Grrilla Step welcomes summer with free krump performance for Hanoi students

Eight-member Australian krump group, Grrilla Step, arrived in Hanoi on 25 May to perform for Hanoi youth. The “world’s only krump band” will perform a free concert, titled Summer Krump, for Hanoi students at the National Economics University (Students’ Campus, opposite 110 Tran Dai Nghia) from 8.00pm on Friday 27 May. The tour is organised by the Australian Embassy in Hanoi in partnership with the Australian Trade Commission and the National Economics University Youth Union.

Grrilla Step is one of Australia’s leading dance groups, bringing together DJ Dexter Fabay (formerly of the The Avalanches), with four members of the Melbourne krump crew Royal Fam, and four Papua New Guinean log drummers led by master Airi Ingram.

Similar to breakdancing, krumping features exaggerated and highly energetic standing moves. A dancer gives voice to his ‘character’, while attempting to advance through three levels of intensity (krump, buck, amp), and may express himself or herself in anyway, as long as it is authentic and organic.

Grrilla Step have taken krump to the next level, creating a uniquely “Pacific style” that weaves in influences from the group members homelands in the Torres Strait Islands, Cook Islands, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and New Zealand. Explains DJ Dexter, “There are key grooves that we stick to, but the krumpers are really spontaneous. They rehearse a foundation but it can go anywhere. You have to control the music to a point where they get what they call, ‘amped’.”

Australian Ambassador to Vietnam, HE Mr Allaster Cox said: “Grrilla Step’s background and performance style is unlike anything Hanoi audiences will have seen before. The group shows how young Australians are finding new ways to express themselves across cultural backgrounds and experiences. I encourage Hanoi students to take advantage of this opportunity to see a truly international group like Grrilla Step in performance.”

In Hanoi, Grrilla Step will conduct dance exchanges with students from RMIT University Vietnam and the National Economics University. The group will also perform at the CAMA Festival on 28 May, raising money for Flora and Fauna International (FFI).

For more information, please contact Ms Dinh Thi Viet Anh, Public Affairs Manager, Phone: 04 3774 0232, Mobile: 0903 423 440, Email: [email protected].