Author: jessicakoslow

A dance professional once asked me why I loved krump dancing so much. It’s a great question, and one I’ve thought about for countless hours. Instead of offering a reason, I thought I’d start this blog. Along the way, I’ll probably find the words to express my feelings. Or better yet, show you why.

I’ve always loved street dancing. Since the late ’90s, I’ve taken hip-hop dance classes, first in New York City and then in Los Angeles, where I currently live. I’ve also been a hip-hop journalist for much of my career, although I have not written about music in a while.

In 2006, I relocated back to my hometown of Venice, Calif. I got a newspaper job, where I stayed for four years before deciding to take a leap and go back to get a MA in journalism. Luckily, I received an Annenberg Fellowship to pursue a MA in Specialized Journalism (The Arts) at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. It was a life-changing experience.

I’ll never forget when, during a meet-and-greet before grad school started, I went to meet Sasha Anawalt, who would become my mentor, and she told me to go go out there and discover hidden dance communities around L.A. It was if she knew I would. And I did.

I found Miss Prissy teaching at Debbie Reynolds’ Dance Studio in North Hollywood. I had seen her in David LaChapelle’s 2005 film Rize. She was one of the founders of krump. As I stood in her krump dance class trying to follow along, her 2-year-old toddler girl sitting at my feet “talking” to me, something clicked. I went up to her after class and told her that I wanted to write a thesis on krump. She took me seriously and invited me to a weekly krump session that happened every Wednesday starting at midnight in a Ralph’s parking lot in NoHo. I went the following week. The 818 Session is where my adventures begin.

I started attending the 818 Session weekly. Right away, I enrolled in Bill Yahraus’ documentary film class at USC, buddied up with Tee, a young woman in my program from South Africa, and we filmed every week into the wee hours. What we lacked in experience, we made up for in enthusiasm. I loved the local krump scene, but I also grew to care for Miss Prissy. She let me into her world. We became friends. Our 15-minute film was picked to be screened in two 2012 film festivals: Dances With Films and Dance Camera West. I built a blog, The 818 Session, to follow my progress.

Watch the video:

It was 2008, and my husband and I went to see a performance called Buckworld One. It was written and directed by Rickerby Hinds, the chair of the UCR Department of Theatre, Film and Digital Production. The show featured local krump dancers who blew me away. What I remember most about the night was how the dancers often moved across the stage in circles, throwing their energy back and forth to each other. Something about this type of movement felt right. I knew I wanted to see more krumpin’ on stage.