The floor shakes at 8 p.m. on Thursdays. Up a narrow staircase above a shuttered sandwich shop on Watertown's Main Street, bass rattles through the walls of a 1,200-square-foot studio as a dozen dancers brace for another round of "get-offs"—the foundational Krump move that looks like a controlled convulsion. Some drove from Boston. One flew from Tokyo. Marcus Chen, a 22-year-old former finance student, just landed his first clean chest pop after six months of trying. His instructor, academy co-founder Jada Reeves, offers a single nod. "That's it. That's what we're here for."
This is the Watertown Krump Academy. Since 2015, the studio has drawn students from 12 countries and 22 U.S. states, according to enrollment records, and produced alumni who have reached the finals of Red Bull Dance Your Style, choreographed for major music acts, and opened their own schools. All from a space barely noticeable from the street, in a Boston suburb with no particular reputation as a dance capital.
From South Central to Suburban Massachusetts
Krump emerged in the early 2000s in South Central Los Angeles, born from neighborhoods where young people channeled aggression into something else: a style built on arm swings, chest pops, jabs, and stomps, danced in circles called "sessions" where participants battle for respect rather than trophies. What began as an alternative to gang culture has since become a global form, with thriving scenes in Paris, Tokyo, Johannesburg, and São Paulo.
Yet Watertown was hardly an obvious outpost. Reeves, then a 27-year-old dancer who had trained in Los Angeles under Krump pioneers, moved east for family reasons and found herself driving to New York or Philadelphia just to find a proper session. "There was nothing in New England," she said. "I kept meeting kids online who wanted to learn, but they had nowhere to go."
In 2015, Reeves and two other dancers—her brother Darnell Reeves and former battle partner Mike "Fury" Okonkwo—pooled $8,000 to lease the second-floor space and install marley flooring and mirrors themselves. They expected maybe 15 students. Forty-seven showed up the first month.
What the Academy Actually Teaches
The curriculum is structured across five levels, from "Foundation" to "Elite Battle Prep." Beginners spend entire classes on foot placement and breathing technique before they attempt a single pop. Advanced students study freestyling, session etiquette, and the psychological pressure of circle battles.
Instructors are required to have placed in at least two major international competitions. Okonkwo, who heads the advanced program, won first place at the 2019 European Buckout and the 2022 Beast Camp circle final. Jada Reeves herself judges competitions across Europe and Asia each year.
But the physical technique is only part of it. "They teach you how to stand in a circle and not disappear," said Aya Tanaka, a 26-year-old from Osaka who has lived in Watertown for two years specifically to train at the academy. "That sounds simple. It is not."
The Alumni Who Left Legends
The academy's promotional materials once claimed to transform enthusiasts into "legends." The founders have softened that language. "Legends are decided by the community, not us," Jada Reeves said. "But we can point to people who started here and earned their place."
Among them:
- Diego "Lil D" Morales, a 2019 Red Bull Dance Your Style U.S. finalist, who began at the academy at age 16 after taking a bus from Lawrence, Massachusetts, three times a week.
- Priya Nandakumar, now a choreographer for two major-label rap artists, who started in the beginner class in 2017 while working as a software engineer.
- Tomás Bertrand, who opened the first dedicated Krump studio in Montreal in 2022 and credits the Watertown curriculum as his model.
According to the academy, roughly 30% of its approximately 180 annual students relocate to Watertown specifically for the program. About 40 alumni now teach Krump professionally worldwide.
Building a Scene from Scratch
The academy has also worked to create infrastructure where none existed. Since 2017, it has hosted the Watertown Buckout, an annual weekend event that draws 300–400 dancers for workshops, battles, and showcases. The 2023 edition featured instructors from France, South Africa, and South Korea.
More quietly, the studio operates a sliding-scale tuition program and partners with a local youth outreach organization to offer free weekly classes to teenagers from low-income families. Darnell Reeves estimates that 25% of current students pay below the standard $220 monthly rate
