Tommy the Clown
and the Hip Hop Clowns: Krumping!
Saturday, Oct. 7
The cool kids are over krumping. Maybe waning interest in the spastic dance movement has to do with America’s Next Top Model contestants trying to emulate its moves, or perhaps it’s due to the inclusion of krumpers in the last Bow Wow tour. David LaChapelle’s disappointing 2005 documentary, Rize, which chronicles the culture and its participants, didn’t do much to help the movement, either. But even if krumping is no longer of-the-moment, its birth is still astonishing: A South Central man, Thomas “Tommy the Clown” Johnson, began dressing up as a clown in the early ’90s and performing seizure-like dances at kiddie birthday parties to liven up the festivities. His party-circuit shtick inspired tons of teenagers, who adopted his costume and created entire families that battled and settled beef through dancing. It was the breakin’ movement of the ’70s and ’80s, on a much smaller scale, with grease paint instead of Gazelles. Although Tommy and his dancers are no longer the darlings of MTV, they’re still exposing people to their art. Tommy the Clown kicks off his first national tour with an area performance; the tour touts krumping as not just a wonderfully weird dance craze but also an alternative to gangs and other dangerous activities for youths—showing that Tommy’s much more interested in keeping krump, and its message, alive than keeping it cool. Tommy the Clown and the Hip Hop Clowns perform Saturday, Oct. 7, at 2 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore, 10701 Rockville Pike, Bethesda. $20–$55. (301) 581-5100. (Sarah Godfrey)
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Pilobolus performs Wednesday, Oct. 25, at the Warner Theater
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Step Afrika! performs Monday, Nov. 6, at the National Theater
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