BENGALURU: Street dances such as hip-hop have always been popular in Bengaluru with several street battles being held every year. One such type of style which has been on the rise lately is krumping. The krump dancers say that it helps not only people with alcohol or drug addiction and anger issues to vent out their feelings but also express other emotions such as happiness. The dance style Krump stands for Kingdom Radically Uplifted Mighty Praise. It started in 2000 worldwide was introduced in Bengaluru by Rangoo Rajan in 2009, a hip-hop artist and the organiser at a Krump organisation KCUB (Krump Crusaders United Brotherhood). Krumping, however, gained more popularity in 2012 after Ibrahim Badsha, a member of the Graffitti crew, began performing the same.
When krumping was first introduced in Bengaluru, it was highly criticised due to its agressive nature and unusual style. After a few years of several dancers witnessing krumpers performing it at street battles, the interest and curiosity grew. While the dance may seem aggressive due to the facial expressions involved, Rajan explains that krumping has been giving him a sense of freedom which removes stress and burden. “It’s like crying out loud or screaming when you are depressed or upset and it does bring tears in your and person’s eyes watching you,” explains Badsha, who has been in the industry for seven years.
Now, Rajan and Badsha conduct workshops for over 30 people in the age group of 12 to 23 years, who have anger issues, every month across the city. There are about 15-20 krumpers in the city at present.
What exactly is krumping? Rajan who has been into dance for over 10 years, says, “Krumping is a self-expressive dance. It has its own set of dressing, language and style and it is more about a community coming together to express.”
Badsha adds, “It frees us from the fake face we have to put up on a daily basis and lets us be who we are. It’s feels like we are in a world where we become who we really are and say what we really want to say.” The highly energetic and expressive dance movement has been known across the world for saving lives of people who are victims of abuse. However, Rajan insists that the dance is not just for relieving anger but to also show happiness and other emotions.
What does the name mean
Kingdom - After Tight eyez, a U.S krumper who started krump, the community became a kingdom
Radically - The movements are considered to be radical
Uplifting - Uplifts a person emotionally, mentally and physically
Mighty - It’s one of the powerful and strongest forms of dance
Praise - Since it was created at a time where the founder was religious, he dedicated it to God