When Bradley Rapier, co-creator of the theater production “Groovaloos,” left his native Canada and his pursuit of a career in medicine more than 10 years ago, he knew it would be a tough but hopefully rewarding road.

His goal was to come to Los Angeles in hopes of living out his dream as a professional dancer.

“On my journey, I came to L.A. to chase my dreams and sort of get established in that,” Rapier said. “I was drawn to the more street dance culture of popping and locking styles but as I started to do things here I noticed that there wasn’t the community of dancers that I thought would be here. There wasn’t this [dance] community happening, at least from my perspective and I was missing that.”

There were numerous dancers, he said, but because of the city’s sheer size there was not a united dance community. As a result, Rapier began to hold weekly roof-top events at his then small Hollywood apartment, where he would invite people that he either had been working with, had done some choreography for or just met in passing and enjoyed their style of dance.

During the time, Rapier had been trying to solidify himself as a regularly called-upon choreographer, gaining campaigns from the likes of Skechers, iPod, McDonald’s and the Gap. But the weekly gatherings cemented the real poppers, lockers, break-dancers and hip-hoppers he would later associate himself with on a full, long-term basis.

They became the Groovaloos. “The idea of the Groovaloos was a homage to Electric Boogaloos who were my mentors and who I learned from as well. They were a famous popping group,” Rapier said. “My wife came up with the idea that we like to groove and it wasn’t necessarily just popping, it was as long as you were jamming and on rhythm you were grooving, so we came up with Groovaloos.”

By 1999, when he was asked by legendary dancer Joe Tremaine to develop a finale piece for National Dance Day, they were 11 members strong. “We did the show in April 1999 for Debbie Allen, who hosted Joe Tremaine’s National Dance Day [and] everyone went crazy,” Rapier said.

Unlike many showcases at the time that only displayed one dance style, “We would do different styles [such as] popping, locking, breaking and we put them within one show. ... It would be pure popping, then the music would change and I would find a way for the lockers to come over the top and they would rock and then the breakers would fly through the middle and I kept finding ways to weave it into this one massive mix. And the girls would come in with their freestyle hip-hop and the other element besides mixing the styles together was finding a way for individuals to be put out there.”

Dancers, he noted, are often taught to carry out steps but do so in the background without ever really having a chance to come to the forefront. But for Rapier, it is their characters and expressions while dancing that electrify him the most. And that is what seemingly electrified the audience that day.

After going on to win the America Street Dance Championships as well as other accolades, Rapier started a series of how-to hip-hop DVDs called “Grooving with the Groovaloos.” Looking to insert some bonus footage, “I said ‘hey let me ask the Groovaloos why do you dance [and] why are you in the Groovaloos?’” he said.

“I had known these people now for three or four years but the answers they gave me were eye opening. It turned out that none of us were [originally] from L.A. Every one of us was like an orphan in a sense because we came to L.A. trying to figure it out and were struggling. We were so diversified. ... When they gave me their answers it came down to ‘if I didn’t dance I basically wouldn’t exist. If I wasn’t with the Groovaloos I’d probably quit [or] I danced to escape my father’s abuse.’ It was heartfelt, powerful and honest.”

He then scratched the idea of adding bonus footage and instead blended their dance moves with their personal testimonies, making it one cohesive story. With the help of Danny Cistone, director and Groovaloos member, they launched their first theater-like performance, “Evening with the Groovaloos,” in April 2003 at the Carnival in North Hollywood.

Later that year, they rented out the El Portal Theatre — where the Groovaloos are scheduled to perform again this year from Friday through Aug. 30 — for a week.

“We went to work on tweaking the show and making the story stronger,” he said.

But just weeks before they were set to go on, tragedy hit. “One of our major members, an original member named Steven Stanton, got shot. … I was about to stop and just say forget it. I saw him in the hospital, he wasn’t supposed to be able to walk again. He got shot in the spine and had a spinal cord injury. They said he would never walk again let alone dance. [But] he said to me ‘you’re not going to not do this show, figure out a way to do it.’”

And so Rapier did. In 2005, they went on to perform at the Falcon Theatre in Burbank, Cal State Los Angeles in 2007, the Orange County Performing Arts Center in 2008 and this year at the El Portal Theatre.

“The initial inception of the show has very similar roots of the show now but was not as developed,” Rapier said. Today, with 14 members — seven of whom are originals — “we continue to develop the story line and go deeper and deeper and press in on the individual stories. They’re true stories. Each of us is telling our own story” and is reflected by voice overs and spoken word.

Stanton’s injury has become a big part of the show, he said, largely because it makes people question what they would do if they could not live out their profession. And it serves as a symbol of hope for those who, like one member, have suffered from abuse.

“Dance is a metaphor for life for us,” Rapier said. “It’s not just a show for dancers.”