HISTORY

Krumping is a street dance the evolved from Clown Dancing or C-Walking.  It originates in Los Angelas, California in the South Central neighborhood.  It is impossible to talk about Krumping and its history without mentioning Clowning.

Clowning started in 1992 when Tommy the Clown started attending birthday parties as entertainment.  He was the hip-hop dancing clown.  He had kids young and old alike droppin’, poppin’,, and rollin’ with it.  Tommy is a ghetto celebrity that helped his community by being a role model and acting as a father figure for many young dancers.

The clowning movement took off and today there are over 50 clowning groups.  There are the House of Clowns, Cartoon Clowns, World Wide, No Comparison, Titanium, and Rice Track to name few.  A clown group entertains, shows up to parties, and performs in shows.  These clown groups feel they are doing something positive in a place where there is a lot of negativity.

Krumping came about when young Clowns got older and started to drift away from Tommy the Clown and his philosophy.  They wanted something new and original, something they could call their own.  They wanted to express themselves and felt they needed something different than “commercial hip-hop” that was gaining more attention in the media.

For a lot of Clowns and Krumpers it is the dance that they felt kept them alive.  They use the dance as an outlet.  Rather than joining a gang kids will join a dance group.  When people see Krumping they often think it is violent.  A Krumper said they are not fighting and in fact that is the last thing on their minds.  You can get pushed in your dance or battle but you don’t think anything of it.  It is just a part of the dance.  The dancers feel safe when they Krump.  Dancing is a comfort for those who have grown up in a violent neighborhood.

 

PEOPLE

Tommy the Clown (Thomas Johnson) – Creator of Clowning.

Check out his website and book him at your next event here: http://www.tommytheclown.com/about.html

 

 

 

Tight Eyes (Ceasare Willis)  – Creator of Krump and dance group “Street Kingdom,” a dance group that specializes in Krump.

Check out Tight Eyez on Twitter: https://twitter.com/IamTightEyez

Street Kingdom on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WeAreStreetKingdom

 

 

Big Mijo (Jo’Artis Ratti) – The “King of Krump” and co creator of Krump.

Mijo’s Bio and more: http://www.krumpkings.com/crew/pages/kkmember-01.html

 

TERMS

Battle – A one-on-one dance competition where competitors take turns demonstrating their best moves.

“Did you see Tight Eyez vs Big Mijo at the battle last week?”

Biter – A person who watches battles for the purpose of using others’ moves, styles, and originality to later claim as their own.  One who takes credit for “new” dance styles that they did not create.

“That biter won’t make it to far with this crew”

Buck – a word used to describe someone who is extremely good at Krumping

“That kid is buck.”

Call-Out – When a dancer challenges another dancer to a battle

“Wait until you get called out by Tight Eyez.  That’ll be the day. 

Jabs – when the arms move from the chest outwards in short, sharp, staccato movements.

“His jabs were so quick, you’d think this video was in fast forward.”

Kill Off – When a dancer performs a series of moves that gets the crowd excited to a point where the crowd surrounds the dancer and the battle is over.  The opponent is “killed off.”

“Noflo was killed off quicker than you could say KRUMP”

Labbing – When dancers gather to create new moves or share a new style.

“I’m gonna be labbing later today with the crew” 

Session – When a circle is formed in hip-hop and dancers take turns going into the middle to freestyle.

“Tight Eyez killed it during that session”

-Visit the Krumptionary for more terms and definitions.

 

MOVES

Jabs

Arm Swings

Chest Pops

Stomps

Wobble

An Instructional on Krump by Tight Eyez and Kokie.

 

 

FUTURE

We have seen the future of Krumping played out today.  Many dancers from Southern California have gone from clowning to krumping and on to other, new styles of dance.  Jerkin’ is one of the dances that some Krumpers have moved to.  Each street dancer will take a style and adapt it to his or her own style to make it his or her own.  This is how new styles of street dance evolve.

 

Krumping came about because dancers Tight Eyez and Big Mijo wanted to do something original and this is exactly how these dances keep progressing forward.  They are always pushing new ideas and encouraging each other to be innovative.