Turfing is an Oakland-based form of dance which evolved in the 1990s from another Oakland-based dance form, the 1960s Latin-style dance, Boogaloo.
"Turfing" allegedly stands for "Taking Up Room on the Floor," thought to go back to dancer Jeriel Bey and his group "The Architeckz.". The dancing itself came from different dances from different "turfs" in Oakland. The dance is based on a bunch of different dances like the "two step" "brookfield" "auntie" "shaking" "the busta" "cliffhangers" "tsunamis" and "traces". According to wikipedia, "Turfing incorporates other dance style concepts such as tutting, flexing, waving and animation. Turf dance is an improvisational, free-flowing form of dance that is based on the idea of pure cause and effect but focuses on storytelling, the creation of optical illusions, and the display of distinctive personal style. Dance elements include popping, locking, and miming. Gliding is heavily used in turf dance because it enables the creation of optical illusions. "Going dumb," or completely letting one's emotions loose on the dance floor, is also a distinctive part of the tradition."
In the 2000s, rapper E-40 featured Oakland rappers in his turfing in "Tell Me When to Go" which helped turfing achieve mainstream recognition. Other groups that featured turfing in their videos were Baby Bash and Keak Da Sneak.
Other prominent turfing groups are Turf Feinz, Demetrius Zeigler, Chare' Johnson, Rawnay, Ronald "Head" Singleton & Yun Shep, and Dav 2.0.
