Get Krump

Now I know it seems like every day I go out and I end up doing some new strange activity. But I just cannot stand to sit around and watch T.V. every night and this is one way I have found to be social and around people, without necessarily needing to speak the entire time. And limited speaking is VERY important when you don't speak the language. However, through listening I am able to learn more of the language and begin to interact with French people.

When I lived in San Diego I used to take hip hop dance classes at a center called, “Culture Shock.” Though it was a commute from Vista to Old Town to me it was completely worth it on Monday's, Wednesday's, and sometimes Saturday's to drive down and take these classes. I did this for about a year before I had to start support raising and time no longer permitted. I really missed my dance classes. So once I arrived in Paris I hit the internet and searched for Paris Dance Classes, where I found a studio here called, “Deepside.”

Now at Culture Shock there were three levels of dancers- Beginners, Intermediate, and Advanced. I would be comfortable enough to take a Beginners or Intermediate courses but never gained enough confidence to attempt the advance class. There were many great instructors at Culture shock though by far my favorite was the Wednesday night class by Sherman Shoate. His style of dance was easy to follow, inventive choreography, and he was so good it was fun to watch and follow him move so easily around the dance floor. I would leave each class wishing I could dance forever. Should you ever be interested, Sherman’s class fill up quickly -but is at 6:30 on Wednesday nights. This is a picture of Sherman- I promise you would never have to do this move in his beginners class.


Taking these dance classes I really gained an appreciation of the collaboration and inspiration all the dancers have among one another. The friendships and relationships that dancing created among them. Even just taking a few classes a week there is a feeling of unity created when you move together with a large group of people to the same beats, moves, and sounds that make you feel like you are a part of something- something good.

Because I was more familiar with hip hop classes I figured this would be a much better fit and come more naturally than say flag football or roller derby 2009, and I was not about to try to play rugby! I showed up to the studio about 20 minutes early to ensure I was in the right spot, have time to change and figure out the way the system works here. On their website rather than Beginner, Intermediate, or Advance- their classes are based upon style. There were options such as: House dance, Dancehall, Pop and Lock or New Style Hip hop. I knew not to go for the Pop and Lock class but thought one of the other three classes would be okay.

I signed up for New Style Hip Hop. I should have googled what that meant- but I got to learn hands (and feet) on what that meant. New Style Hip Hop could more correctly be called: Krunking. Just the idea of me doing Krunk dance makes me laugh. For those who do not know what Krunk is, the best I can describe it, would be extremely large out of control and contorted motions that come together in a crazy ghetto mess. It’s all over the place but at the same time you have to must be in charge of the motions you make. The larger the movement the better. It is very large and expressive and requires high energy throughout the choreography. I had once again found myself in foreign territory.

This is a video to show you an example of Krumping from my favorite T.V. show, “So You Think You Can Dance”- these were my two favorite people, Twitch and Kerington. In the the intro part of this video sweet innocent Kherinton is completely out of her element where Twitch is given the opportunity to do what he does best. I am like Kherington- unsure what exactly is going on, but I’ll make the best mess out of myself I can, to get my Krump on.



My Instructor of the night was really wonderful. She would keep the energy high, she critiqued movements that needed to be adjusted, and she would continually ask if people had questions. Because dance is expressive I was able to understand what to do and what she was saying without actually knowing the language. I am actually getting to the point where I can understand but not necessarily respond. Each time after the instructor was finished explaining to the class, she would point to another girl in the class, snap, and tell her to translate. It became quite a humorous routine. I am officially the girl who is unable to hide in the back of a classroom.

The best part of the night was on the way home – at the metro station another girl who was in the class came over and started talking to me. She also spoke English and was new to taking the class as well. She was 24 and is going to California this summer. We talked for a while and I was so excited to have someone my age around to talk to. For that reason alone I will be sure to go back to Krump class- maybe I’ll find a bit more craziness inside of me. For those who already think I am crazy- this could be scary!

Watch out here comes Krumping Katie!