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Main >> Previous Updates >> May 2004 >> May 22, 2004 >> Article ID 4966
 Don't skimp on the krumping at party time | Type: Internet Article |
| | Don't skimp on the krumping at party time | May 19, 2004 | by Matt Keating
Summary:
Article about Tommy the Clown Johnson, Christina mentioned.
Even pop divas are helping out, added the Independent: "Tommy's dancers were krumping in Christina Aguilera's video for Dirrty."
Read on for full article. |
Tommy the Clown Johnson is no mere children's entertainer. Even though he and his merry band of jokers have performed at parties for the sons of Snoop Dogg and Pamela Anderson, Johnson is, according to MTV, the "ringleader of the crunk circus".
Johnson is the father of "krumping, the whip-quick dancing", noted the New York Times. This blends "hip-hop dancing and traditional party clowning, including magic, face painting and balloon sculpting", added the London Evening Standard.
He developed the dance style in 1992 to entertain children in his native Los Angeles. Since then it has evolved in "its own subculture among teens in such ... [LA] neighbourhoods as Compton, South Central and Watts", said the Winston-Salem Journal. "Groups gather in school grounds, parking lots and yards to perform and 'battle dance' each other. They are typically vocal opponents of violence, thus making the ... scene an alternative to the gang wars that plague the areas where krumping is popular."
However, its intensity has put off the mainstream until now. "Krumping is earning props in the music world, thanks to recent videos from Missy Elliott and the Black Eyed Peas," said the Chicago Tribune. Even pop divas are helping out, added the Independent: "Tommy's dancers were krumping in Christina Aguilera's video for Dirrty."
The dance has made the leap across the pond. "Apparently the trend has already hit Hoxton" in east London, said Time Out. And last week, Sadler's Wells acknowledged the form, with a screening of David LaChappelle's award-winning documentary Clowns in the Hood, and a performance by Johnson and his clown crew.
The Daily Telegraph reckoned krumping is one of several hip-hop dance forms that are now being taking seriously by the arts establishment. "What I enjoy so much about [it] and streetdance ... is that it is so naturally integrated with its music and that it takes such pride in being difficult to do," noted the paper's dance critic, Isemene Brown.
Next stop, the Royal Opera House. |
 Source: The Guardian | |
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