Rize is a documentary following an interview schedule of two related dancing subcultures of Los Angeles called clowning and krumping.[3] The first series of interviews introduces, describes and develops the dance style known as clowning.[3] A descendant of 1980s breakdancing, clowning is a contemporary street art all its own, characterized by speedy, flowing limbs, feverish shakes, hipness, and confounding athletic tricks.[4] Tommy Johnson, better known by his alias, Tommy the Clown, is a former drug dealer and a man with a mission. For Tommy, clowning is more than an aesthetic pastime: In an area besieged by drive-by shootings, drug deals and unemployment; clowning is his way of offering an optimistic alternative for youngsters, a means of self-expression and a chance to channel positive energy.[4]
The second series of interviews and footage explains how the dance style known as krumping evolved from clowning and matured into its own identity.[3] Like clowning, krumping is characterized by free, expressive exaggerated, and highly energetic movement.[5] The youths who started krumping, known as Lil C' and Miss Prissy, saw the dance as a way for them to escape gang life and "to release anger, aggression and frustration positively, in a non-violent way."
The third section of the film depicts a dance battle called The Battle Zone which takes place between clowns and krumpers at the Great Western Forum in 2004.[3][6] The film style and soundtrack draws creative ties between African dance rituals and the developing style of krumping.[7]
Production
The film Rize was written and directed by David LaChapelle. Working alongside LaChapelle were executive producers Ishbel Whitaker, Barry Peele, Ellen Jacobson-Clarke, Stavros Merjos, and Rebecca Skinner.[3]Rize focuses on the African-American communities of clowns and krumpers in South Central Los Angeles.[8] Most of these dancers are young, poor, and would be classified as "at risk." Director David LaChapelle follows these dancers from rehearsal to Battlezone, an annual dance competition, alternating between footage of the dancing and interviews with the dancers and their families.[8]
The film is set in the outskirts of South Central Los Angeles–areas like Inglewood and Compton that have become synonymous in the American popular imagination with deviances of all kinds, due to representations in news media, music, and film. However, LaChapelle does not begin the film in the present day. Focusing instead on the history of racial conflict in South Central, including footage of the Watts riots of 1965 and the 1992 Rodney King riots.[3][8]
LaChapelle situates his film deliberately within a racially specific violence.[8] The film is dedicated to a dancer named Quinesha (Lil Dimples) Dunford, who was killed with a 13-year old friend in a 2003 drive-by shooting, and not one of the dancers within the film is without a story like Quinesha's to tell.[6]
The documentary features original material by Flii Stylz ("Rize", "I Krump", "Beastly", and "Recognize"), Christina Aguilera ("Soar"), and an entry by UK hip-hop star Dizzee Rascal ("Fix Up, Look Sharp"), as well as a number of traditional gospel songs, including the Edwin Hawkins Singers' "Oh Happy Day".[9]
Reception
Rize received positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an 84% rating based on 91 reviews, with an average rating of 4.0/5.[10] The site's consensus reads, “ The dances in Rize are electric even if the documentary doesn’t go that deeply into the performers’ lives.[10] Metacritic reports a 74 out of 100 rating based on 29 critics.[11] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times stated “the most remarkable thing about Rize is that it is real.”[12] Sid Smith of the Chicago Tribune stated that Rize is, “a compelling, bittersweet hybrid of a movie, one celebrating an enormous and hitherto unsung underground talent, while suggesting that art goes only so far in solving the enormous challenges of the underprivileged life.”[6]
Robert Koehler of Variety gave the film an 80 out of 100 and stated that, “Rize is an eye-popping lensing and an appreciation of social complexities combined for an entirely satisfying experience.”[13]
The movie was released in the United States, France,[14] Australia,[15] Germany,[16] United Kingdom,[17] New Zealand,[18] Austria,[19] among others.
Krumping is an African-American style of street dance popularized in the United States, characterized by free, expressive, exaggerated, and highly energetic movement. Dancers who started krumping saw the dance as a means for them to escape gang life.
Marc Forster is a German-Swiss filmmaker and screenwriter. He is best known for directing the feature films Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland, Stranger than Fiction, Quantum of Solace, World War Z, and Christopher Robin, and has directed numerous television commercials as well. He is a BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Independent Spirit Award nominee.
Thomas Johnson, also known as Tommy the Clown, is an American dancer best known as the inventor of the "clowning" style of dance, which evolved into krumping. Johnson invented the style in 1992 to enhance birthday party clown acts, thereby creating the concept of "hip-hop clowns". Johnson and his followers have performed at birthday parties ranging from inner city communities to celebrities like Madonna, Pamela Anderson, and Cedric the Entertainer. He achieved international acclaim as focus of David LaChapelle's 2005 documentary Rize. Tommy the Clown also danced with Ray Ray, of Mindless Behavior fame.
Mad Hot Ballroom is a 2005 American documentary film directed and co-produced by Marilyn Agrelo and written and co-produced by Amy Sewell, about a ballroom dance program in the New York City Department of Education, the New York City public school system for fifth graders. Several styles of dance are shown in the film, such as tango, foxtrot, swing, rumba and merengue.
Rize is a city and the capital of Rize Province in Turkey.
Christopher "Lil' C" Toler is an American dancer and choreographer best known for his choreography and judging on the TV show So You Think You Can Dance, and for his appearance in the 2005 krumping documentary Rize. Since appearing in the film he has danced for several musical artists including Missy Elliott, Fall Out Boy, and Madonna, and was cast as a featured dancer in the 2007 art exhibit Slow Dancing. He continues to serve as a guest judge on So You Think You Can Dance.
Christian Joel Jones, better known by his stage name TeeFlii, is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and dancer from South Los Angeles, California. He is best known for his debut commercial single "24 Hours", which was released in March 2014. The song was imcluded on his debut studio album, Starr which was released in 2015 by Epic Records.
Miss Prissy is an American dancer known for the krumping style. She has been called The Queen of Krump.
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