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LOS ANGELES (AP) - Dancers in a new documentary have a lot to say about an inner-city craze called krumping that's transformed their lives, but when asked to describe how it's done, they get tongue tied.
They call it clowning, stripper dancing, ghetto ballet — a form of therapy to help them cope with the struggles of growing up in crime-ridden South Los Angeles. But words aren't enough to capture the anguish and exuberance displayed with every rapid bounce or fist punched in the air.
While still mostly unknown beyond the LA neighborhoods of Compton, Inglewood, Watts and Long Beach, dancers hope that krumping will become more familiar with Friday's release of "Rize." The documentary by photographer and music video director David LaChapelle explores the phenomenon started by Thomas Johnson, a former drug dealer who turned to religion and clown dancing after the 1992 Rodney King riots.
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