General

Popping is a funk dance and street dance style based on the technique of quickly contracting and relaxing muscles to cause a jerk in the dancer’s body, referred to as a pop or a hit. This is done continuously to the rhythm of a song in combination with various movements and poses.

Popping is also used as an umbrella term for a group of illusionary dance styles and techniques that are often combined with popping to create a more varied performance (see below). The Electric Boogaloos, a pioneer popping group, state this as incorrect, and that it’s important that related styles are clearly separated. Instead, they encourage the term funk styles, which is a bit broader, similar to pop-locking, as it also encompasses locking, a distinct dance style of its own which is today kept separate from popping in major street dance competitions.

Like other street dances, popping is often performed in battles, trying to outperform another dancer in front of a crowd. This sometimes involve competitive tricks such as mocking the opponent, or mime style movements to keep the spectators hooked.

It is generally believed that the dance evolved in California in the 1970s and was originally inspired by locking. It was later incorporated into both the hip hop and electronica dance scenes.

Locking (originally Campbellocking) is a style of funk dance and street dance, which is today also associated with hip hop. It relies on fast and distinct arm and hand movements combined with more relaxed hips and legs. The movements are generally large and exaggerated, and often very rhythmic and tightly synched with the music. Locking is quite performance oriented, often interacting with the audience by smiling or giving them a high five, and some moves are quite comical in nature.

Locking was originally danced to traditional funk, such as James Brown. Funk music is still commonly favored by locking dancers, and used by many competitions such as the locking division of Juste Debout.

The name is based on the concept of locking movements, which basically means freezing from a fast movement and landing in a certain position, holding that position for a short while and then continuing in the same speed as before. These movements create a strong contrast towards the many fast moves that are otherwise performed quite continuously, combined with mime style performance and acting towards the audience and other dancers. Locking includes quite a lot of acrobatics and physically demanding moves, such as landing on ones knees and the split. These moves often require knee protection of some sort.

Liquid dancing (or liquiding) is a form of gestural, interpretive dance that sometimes involves pantomime. The term invokes the word liquid to describe the fluid-like motion of the dancer’s body and appendages. It is primarily the dancer’s arms and hands which are the focus, though more advanced dancers work in a full range of body movements. Liquid dancing has many moves in common with popping, born out of 80s b-boy and funk style dance movements.

Krumping is a form of dancing that originated in the African-American community of South Central Los Angeles, California and is a relatively new form of the “Urban” Black dance movement. It is free, expressive and highly energetic. Most people paint their faces in different designs to show more emotion.

Kingdom Radically Uplifted Mighty Praise (K.R.U.M.P) is a dance style. It is also referred to as getting buck or amped, and is a highly volatile, expressive and versatile dance form. It is constantly evolving and krumping is now a structured form of dance; with a variety of styles. It began as a positive release of aggression and anger and a nonviolent alternative to the street violence that is widespread in many of the areas where it is performed. Since then a movie has been released called Rize by Lions Gate Films directed by David LaChapelle, which depicts the street dance from clowning to krumping. This has given Krump plenty of exposure and since then it has risen in popularity in the hip hop dance community.Krumping usually involves physical contact between dancers, which can often look like a fight to outsiders, and in few cases can develop into a fight, or include violent physical contact. However, the participants understand this to be part of the dance and neither condone nor advocate assault and/or violence. In this respect, there is a certain parallel with the mosh pit in punk rock.

Clowning vs. Krumping

Krumping (not Krunk-ing) is often confused with Clowning, but while the two are related by form and origin (and vaguely by style), differences are visible. They share the same basic speed, and a similar movement pattern: a rapid rhythmic bobbling and jerking of the body, as well as the intermittent flex of the spine and thrust-out chest, which may be called “the krump” or a “bobble bounce”. Krumping, however, is a more sinister and aggressive dance form and is intended as an expression of anger or a release of pent-up emotion through violent, exaggerated, and dramatic moves. High variation, individuality, and movement are the foundations of the Krump or bobble bounce. It must be said that the current focal point of the dance as of 2006 and its differentiation from Clowning is a dance style of which where dissing or jokes are often involved. This is currently considered the taboo when Krumping, and is called “popping cakes” (cakes being the buttocks). It may also be referred to as “poppin bakes”, the difference being due to the gang culture pervasive in California. In a Crip hood, “b” words (words beginning with, or often containing, the letter b) may not be said, or must be altered; and in a Blood hood, “c” words are similarly taboo. So cakes becomes bakes, and boulevard becomes coulevard (pronounced soulevard).

The belief that Krump dancers regularly engage in face-painting is also a misconception: this is a Clown practice, and as Clowning and Krumping have been mixed and misrepresented in their introduction to the public (through music videos of artists such as Missy Elliott), it has been misinterpreted as a regular Krumping practice. The confusion may be a result of the movie Rize which documented the founders and other initial practitioners during the infancy of Krump as an art form; thus, the footage was from a time when the Krump kings were actually evolving from Clowners into the Krumpers of today. The Krumpers’ modified use of face paint served as a visual indication of this split. The style and cultural symbolism of this painting (used mostly during the early Krump movement, but now adopted by Clowners) has evolved from the circus clown image into ceremonial indigenous (ie tribal), war, or dance paint. This could signify the development of a third school of a darker or more aggressive nature within Clowning, but still remaining Clown-oriented. In Clowning, there are older Clowners who have styles similar to Krumping but still associate themselves with (and are loyal to) the Clown school of dance.

Jim Dandy’s in Clarks Summit, PA serves some mighty fine wines, liqueurs, daiquiris, and beer.

My favorite of all is the Icelandic Thunder.

It’s something like this:

It’s far from a masculine drink, but they sure can f’ you up.

Unfortunately I don’t have the exact recipe… but here are the ingredients:

rum, Southern Comfort, apricot brandy, blue curacao, pineapple juice, sour mix and sprite

If anybody can get me a copy of the recipe, I would much appreciate it.

Flying around
The houses at night
Flying aloneA teenage spaceship
I was a teenage spaceship
Landing at night

I was beautiful with all my lights
Loomed so large on the horizon
So large, people thought my windows
Were stars
So large on the horizon
People thought my windows
Were stars

A teenage spaceship
A teenage spaceship

And I swore Id never lay like a log
Bark like a dog

I was a teenage smog
Sewn to the sky

These are just the most precious things I’ve ever seen…

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