What is Wacking? This is a beautiful and energetic dance. Wacking appeared at the dawn of the 1970s in special institutions for gay men in Los Angeles.
The garbo
At first, this style was called The Garbo (after the famous Swedish artist Greta Garbo: the dancers imitated her theatrical poses).
It looked pretty interesting. The modern name of the dance “Wacking” (from the word wack - waving hands) is commercial, it arose due to the fact that more and more people became interested in this phenomenon. Initially, this style was a mixture of jazz, locking movements, as well as hip-hop.
Wacking and Locking
This style has another name - Punkin. How did it come about? Locking dancers simply called homosexuals who tried to imitate them with the word punk. It should be noted that there was no hostility and confrontation between them, on the contrary, there was something like cooperation: some borrowed something from others. Wacking appeared as part of the lock, the musical accompaniment for this dance was different: at first in 1972-1973 it was funk, then disco, and after a while house. The latter is used for performances so far. Wacking is currently an integral part of house culture.
Origin of Wacking
How did this dance come about? Just homosexuals began to imitate the dancers of locks: they made similar movements with their hands. However, by their manners it was possible to understand that these were people of
non-traditional orientation. At that time, many began to become interested in what Wacking is. This dance became more and more popular.
Wacking in Los Angeles and New York
Of course, there was a connection between New York and Los Angeles, and Waking, therefore, began to gain more and more popularity. Dancers added to it movements from Voging - a direction that appeared in New York's gay establishments in the 40s and 50s. What can be said about this style? It was an imitation of the gait of models and their poses. So it turns out that the New York and Los Angeles manner have many differences. In the first case there are pathos, bouncing and throwing, and in the second - a lot of different movements of the hands. It may even seem that these are different dances. In addition to hand movements, this style is characterized by peculiar postures and model walks. Currently, Wacking is an integral element of a variety of colorful performances.
But it should be understood that this is rather not a choreography, but a desire to
show oneself and express one's individuality. It is a pity that some still do not know what Wacking is. The dance, the origin of which is very exotic, does not appeal to some at all.
Contributors to Waking
Wacking appeared thanks to the following people: Lanny Michael Angelo, Tinker, as well as A further Andrew. But many other personalities have contributed to this cause. However, today it is not possible to find them, some of them have already died. Currently, the founders of Wacking are members of the Dancing Machine, a team founded in 1975 by a man named Jeff Kutach. In the 70s and at the dawn of the 80s, he included such talented personalities as Fast Freddy, Dino SugarBop, as well as Gino. There were representatives of the fair sex: Topaz Lanette, Flame, Ana Sanchez, Diane and Dallas. Thanks to these people, many people understood what stylized waxing is. And it is worth a lot.
Shabbadu - the creator of a new direction
A huge contribution to the development of Wacking made Shabbad, listed in the famous The Lockers. Together with Ler Kurtelmon, he once told an interesting story: once in a club a gay man who performed garbo decided to compete with him. And Shabbad wanted to be the best in everything, and therefore he immediately began to study this style, which he did not know anything about before.
Soon, he realized that you can mix garbo with locking - this is how the Shway direction appeared. In general, when he realized what Wacking is, his life changed dramatically. Of course, for the better.
Tyrone Proctor - famous dancer
Tyrone Proctor is another contributor to Waking. He is one of those people who have contributed to the popularization of dance in New York. He arrived there from the West Coast in order to become an employee of the Soul Train program. Currently, Tyrone Proctor continues to teach beginners how to dance, although he has only one hip injured and is only able to make hand movements. The dancer moves with difficulty. The meaning of his life is to show people what Waking is. The origin of this dance is very unusual, but even more interesting are the bright personalities that contribute to its popularization.
Archie Burnett - Legendary
Another upscale and very talented underground dancer is a man named Archie Burnett. For thirty years, he regularly visited the most prestigious institutions of New York, and all this time his original, beautiful and bright style was honed.
He is 54 years old at the moment, but not a single person who has talked to him at least once can believe this, because he looks younger than 40. He took part in shootings for dance publications, for example, Village Voice Dance, as well as Dance Ink. He can also be seen in the Sally Sommer documentary called Check Your Body At The Door. Anyone who watched this movie is aware of what Waking is.
Wacking is currently
Today Wacking is used as a base for original, original dance shows. They are very spectacular. The basis of this trend is not perfect choreography, but the resourcefulness of dancers who tirelessly improvise. They show individuality and demonstrate the originality of their personality. Dancers are united by one aspiration - they want the audience to know what Waking is. And many people like this style. Some even want to learn how to dance, too , and that's great.