Kingdom Radically Uplifting Mighty Praise, or KRUMP, is a
dance form used to both 'praise God and release anger' according to one of the
Dorchester Youth Collaborative (DYC) staff members. Krumping is a dance form
characterized by high-energy, theatrics, body contortion and improvisation. I
became aware of the strong presence of krump in Boston's inner-city, while
working at The Center for Teen Empowerment, which seeks to allow youth to use their
creative talents to incite peace and promote change in their community. At many
of the events, various krump crews would attend and share their talent.
Krumping is a way to express anger through dance, rather than violence. Various
crews 'battle' each other, but instead of resulting in violent tensions, it is
just a channel to share new styles and moves, and express your status as a
krumper.
Because krumping functions, in part, as an alternative,
or creative response to inner-city violence, ' krumping [can be viewed as] a
way to rebel against gang culture.' In this way, it counters the presence of
violence in the inner-city, by exhibiting a sense of brother/sisterhood. Structurally,
krumping is organized by different crews or 'fams' that create unique dance moves
according to a specific style. These 'fams' consist of some more experienced
dancers, who take the newer dancers under their wing, as one would in a family.
Typically, one member of a crew would dance at a time, while all the other
dancers would gather around 'hyping' the performer. This really shows the sense
of camaraderie and support, that some of these dancers may not get a chance to
experience outside of krump. In this way, I think krumping is a positive way of
expression for inner-city youth. Further, as noted above, there is specific
krump terminology, making it exclusive culture, yet the art can be appreciated
by a wide audience.
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