Krump: What Is Krump Dance and How to Learn It

Many modern choreographers, including those creating lessons for GoDance, note: krump is not a new style, but an evolution and reinterpretation of existing directions.

And one cannot but agree, because at the heart of the dance direction really lie the main movements taken from hip-hop. But krump has its own novelties and tricks that you won't find in other dance styles.

The History of Krump

The entire history of krump begins in the 90s. Twenty years ago, the man who is still considered the creator of krump — Thomas Johnson — roamed the streets of Los Angeles and was inspired by street dancers.

It's no secret that all modern dance directions originated in America, so street dancers in Los Angeles knew how to perform many dance styles and weren't shy about showing off their skills on the city streets.

Inspired, Thomas mixed movements from styles like hip-hop and breakdance into one dance. That's how the dance movement known as krump was born. Another feature of this dance style is the painted face of the dancer. Thomas Johnson himself transformed himself into a cheerful clown named Tommy, with rainbow-colored curls sticking out in all directions. This factor greatly influenced the audience's perception, and they considered krump a frivolous dance with "style."

Initial Reception

Initially, the dance was not taken seriously by either dancers or observers. Many considered Thomas just a clown and nothing more. But later, krump gained a small number of fans wanting to learn this dance direction. Thus, Thomas Johnson became the first and only creator and teacher of krump.

Eventually, performances by Thomas and his small group attracted more and more attention from audiences, but especially it attracted beginner dancers who couldn't decide on a primary dance style. Since krump was based on many styles, beginners preferred it. They formed their small groups and studied this newly emerged dance direction.

Krumping Today

Krumping is still considered a very new and little-known direction. But why? After all, this dance direction is already over 20 years old. The thing is: Thomas Johnson very rarely performed his own dance style outside of Los Angeles. Therefore, the dance was only known to the population of that city and did not spread further.

However, 5-7 years after the emergence of krumping, Christina Aguilera decided to shoot a music video for her song and demanded something unusual from producer David LaChapelle, something that would cause a sensation.

That's when David LaChapelle became interested in the dance direction of krumping. He met with dancers and introduced this dance style in the video as something unique and mesmerizing. At that moment, all of California learned about this style, and then the popularity of krumping only grew.

Now krumping is divided into three main directions: old school krumping, new school krumping, and the krump created by Thomas Johnson. It is also called clowning. Like any dance direction, it changes over time; only the makeup and the aggressiveness of the dancers remain unchanged. It creates the impression that the dancer is in a deep trance and releases all their negative energy through movements.

The new school style differs from old school krumping only in emotionality. In modern krumping, there are no sharp movements that literally make the viewer shudder with fear, no such emotional tension and rage, either from the dancer or from the audience.