Krumping, an Aggressive Urban Street Dance
Krump is an Acronym for Kingdom Radically Uplifted Mighty Praise
Oct 14, 2009
A relatively new dance style, krump found its roots in southern California during the 1990s. With energetic, aggressive, expressive, hard-hitting moves, krumping takes inspiration from hip-hop, breakdancing, and clowning.
The krump style emerged in South Central, Los Angeles and is often linked to Thomas "Tommy the Clown" Johnson. Gaining popularity over the past decade,David LaChapelle released the documentary Rize based on the krump craze. Famous krumpers and krumping performances are regularly featured on the television dance show So You Think You Can Dance.
How Did Krump Originate?
The origin of krump is often attributed to Thomas Johnson, also known as Tommy the Clown. In 1992, Thomas Johnson was hired by a co-worker to perform at her child's birthday party as a clown. Johnson dressed as a clown and danced with exaggerated goofy movements to current music, turning a traditional birthday party into something extraordinary.
Johnson's popularity grew and he soon booked birthday parties all across Los Angeles with Johnson's unique clown moves soon developed into the dance style now known as clowning. The kids enjoyed his form of dance and wanted to paritipcate, so Johnson formed the Hip Hop Clowns dance crew.
The Hip Hop Clowns was comprised of new dancers which he trained and hired to entertain alongside him at children's parties. The Hip Hop Clowns offered an outlet to aspiring dancers and Johnson insisted all participants meet his requirements of no gangs, no drugs, good grades, and exhibit a positive image.
With a growing popularity, many new dance crews started to independently emerge. Johnson notes over 60 dance crews had formed in Southern California by 2002. Fearing it might lead to bitter rivalries, Johnson formed a weekly Battle Zone dance competition for crews to compete against one another. The aggressive style of dance displayed at these competitions became known as krump.
Krumping and the History of Krump Dancing
Krump is an acronym for Kingdom Radically Uplifted Mighty Praise and is an expressive and explosive freestyle dance in which the dancers, also called krumpers, use exaggerated body movements to release and express emotions. To the unitiated, krump may look like a demonic possession or spastic fit.
Common movements in kump include wobbles, arm swings, chest pops, and foot stomps. In erratic and wild motions, a dancer's entire body is moved and jerked. In some cases, it looks as the dancer is embroiled in a fight without any punches.
Although krump can find its origina in clowning, leading krump dancers Lil C, Tight Eyez, and Big Mijo are credited with developing the krump style into what it is today. The dance continues to evolve with new movements and tricks being added by each new dancer.
Krump Becomes Mainstream on Television and in Film
Krump quickly spread nationwide through its debut on television and film. During the rise of Krump in the early 2000s, music video direction and fashion photographer David LaChapelle showcased krump in the 2005 documentary Rize. In the film, Thomas Johnson and the leading dance crews are featured as they exhibit the essence of krump.
In 2006, Lil C joined So You Think You Can Dance as a choreographer and created a krump routine for Travis Wall and Martha Nichols to perform. In a 2007 televised performance, Lil C and The Neph Squad perform krump during the show. Since this time, the krump style has been regularly featured on So You Think You Can Dance and So You Think You Can Dance Canada.
With a relatively short life, krump continues to grow in worldwide popularity. Only fifteen years ago, Tommy the Clown made his living performing his clowning dance style at children's birthday parties. Over the past decade, krump has emerged and formed into its own unique, aggressive modern dance style.
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