Deep in the ghettos of Los Angeles, renowned photographer David
LaChapelle discovered a new dance trend called “krumping.” While
shooting the video for Christina Aguilera’s song “Dirrty,” LaChapelle
was invited to witness a Fight Club-style krump dance-off in Compton.
Troupes of inner-city teenagers flocked to dance rival tribes into
submission with a flurry of frenetic, martial-arts-like movements,
tribal athleticism and pantomime. He fell in love. “It’s a completely
new way of moving your body,” LaChapelle reports excitedly. “You can’t
believe what you’re watching. It’s insane. You’ve never seen bodies
move that fast. These kids are creating an art form from nothing. It’s
inspiring.”
LaChapelle was so blown away, he decided to film a documentary about the scene, calling it Krumped. The 24-minute short, which debuted at the Sundance Festival this past year, is in line with the photographer’s taste, and the dance style is now the rage among the under-18 crowd in L.A. neighborhoods like South Central, Watts, and Compton. “No one knew what I was doing. I never set out to do a documentary, but it was something that had to be documented. The subject found me.”
The Full Length, Feature Documentary is in post production set to be in theaters Spring 2005.
Related reading
Krump 101


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