Except for a small square in the bottom left corner, the mirrors of Impulse Dance studio three flights up from the bustle of Mass. Ave. are fogged up like the bathroom mirror after a hot shower. Aaliyah’s ‘Extra Smooth’ pulsates through the thick, wet air as choreographer Didi Ilunga yells out eight-counts like a drill sergeant.

‘Stop!’ yells Ilunga as she walks over to the stereo, bringing Aaliyah and the dancers to a sharp halt. She walks back to the center and looks down at the damp floor with her hands on her hips before lifting her head and looking at the dripping dancers.

‘Boys, you learned this over two weeks ago,’ she begins, a little too softly for comfort, as the girls in the room let out their breath in nervous relief. ‘It is your job to take it home and learn it, not mine to re-teach it! Now do it again from the top!’

She struts back toward the stereo, weaving in and out of dancers frantically trying to get back to their spots before the music starts again, careful not to step in one of the many small puddles of water and sweat that have collected in the low parts of the floor. The beat starts up again, and exhausted arms and legs move through the space, popping and locking to the music.

The exhausted dancers, a colorful array of races, ages, occupations and backgrounds, come together at Impulse Studio each week with one thing in common: the love of dance. Together they make up the Rainbow Tribe a 40-member, Boston-based hip-hop dance company.

Started in 1992 by the late Carleton Jones, the singer-dancer-choreographer responsible for opening the eyes of the Boston dance community to the street-funk trend of Los Angeles, Rainbow Tribe is dedicated to bridging cultural differences and celebrating diversity through the art of dance.

With a variation of original choreography, the Tribe’s style is mainly high energy, jazz-based street funk and hip-hop – although they’ve been spotted spinning on everything from pointe shoes to their heads. And since its debut at the Boston Dance Festival showcase 10 years ago, the Tribe has continued to thrive off the passion and dedication Jones breathed into its company members, participants say.

When Jones died from complications from AIDS in 1993, now-Rainbow Tribe President and Artistic Director Mary Mazzulli Perry the only original company member still actively performing took over the Tribe. She said she felt it was her duty to keep the Tribe alive in his memory.

‘The last thing Carleton wanted was for the Tribe to die with him,’ said Perry. ‘If he could only see it now,’ she said, tilting her head slightly to the right as her misty brown eyes glowed with pride. She paused slightly to allow a small smile to spread across her lips. ‘He would be so proud.’

With rehearsals two nights a week and one weekend afternoon, Tribe members are able to pursue their love of dance while continuing their outside lives rather uninterrupted. By day, Tribe members are everything from insurance agents, teachers, air-traffic controllers, copywriters and students to dance and aerobic instructors, musicians, and drag queens. Their diverse backgrounds are visible on stage with everything from ballet to break dance.

Melissa May Wells, 36, known to the dance world as ‘Buffy,’ has been with the Tribe for nine years, taking the position of co-artistic director this past September. When she joined the Tribe, things were different than they are today. She said she had to prove herself by going above and beyond knowing how to dance.

Her opportunity came when she was walking by a class one day taught by Calvin Wiley, the second artistic director of the Tribe. Wiley told her he was drawn to her style and asked her to audition for him.

‘During the last 10 minutes of the audition he said, ‘I don’t care what you do at the end, you have two counts of eight to catch my attention … You can do split leaps, you can crawl, you can roll … do whatever you have to do to get my attention’ … So what do I do?’ she recalls, half laughing, half looking surprised with herself. ‘I crawl. I got on my hands and knees and I crawled towards him… The whole place roared … It was awesome.’

Not everyone has to crawl on the floor to get a spot in the Tribe, however. The group holds two auditions every September that weed out potential Tribers. This year, Mazzulli said, ‘there were so many talented dancers … that we doubled the size of last year’s Tribe.’

Boston University College of Arts and Science Junior Marissa West has been a member of the company for the past two years. She said she loves that the Tribe is able to give her an outlet from school.

‘It gives me an opportunity to meet people outside of BU that share an interest with me,’ she said.

‘The Tribe gives me a chance to perform at many different avenues, meet new people and get extra money through paid gigs, which is always nice,’ she said. ‘For me, dancing with the Tribe is a great workout, lots of fun and a major stress reliever. I wouldn’t trade the experiences I’ve had for anything in the world. It has made my time at BU that much more meaningful.’

Rainbow Tribe has performed everywhere from nightclubs, fashion shows and art expositions to universities, fundraisers and corporate parties with sponsors ranging from local radio stations and non-profits to MTV’s ‘The Grind’ clothing.

Past performances include Boston Moves and Hip-Hop Boston, both sponsored by Dance Umbrella; ‘Rock the Block;’ JAM’N 94.5 Amateur Night; 98.5 MixFest; AIDS Walk; New England Health and Fitness Show and the East Coast Alliance Fitness Convention in New York City. The Tribe often performs for the AIDS Action Committee and is a part of the Massachusetts Department of Health’s ‘Smoke Free Youth’ campaign.

This year, the Tribe was honored to become the official D.A.R.E. Dancers for the Boston D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program, which targets sixth graders in schools around the area. After performing, a company member goes to the school each week to teach the kids how to dance, and at the end of six weeks the kids will perform. Buffy is one of the company members with the job of teaching 25 kids to dance every Monday.

‘Teaching these kids has been the hardest experience of my entire dance career,’ she said. ‘I have danced in front of crowds of 35,000 people and in countries all over the world, and I am more nervous every Monday to go into that school than I ever have been … It’s very hard.

‘There are four or five kids that I think I may be making an impression on … But, I’m not waiting for the Hollywood ending,’ she laughs. ‘Believe me, to effect as few as two or three kids in that environment is enough for me.’

Rainbow Tribe will be performing this Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Annual Hip-Hop Festival, held at The Baldwin School in Cambridge. Admission is $1 for an hour-long set which features dance companies from around Boston.