Back in December, we welcomed Laurence, AKA Crooked District through our doors, to teach us some Krump! This was the first krump workshop we had ever facilitated, and for many of the children, it was their first taste of Krump.
Krump is a style we have only slightly touched on with Elevate Arts, but when we did, the children loved it, they spoke about it and demonstrated the couple of skills they learned to the other children, who were impressed by the visual look of the style. The demand was there for a professional Krumper to come in and share their knowledge and passion for this street dance style/movement.
Before Crooked District arrived, our students were both excited and nervous, but these nerves soon disappeared when Crooked District came in with his calm disposition (yes guys, those who Krump are not angry people!) He began with a little bit of history about himself as a krumper and the style, before moving onto the basics such as posture and foot positions.
As the workshop progressed, Crooked District led fun drills and introduced the arms, including Jabs and swings, giving the children different combinations to explore.
This was predominantly a skill and freestyle based workshop. Crooked District set up a good vibe, leading mostly from a circle, which included the students and helped them feel at ease, rather than a teacher standing at the front and dictating to them. This helped them form a bond and vibe together…all building up to the hype! After the skills part of the session, Crooked District challenged the children to explore a creative concept using the foundations they had learned. It was really interesting to see what they were creating individually, really implementing their foundations with their imaginative ideas. Crooked District went around and helped inspire them as they moved and gave them cues to explore and adapt their movement t make it even better.
The workshop ended with a session. A session is where 2 lines form (like a soul train – cleverly picked up on by one of the students!) and one person krumps in the middle. Those on the outside build the Hype (cheering, encouraging the krumper to do well, go harder, or making noise for that sick move) and everyone takes turns. This part of the class gave the children a chance to show off what they had learned, let go, and feel the culture and vibe of krump, it was exciting to watch!
Everybody was really sweaty by the end (a sign of hard work!) The feedback from students and parents was amazing and we can’t thank Crooked District enough!
Following the workshop, the students’ freestyle skills have become a lot more creative and expressive. They were definitely inspired by the way Crooked District moves and have been practising hard!
If you attended, what did YOU take away from this experience and who else would you like to attend workshops with? How about a monthly Krump session with Crooked District? Let us know your thoughts below!