Hip Hop and More two years ago. About 40 North Andover youth come to Franklin Elementary once a week for hip-hop dance classes, she said.

But the cool dance moves aren't all they learn. The program builds self-confidence, physical fitness and community, she said.

"Community is the first reason why we're doing this show. The program has put kids from different schools together to work as a team," Munoz said. "They're having fun. They're very excited about it. The show will be their first time (performing) — for them to be up on stage dancing, it's very emotional."

She teaches hip-hop in a nonconventional way, minus the sequins and barre exercises of a stereotypical dance studio, Munoz said.

"Most of the kids are there because they're intimidated by a dance studio, and having to learn tap or ballet first. This is an alternative for them. The kids are so excited about coming there, and I teach in a way that's not a dance class, but a play format. We warm up, stretch and learn steps through games. They're dancing without noticing, and it's a great workout."

The June 18 show is titled "What Time is it?" an ongoing joke between Munoz and the North Andover hip-hop students, she said. The youth are always asking her what time it is, she said: Is it time for a break? Time to learn a new dance? Time to go home? Time to play a game?

The opening number on June 18 is choreographed to a song from the movie "High School Musical." The show also will have a Flag Day theme and feature the song "Born in the U.S.A," performed by live musicians.

But Wednesday's event is not all about dancing, Munoz said. Several of the older kids in the program will be dressed up as "very, very cute — not scary" clowns and will perform skits between dances. Students from Yang's Martial Arts in Andover will do a kung-fu demonstration as well.

Munoz also leads a club called Media Kids Club, where local youth learn how to create and edit videos. With help from North Andover Community Access Media, the local cable channel, the children have been filming features and news-report segments all year.

Several of the Media Kids Club's film segments will be shown during the hip-hop show, and club members will be "technicians" that night, taping the event. The club, in collaboration with North Andover CAM, will edit their footage afterward, possibly to air on North Andover CAM's Channel 22.

Munoz, a Cuban-American who has been teaching dance and fitness for about 15 years, designed the Hip Hop and More format a decade ago. She introduced the dance-as-play format to youngsters in Methuen and Lawrence, she said, and now teaches hip-hop in Andover and North Andover.

"What Time is it?"

r Hip-hop show incorporating dance, music, acting and multimedia

r June 18, 7 p.m., North Andover Middle School auditorium, 495 Main St.

r Free and open to the public

r Event extra: Kung fu demonstration by students from Yang's Martial Arts in Andover