Dear Diary: Is gender classification needed in krump dance battles?
Fan Chan
16th May 2025
Sunny Day
Dear Diary,
What a day…originally, I never thought that I would feel that much after watching an interview. I went to watch a chat show with my friends which had the topic of transgender issues. It was my first time being a live studio audience member and to be honest when I entered the film studio I was carrying my greatest compassion. Under the spotlight, I saw Lily’s calm and determined face. She was braver than I thought.
Last night I read Starla Carr’s: Queer Club Culture in 1990s Kansas City: A Chance Encounter with Soakies and she brought me back to 90s' Los Angeles. Her lifelike texts are really like a live scene for me, but they’re impossible to experience. I felt grateful that Starla was sharing her beautiful story with memories, history and her point of view. I wish I could be like Starla, having a lot of experiences to colour my journey in dance.
I remember 2 years ago the Hong Kong IHOW hosted a waacking event and invited a LGBTQ+ group for a guest performance. They were not street dancers, but they performed choreography with the most sincere and natural body expression I have ever seen. I’ll never forget that moment. I felt so touched. Speaking of all these things, it brings back memories about last year in Lausanne. The first time I met Lily.
For me, you are a chic existence
Let’s time travel back to 15th June 2024. I was so hurried and embarrassed getting in the entrance of the main event battle venue as I was trapped in an elevator. How helpless during that moment. With excitement and a bit nervous, I registered for this 100% woman krump battle event in Lausanne, Switzerland, called “Like A Woman”. This was so lit because I’d never participated in any all-female krump battles and this was the first one that ‘d heard of. Usually there are more male participants than female at krump events.
Before getting to the preselection, someone was really eye-catching in my peripheral vision. I couldn’t fully focus on my warm-up. A girl just sat in the auditorium, with a neatly styled bun and a minimal and clean outfit highlighting her perfect figure, it made me think - Greek deity. She was quiet with an elegant posture but a bit anxious. Umm…I didn't think she was in a good mood. I was feeling so familiar with her face, but it didn’t 100% match with someone that I had seen on social media. I was so confused at that time, but I thought she would participate in the battle.
The battle had an energetic vibe and everyone enjoyed it. All the girls were dancing with fire and incredible power. Of course being intoxicated with this vibe, I gave it my all during my round. It didn't matter about passing the preselection or not, it was about how you expressed yourself, your statement and your definition. No matter who was dancing on the floor, the screaming from every girl showed us the biggest support and encouragement. One of the OGs - Daize - gave us a really dope rap performance session. I felt so satisfied about this event!
Afterwards the organising team hosted a casual conference outside the battle venue. For me I thought it was a really thoughtful program and round up session because no matter if you were a participant or audience, you could express an opinion about the event. “Anything, just feel free to ask or speak out, you are welcome to do this and here is a safe place.” The organiser smiled. “What do you think about the gender topic in the krump scene?” The girl who I had kept my focus on at the beginning of the event asked. Everyone put down their snacks and focused. Some girls were discussing loudly and others were quietly asking the girls next to them. The space was filled with an atmosphere of research and curiosity. To be honest I forgot the answer and feedback from the organiser’s team, I just remembered the girl’s face. A bit wronged and disappointed.
On the way back to my living place with doubts, I checked Instagram and saw the girl who had impressed me. She was called Lily. I clicked into her Instagram and she’d posted a few stories about the public opinion from the Keyboard Warriors on her being a transwoman and choosing to participate in the female category of this krump battle. My mind was blown because I didn't realise she was transgender. She was also active in the European Vogue dance community and was suffering from the judgement by some krumpers on social media. A topic with ”Yoooo what do you think about this story? For the past years she participated in Krump events in the male category, and never passed the preselections. This year, she is a transwoman and participated in the female category in the other battle and got a nice ranking, your opinion?” What a critical title of a post on social media. On different platforms of social media, Keyboard Warriors always make good use of their “weapons” to express themselves without hesitation, which are nice masks for hiding in reality.
Self-worth guardian
“How did you face this public opinion? It was quite harmful and critical.” The host of the TV show asked Lily. “First of all, one of the reasons for the classification of gender in krump dance battles is about the muscle and power differences between males and females. But for me, muscles or power should not be the only factors that define krump. Krump is an art form, krump contains your own story, emotions and creativity etc. It's how you use your skills to express a present message to others. Nowadays, there are many bulky dancers that are actually not good in dance battles and there are many skinny and frail ones that are amazing. Back to myself, I am not trying to act like a bullied victim. I just wanna speak up for myself because no one comes to me face to face for a discussion or conversation. What qualifications do they have to tell right from wrong? I know my worth and I will defend it. I welcome all people who have different opinions. Please come to me directly.” Applause when Lily finished speaking.
I was actually surprised that Lily didn't judge the social media discussion on her as bullying. She just wanted to use her own voice to tell the public about her values and how she understands herself. After the TV show ended, I walked over to Lily and asked her about some topics on gender classification in dance battles. She very generously shared her views with me since she has been in the krump community for much longer than me.
She told me that since men were the starters of krump, they unconsciously think that women are less competitive and vocabularies, concepts and creations were based on men's mindsets. Over the past 10 years, there have been more women active in the krump community and their performances were shining in krump battles which leads to some male dancers experiencing failure, ego hurts and the dark side of male dancers appearing. Sometimes gender classification of dance battles can make a program flow smoother and more lively. Sometimes it is possible to create a space with confidence for that gender, from which they can feel a different energy. It can also increase the sense of achievement in competition. We both believe that sometimes it is not the pattern of the battles that creates issues, but people's thoughts.
Our conversation was permeating her faith, inner beauty, determination and fearlessness. Yes, only you can be your guardian.
It seems like some ideas popped up when I was small…
Starla’s article mentioned that she was one of the gatekeepers in her community since she defended their dance moves, culture and more in the 90s. For me I also had a dream to be a guardian when I was small. The ideal image should look like the characters of a famous Japanese anime from the 90s, Sailor Moon, which was broadcast on TV in 1992. It was created by cartoonist Naoko Takeuchi and the animation script was coordinated by Sukehiro Tomita, Shigeru Yanagawa, and others. The story tells us of the teenage protagonist Usagi Tsukino and her friends who transform into sailor suits to fight against evil forces and protect the earth, the solar system, and even the entire galaxy. It was a classic girls anime and comic back in the day. "I will punish you on behalf of the moon" became one of the catchy slogans of girls in the 1990s.
The superheroes we know when we were young, such as Marvel and DC, mostly have male protagonists. When performing their tasks, the heroes appear in front of everyone with heroic names and disguised postures. The purpose of cross-dressing is to fight crime and protect the safety of oneself, one's family and our friends. Although Sailor Moon is a girls' comic, it serves as a rallying cry for a group of female heroes, a set of teenage girls using their mysterious powers to transform into Sailor Senshi and protect the earth. "Transformation" has become a prerequisite for transforming magical girls, and this symbolises the transformation process from adolescent girls to mature women.
There was one dialogue I remember when Haruka Tenou showed up. Haruka Tenou has neat short hair, wears men's clothes, and his dream was to become a professional racing driver. Haruka Tenou is a handsome beauty dressed in men's clothing and has a physique that is not inferior to that of an ordinary man. Young audiences at that time might mistake him for a “real” man. After transforming into Sailor Uranus, he appears in a sailor suit and a short skirt.
"Is it so important to be a man or a woman?" Sailor Uranus asks. Haruka Tenou's neutral question embodies the representative position of the modern multi-gender temperament. She has transformed from the "neither male nor female" which is criticised by traditional ideas to an "androgynous" gender. As girls grow up, our parents would always tell us that "girls should look like girls" and that only by wearing a skirt, smiling, and behaving elegantly can we become a lady that everyone likes. I remember 2 years ago, I shaved my long hair into a buzz cut and I felt so refreshed. However, my mum scolded me when I came back home “Why did you do this? You do not look like my little girl now and you even didn’t ask me before you cut your hair!” She was so angry and I couldn't understand. It doesn’t matter how much I change physically, I am still me. I love wearing my boxy t-shirt and jeans, being casual with nude make-up and dancing in a massive and energetic style…mum, I am still me.
What Naoko Takeuchi wants to ask us to think about is: What is a woman? The definition of a woman does not lie in what she wears. Beauties dressed in men's clothing also have the charm that is unique to women.
Another famous Japanese anime, Ranma ½ sees Ranma Saotome, a young boy, who practices martial arts. In the anime, he turns into a girl when he touches cold water and turns back into a boy when he touches hot water. Ranma's father and friends also transform into pandas, black pigs, cats, ducks, etc. after falling into different springs. This ability to transform caused them a lot of trouble and created a lot of jokes. It seems these two anime series popped some ideas into my younger head about gender-fluidity.
Basic respect on every “clothes”
In June 2025, something happened in the Red Bull Dance Your Style - India qualifier. It was full of offensive energy in one of the Top 16 battles - Hectik vs Krish. In the battle we can see in the first round that Hectik started to show moves in an attempt to ridicule Krish - who’s a transgender woman - with totally unrelated dance movements. Hectik kept doing this type of moves to the audience to show his “masculinity” and to belittle his opponent. For me, no matter who you did these moves to, it was rude and disrespectful. What I appreciate about Krish was that she didn’t show that she was frightened and she used his moves as material during her round to respond! It was amazing that Krish didn’t use the same tactics to offend Hectik. In dance battles, no matter who you are, everyone should be treated fairly and respectfully. It’s important that we are confident to be a guardian of our own style, ideas, choices and gender.
Gender is “clothes”
I think I didn’t have this idea until I grew up. Everyone can choose their favourite looks, clothes and hairstyles and become their favourite self. No one can define you, only you define yourself. When getting along with people, people should get to know each other and attract each other through their personality, personal characteristics or compatriotism.
From childhood to adulthood, we all expect to be recognised in various environments; sometimes, in certain environments it is difficult to accept our differences. But Lily did it. When she realised that she wanted to become a woman, she made a surgery decision. I have friends in Hong Kong who are experiencing transgender processes and hormonal regulation treatment. They share with me that although every time they take medicines it makes them feel a little step closer to what they wanna look like, this kind of adaptation is very difficult. Transforming from a cisgender male to a cisgender female is not easy. I do not believe that Lily made the decision to undergo surgery just to achieve victory in a dance competition. It is ridiculous that people think this. Who would make such a change for a momentary sense of personal vanity?
Rather than causing chaos, more diverse voices can create a better future.
I love what Starla said, “Queer people held the keys to the gates of dance.” I am active in the waacking and krump communities and when I express myself in these two dance styles, I feel a freedom to express my art and my story beyond defined gender traits. One of my goals is using the language of krump and waacking to create my own style and show people the harmony of different styles of street dance. I hope that I can be a part of a team that protects the freedom of Hong Kong Street Dance Culture. Krump is all about our own different stories and that is the most precious part of it. Presenting art or your dance should not be limited by your gender.
Back to people's livelihood in my hometown, this is a good reference for us. The issue which is still unapproved by Hong Kong government, is the diverse marriage system in Taiwan and the legalisation of same-sex marriage, which marks a significant progress in society's approach to gender equality and human rights.
The legalisation of diverse marriages guarantees that everyone can enjoy equal marriage rights, regardless of gender or sexual orientation - this is an important expression of social justice. Accepting diverse marriages helps promote cultural inclusivity and allows people from different backgrounds to find a sense of belonging in society. This change fosters a broader social dialogue and challenges traditional notions, whilst enhancing our understanding and respect for different genders and sexual orientations.
After all, in every aspect of life, we think about how we show or interpret "ourselves" every day. Instead of following what others say, it is better to be calm and think about what we are doing every day and what we are really thinking about. If we put down our shackles, we might just gain some new perspectives. More diverse voices in the krump battle scene will not cause chaos, it will only create a richer and better future.
Buy a copy of Ink Cypher - In Print, an exquisitely designed, limited edition, Hip Hop dance newspaper featuring all of the texts from Ink Cypher Round 1-3 here.
This text was conceived during the Hip Hop Dance Writing Laboratory in Hong Kong in April 2025. It is part of Ink Cypher Round 4, published November 2025.
A response to Queer Club Culture in 1990s Kansas City: A Chance Encounter with Soakies by Starla Carr.
If you value the work we're doing and are able to contribute, then please donate.
Chan Yin-fan
Fan began her journey in Hip Hop in 2014 and later became active in Hong Kong Waacking and Krump community. She is a member of the local Waacking group Cocoashot and part of the Krump group Rush Fam.
From 2023 to 2024, she studied and trained in street dance in the Netherlands, participating in various battles to gain experience and performing as a guest dancer at Codarts Rotterdam. Last year, she became one of the founding members of the “Hong Kong Rawness Session”.
This text is part of Ink Cypher Round 4 and is published in English and Chinese.
中文翻譯按此 - Chinese version, click here
Original translation: ChatGPT
Additional translation and edited: Catherine Yau
Fan Chan