A new dance craze has hit Auckland. As Andrea Jutson reports, it's pretty uplifting stuff
Jeff Poasa blows his whistle, and young people, some as young as 10, teem into the available space. There's cheering and clapping as some have what looks like a seizure. There are no parents here, at 9pm in Manukau City, but it's strangely . . . organised. Twenty years ago, breakdancing was supposed to get the gangs off the streets. It didn't, but a former shy kid from Otara has a new plan. It's called krumping?another American craze fast catching on in New Zealand and, according to Jeff, 18, it's already caught a few former gang members. Krump stands for Kingdom Radically Uplifted and Mighty Praise, which may not be good grammar, but shows the dance's origins. It started in black American churches, from worshippers' enthusiastic dances of praise, raising their hands to the sky. Several of the ''crews'' have godly names, such as KFC (Krump For Christ). These days, dancers have ''battles'', featuring aggressive punch-style moves, as well as clowning moves aimed at making the audience laugh. The official uniform is baggy t-shirts with crew names, jewellery (or ''bling''), baggy jeans, Timberland boots and caps. However, Jeff wants people to realise that krumping is no mere prelude to a brawl, or a chance to show off. ''I dance for the Lord, but a lot of people here don't realise; they krump for the crowd, for girls,'' he says. ''I want everyone to know the meaning of it, and how it came to New Zealand.'' For the past two months, Jeff's been organizing krumping sessions in a carpark at Westfield Manukau on Thursday nights, but lately the police have moved them on to Manukau Sportsbowl. Things have gotten too big for the carpark. At last count, Jeff was attracting up to 500 dancers from all over South Auckland. He taught himself to krump three years ago by watching DVDs sent by his cousins in the US. Now affectionately called ''Jeff da ref'', his rules for others are strict. Participants must not wear gang colours, smoke, or take drugs. Water is all they are allowed to drink. ''Everyone's a winner when they krump,'' says Jeff. Pacific Islanders mingle with Maori, and there's even a group of Asian breakdancers. Many girls also come along; often outdancing the boys. There's a lot of resistance to krumping from the Pacific Island community, many of whom believe the dance to be immoral. Once they learn what krumping is about, says Jeff, he hopes that will change. Jeff regularly tries to spread the word, krumping at Otara markets. He dreams of performing on stage one day, holding proper competitions, but there's no sponsorship money in krumping at the moment. In the meantime, he just keeps on dancing for the Lord.
Krumping for glory of God
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