Interview with Creative Netwerk Master Teaching Artist, Boomer the Clown

Explain your role as a teaching artist with Creative Netwerk

I am a dance coach for clown dancing, krump dancing, and hip hop. My role is really to help get people to know who they are in life, because a lot of people dance and they need help figuring out who they are as dancers.

How did you get into dance, originally?

My dad was a popper and locker in a group called Shampoo Press and Curls back in the day. So I grew up watching that and learning from him.

Can you share more about your style of dance, of Clowning/Krumping?

Clowning kind of started off with moves like the butterfly, the tootsie roll, the running man, like all the little old school dancing from back in the day. Then came into the picture a dance called the pump. I started seeing Tommy the clown, who's the creator of the clown hip hop genre. He started back in 1992.

So how did you go from learning these styles to teaching them?

I really taught myself how to do it and just looked at different styles of dance - popping, locking, break dancing, hip hop- and I really taught myself in the beginning. I teamed up with an artist called No Bones - he used to dance for MC Hammer. He really taught me how to do the groove with the bangs. 

At the time, I saw Tommy the Clown rolling around the city, keeping us off the streets, keeping us out of jail and stuff like that. And then I started dancing with a group called Get Em Up Clowns.

I have been teaching and learning my whole life but I started teaching workshops and master classes in 2014. I never thought that I’d be a teacher until others started seeing my work and they saw the teacher in me. I always used to teach my son, but I never thought I was gonna be teaching classes like this.

Man, I feel so good, because I'm teaching people the right way how to clown dance. Because a lot of people, they get into the clown dance and they do it the wrong way. Even though it’s a lot of work - your bones and your back will be sore by the end of it - it’s so worth it. I love seeing people get it for the first time and get addicted to that feeling of working hard and learning something new.

You recently taught a master class for Creative Netwerk - tell us more about that!

That was amazing. The kids were real focused. And it's just amazing how no matter how hard I worked them, they had a smile on their face. They were into it. They were having a good time. I even played around with them and had a battle and a freestyle. 

I mixed in clowning, crumping, and education about the history of the dances that they were learning. I even mixed in ideas about making sure they stay focused in school, about never giving up on yourself, about always dreaming big no matter what comes your way that's hard, to always continue to go to school. 

It's amazing because I heard a couple of kids say things like “Man, I want to come to school every day.” That just motivates me to push even harder - like I want to do more now - because to hear kids say that when they learn clown dancing means a lot and I want to have that effect with more kids. 

It sounds like clowning and dance was a big part of what kept you on the right path. 

Yes. Growing up, you know, I had no teachers. Everything I learned, I learned from the streets. Growing up, my role models were gang bangers and dope dealers. Dance helped me turn all that negative energy into something positive. These kids nowadays can have a good life, they can live instead of going the way I went when I was younger. 

What do you hope the Creative Netwerk students will learn from you?

I hope they learn to never give up, to know who they are. I want people to know exactly who they are when they’re growing up, so they can really stay focused in life and never give up. 

Education is the key. Learning, not just clown dancing but all the things that they can learn in school too. I always want my students to be the best they can be, no matter how hard it gets. Having dance and an outlet to come back to helps with all of that.