SUGGESTED MOVEMENT: MIMICKING*
Clowning is very connected to and grounded in battle culture. In battles and in clowning, mimicking, imitating a person’s movements or gestures, can be used to entertain the crowd or replicate another dancer.
Look at others around you and copy their movements. Exaggerate them or make them bigger. The point of clowning is to foster and feel a happy and fun environment. Here’s some examples of mimicking to get you inspired:
*Please be aware and recognize that these movements are connected to the culture, history, and liberation movement of Black/Soulaan and other marginalized communities. Participate respectfully and intentionally and if you share this movement with others, we stress you include the history and people behind the movement.
HISTORY:
Clowning is identified as the less aggressive predecessor to krumping and was created in 1992 by Thomas “Tommy the Clown” Johnson in Compton, CA, who is also considered the godfather of krumping. In the 1990s, Johnson and his crew, the Hip Hop Clowns, would paint their faces and perform ‘clowning’ for kids’ birthday celebrations or for the general public at other gatherings as a form of entertainment. Tommy was an ex-con and crack dealer and after his release from prison, he decided he wanted to use this style as a way to get kids in his city out of gangs, violence and drugs and to focus on school more. He wanted to start a healing movement.
Since krumping grew out of clowning, the movement for clowning and krumping can be similar. However clowning remains as a lighter, joyful form, while krumping is the ‘dirtier’, more intense form of the movement. Ceasare Willis and Jo’Artis Ratti were both originally clown dancers for Johnson but their dancing was considered too aggressive and raw for clowning so they eventually broke away and developed their own style, krumping. Johnson eventually opened a clown dancing academy and started the Battle Zone competition at the Great Western Forum where krump crews and clown crews could come together and battle each other in front of an audience of their peers. Dancers everywhere now use clowning and krumping as a way to express themselves and release emotion.
This blog is part of a participatory performance art piece called “The Search for Community Continues“, which aims to unveil and explore the connective tissue between movement, art, and environment by co-creating a brave space to dance to the sound of community.
Knox Community Street Dance 