Krumping is clown's trump card

By ALANAH MAY ERIKSEN
Sonny Tai used to get drunk every weekend before he started krumping a year ago.

But the 15-year-old Rotorua Boys' High School student said the style of dance now keeps him occupied and out of trouble.

Los Angeles resident Thomas "Tommy the Clown" Johnson, the creator of a worldwide dance phenomenon known as krumping, performed at Sonny's school with his dance crew, the Hip Hop Clowns, yesterday.

Students were taking photos on their phones, bopping their heads, laughing and clapping to the group's dancing, acrobatics, rapping, rhyming, and joking.

The students then got to have a "krump off" against each other and the Clowns.

The show was almost cancelled because Mr Johnson was running late after performing in Taupo, but the students said waiting an extra 45 minutes was worth it.

They performed a traditional Maori wero (challenge) for their visitors when they arrived.

Even some Girls' High School students sneaked in to Boys' High's gymnasium to check out the moves.

Sonny said Mr Johnson and the Clowns were "awesome" and he would take away some new dance moves to show his own krumping crew, A4C.

"Krumping stopped me from drinking and getting into that scene. Now I just focus on dancing."

Krumping is described as getting bucked and is a highly changeable, flexible and expressive form of dance.

Krump battles are like fights without touching. Krumpers have a dance-off to see who has the best moves.

Mr Johnson is on a three-week tour around New Zealand, using krumping to send a message to youth that education is important.

He believes youth can use the dance as an outlet for anger and a way to keep away from drugs and gangs - and he would know.

Mr Johnson served five years in prison for dealing cocaine and he has seen the worst of gang life in Detroit and Los Angeles.

"I've seen a lot of crime and my home boys [friends] die, so I just thought, 'Man, I've got to get out of this life'," he told the Daily Post.

Inspiration for his dancing technique came after a colleague asked him to perform as a clown at her child's birthday party in 1993.

He then created the Hip Hop Clowns. Teenagers from all over America audition to get into the group. The rules are simple: no gangs, no drugs and do well in school.

Mr Johnson has performed at birthday parties for celebrities such as Madonna and Pamela Anderson.