Krump Dancing

Krump essentially stands for Kingdom Radically Uplifted Mighty Praise. A popular form of freestyle street dance, Krump dance or Krumping is very energetic and volatile in nature. The versatility factor in this dance enables different people to adapt it according to their own personality or what suits them the best. Now that this dance has evolved from its primitive stage, there is a defined structure and defined styles of Krumping. It is often confused with clown dancing, though both are separate forms of dancing. Infact, Krump dancing can be regarded as an off-shoot of clown dancing  

 

This form of dancing has Christian roots. It basically began as vent to release anger, aggression and frustration positively, in a non-violent way. This was in opposition to street violence, which was much prevalent due to violent gangster activities. This dance was popularized by the documentary movie ‘Rize’, which gave the world a glimpse into this free-style form of dancing that was being popularized on the streets of Southern California. Krumping began with Tommy the Clown (hip-hop dancer) and his group of Krump crews. It was introduced in the early 90’s and was quickly lapped up by the privileged classes. 

 

With time and growing popularity, more and more people came to know about it and found it to be an interesting way of releasing the pent-up aggression, non-violently. Gradually, it came to be followed and learnt by people from different regions was slowly given different styles by people from various regions. Different regions altered this form of dance in their own though the basic idea remained the same. Initially, the face was painted in colorful tones, to represent a clown. However, with time, sophistication took over and the use of paints became a matter of personal choice and expression.

 

An urban street dance form that began in Los Angeles, Krumping has spread its wings quite wide today. The growing popularity has made it a well-known form of dance style that also has an aspect of fashion embedded in it! Right from what is to be worn and which color paints are to be used, everything has now a structured pattern and definite style. However, it continues to be characterized by free, expressive, and highly energetic moves of the arms, head, legs, chest and feet. A major part of hip hop culture, it is used frequently in hip-hop street dance battles as well.

 

Krumping comprises of a number of styles within itself, the most common of which are dissing (from disrespectful) and sick' movements such as grimey and snaking, as well as beasty, bully, cocky, flashy, goofy (regarded as the least aggressive), jerky, rugged, and tricks. In this style of dancing, the dancers organize themselves into groups known as families' or fams'. Leading the group is the senior dancer, called a Big Homie, who serves as the instructor, mentor, as well as the de facto sibling to the younger and less experienced Lil' Homies (junior dancers).