Among all club styles- the most extravagant, attractive and eccentric style is Vacking(Wacking). Today it is impossible to imagine modern world dance without this style. This dance is constantly evolving and becoming increasingly popular not only as an opportunity to show your dancing talent, but also as an opportunity to reveal and demonstrate your individuality. It helps to be in the image of a particular screen star or catwalk star (voguing). In wacking, the dancer is as artistic as possible and is capable of a short time using dance to convey all the feelings and emotions that overwhelm him. And play and live in such a short moment the role of some beautiful film star. In this dance you can be whoever you want, because wacking is not just choreography - it is a way of self-expression, it is a beautiful game.
Today, wacking is widely used to create spectacular, bright and memorable shows, musicals, and videos for world-famous stars.
This style owes its birth, first of all, to people with non-traditional sexual orientation. In the early 70s in Los Angeles gay clubs, on their dance parties, gay dancers, with their inherent mannerism and affectation, parodied famous movie stars. The theatrical poses, gestures, and looks of the famous Swedish actress Greta Garbo were especially popular in their parodies. That is why this style was called “The Garbo” at the very beginning, in honor of this actress, who unwittingly became involved in the founding of such an interesting and extravagant style. The dance consisted of a mixture of movements borrowed from hip-hop, jazz and locking, which were performed to funk music, all in the same parodic cutesy manner. This style was born as part of locking culture, because the dances of gay parodists were performed mainly to funk music. Gays and lockers enriched their styles by exchanging movements and dance style. Among lockers, the dance of gays who tried to copy them was called Punkin from punk. “Wacking” appeared as a parody by gays of locker hand movements (inherent to gay manner). The name “Wacking” itself comes from waack – to wave one’s arms. “Wacking” is already a commercial name that was given to the style when the dance began to enjoy enormous popularity, its styles and movements began to be adopted and used in various television shows traditional dancers.
IN different times the musical accompaniment of wacking was different musical styles. Originally performed to funk in the early 70s, it was later danced to disco and even later to house, and is now considered an integral part of house culture. Today, wacking is also sometimes performed to R"n"B music.
Wacking is often confused with Vogueing and is considered uniform style. They are indeed very similar. They are united by the main idea: “Be like the stars.” In the case of wacking, these are movie stars, and in the case of voguing, these are catwalk stars. Due to certain differences, professional dancers still draw clear boundaries between these two areas.
Voguing also appeared, thanks to people with unconventional orientation, in approximately the same time period as vacking. These were initially parodies of fashion shows, modeling walks and posing. This took place in New York, where black and Latino gays performed in women's costumes at Harlem balls. These gay “fashion shows” became so popular that gay men dressed in women's costumes were invited to dance in girl shows in Las Vegas, where they used posing and pantomimes of models in their dances. This style received its name in honor women's magazine mod “Voque” – Voguing.
It is believed that with its increased popularity and victorious march across the country, wacking reached the east coast and merged with voguing. And now these two styles can be styled with Wacking styles: NYC Style (New York style - voguing) and LA Style (Los Angeles style - wacking)
Whatever it is, and whatever these styles are called. they have significant differences from each other:
Voguing, unlike wacking, is a more measured, sedate and calmer style. When performing movements, the same rhythm and speed are maintained.
Basic elements of Vogue: model penetrations back and forth, similar to similar penetrations of real top models; poses, manners and movements that copy top models.
Today, wacking has ceased to be a dance of sexual minorities. It is danced by people of all orientations all over the world. Wacking is a dance of liberated, emotional, creative, bright and self-confident people. In this dance, a person reveals himself and expresses himself in front of a wide audience.
Wacking is an extremely attractive and sexy dance. It develops smooth movements, grace, the ability to pose effectively, and work with the hips. While performing wacking, you are not just dancing, but playing the role of a movie star, living her bright life, which takes place in the spotlight, in the rays of popularity and fame.
What is wacking? This is a beautiful and energetic dance. Vacking appeared at the dawn of the 1970s in special establishments for people with homosexual orientation in Los Angeles.
The Garbo
At first, this style was called The Garbo (after the famous Swedish artist, dancers imitated her theatrical poses).
It looked quite interesting. The modern name of the dance “wacking” (from the word wack - waving one’s arms) is commercial; it arose due to the fact that everything more people became interested in this phenomenon. Initially, this style was a mixture of jazz, locking movements, and 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 the word punk. It should be noted that there was no enmity or confrontation between them; on the contrary, there was something like cooperation: some borrowed something from others. Wacking appeared as part of locking; the musical accompaniment for this dance was different: first in 1972-1973 it was funk, then disco, and after a while - house. The latter is still used for performances today. Currently, wacking is an integral part of house culture.
Origin of Wacking
How did this dance come about? It’s just that homosexuals began to imitate locking dancers: they made similar movements with their hands. However, from their manners one could understand that these were people. At that time, many began to be interested in what wacking was. This dance became more and more in demand.
Vacking in Los Angeles and New York
Of course, there was a connection between New York and Los Angeles, and wacking thus began to gain more and more popularity. The dancers added to it movements from voguing, a movement that appeared in the 40s and 50s in New York institutions for homosexuals. What can you say about this style? It was an imitation of their poses. So it turns out that the New York and Los Angeles styles have many differences. In the first case, pathetic poses, jumping and throwing take place, and in the second, there are many different movements with the hands. It may even seem that it is different dances. In addition to hand movements, this style is characterized by peculiar poses and model gaits. Currently, wacking is an integral element of various colorful performances.
But you should understand that this is, rather, not choreography, but a desire to express your individuality. It's a pity that some people still don't know what wacking is. The dance, the origin of which is very exotic, does not attract some people at all.
People who contributed to the development of wacking
Vacking appeared thanks to the following people: Lanny Michael Angelo, Tinker, and Aurther Andrew. But many other individuals also contributed to this matter. However, today it is not possible to find them; some of them have already died. Currently, the founders of wacking are considered to be members of Dancing Machine, a group founded in 1975 by a man named Jeff Kutach. In the 70s and at the dawn of the 80s it included such talented individuals, like Fast Freddy, Dino SugarBop, and Gino. There were also representatives of the fair sex: Topaz Lanette, Flame, Ana Sanchez, Diane and Dallas. Thanks to these people, many understood what stylized wacking is. A
Shabbadu - the creator of a new direction
Shabbadu, who was a member of the famous The Lockers, made a huge contribution to the development of wacking. Together with Leur Courtelmont, he once told interesting story: once in a club a homosexual who performed garbo decided to compete with him. And Shabbadu wanted to be the best in everything, and so he immediately began to study this style, which he previously knew nothing about.
He soon realized that it was possible to mix garbo with locking - this is how the Shway direction appeared. In general, when he realized what wacking was, his life changed dramatically. Of course, for the better.
Tyrone Proctor - famous dancer
Tyrone Proctor is another person who contributed to the development of wacking. He is one of those people who contributed to the popularization of dance in New York. He came there from the West Coast to become a fellow in the Soul Train program. Currently, Tyrone Proctor continues to teach beginners how to dance, although he has an injured hip and can only perform movements with his hands. The dancer moves with difficulty. The meaning of his life is to show people what wacking is. The origin of this dance is very unusual, but even more interesting are bright personalities, contributing to its popularization.
Archie Burnett - legendary figure
Another high quality and very talented dancer in the underground scene is a man named Archie Burnett. For thirty years he regularly visited the most prestigious establishments in New York, and all this time his original, beautiful and vibrant style was honed.
IN this moment he is 54 years old, but no one who has ever talked to him can believe it, because he looks younger than 40. He has taken part in filming for dance publications, for example, Village Voice Dance, as well as Dance Ink. He can also be seen in Sally Sommer's documentary Check Your Body At The Door. Anyone who has watched this film knows what wacking is.
Vacking now
Today, wacking is used as a basis for original, original dance shows. They are very spectacular. The basis of this movement is not impeccable choreography, but the resourcefulness of dancers who tirelessly improvise. They show individuality and demonstrate the originality of their personality. The dancers are united by one desire - they want the audience to know what wacking is. And many people like this style. Some people even get excited about it too, and that’s wonderful.
Waacking style is a performance, a performance, a dialogue with the audience, a show!
Wacking (from “waack” - waving your arms) is the exact fast technique, clear lines combined with a free body, mannered one way walking and artistic play. Very big role Waacking is played by hand movements.
Waacking is a style that originated in gay nightclubs in the late 60s of the 20th century. Many people believe that Waacking is part of House culture, but this opinion is wrong, since Waacking was originally danced to Disco and Funk music.
At first, Waacking was predominantly an African-American and Latino culture. Dancer Lamont Peterson was one of the first to use fast hand movements in dance in the early 70s in Los Angeles. Also among the famous dancers who were the first to use brushes and sharp swings of their arms in their freestyle to disco music are Mickey Lord, Tyrone Proctor and Blinky.
Many people mistakenly believe that Waacking came from the Locking style because some of the movements are really very similar, but despite this similarity, the two are absolutely different styles. The emergence of the Waacking style was facilitated by the gay community, in contrast to locking.
Another name for this style is Punkin, from punk - this is how lockers sarcastically, in retaliation, called gays who tried to copy them in their manner. There was no confrontation or rivalry between them - it was an exchange, some learned and took something from others, and after a while many locking teachers gradually began teaching Punkin lessons, such as Angel, Anna Sanchez Lollipop and Shabbadoo.
Waaking originated in the early 70s in gay clubs in Los Angeles on the West Coast. This style was originally called The Garbo (after Greta Garbo, the famous Swedish actress whose theatrical poses were parodied by dancers). Waacking is the commercial name for the dance, which came into being due to its spreading popularity (from waack - to wave one's arms), when traditional dancers began to borrow and copy movements, in particular from the popular American TV show Soul Train. At first it was more of a fusion of jazz, hip-hop and locking movements.
Another name for this style is Punkin from punk - this was the name given to gay lockers who tried to copy them in their own manner. There was no confrontation or rivalry between them - it was an exchange, some learned and took something from others. Wacking originated as part of locking culture, initially in 72-73 it was danced to funk, then to disco, and later to house, and now it is an integral part of house culture. But the original wacking emerged as a gay parody of locker hand movements (in an appropriately gay manner), and as a result of the constant exchange between Los Angeles and New York, wacking reached the East Coast and mixed into Vogueing, a style that originated in the 40s -50s gay clubs in New York as a parody of fashion moves and model posing. Therefore, NYC Style and LA Style of wacking are different: Los Angeles is more about clear hand movements, and New York is about throws, jumps and voguing poses. In addition to hand movements, waacking includes the art of clear poses and lines (voque) and one way walking. Now wacking is constantly used to create spectacular shows, but we must always remember that this is not choreography, but self-expression and individuality.
The founder of voguing is the greatest dancer named Willi Ninja, the head of the House of Ninja, the most powerful community in New York and the legend of the film “Paris Is Burning”, which tells about voguing fever. This man taught top models the art of voguing. Aurther Andrew, Tinker, Lanny Michael Angelo are the names of some of the founders of wacking. Nowadays Shabbado and the dancers from Dancing Machine are considered to be the pioneers of the style. In the 70s and early 80s, the Dancing Machine group included dancers such as Gino, Dino SugarBop, Fast Freddy, and among the girls: Topaz Lanette, Diane, Flame, Dallas, Ana Sanchez.
Shabba Doo from the legendary The Lockers plays a very important role in the history of wacking. Ler Courtelmont and Shabbadu himself tell a story about how he was battled in a club by a gay man who danced the garbo - and then Shabbadu, who always strived to be the best in everything, rushed to learn this hitherto unprecedented dance. Then he began to mix locking and garbo - this mix was called Shway.
Another dancer without whom modern wacking culture cannot be imagined is Tyrone Proctor. He is one of those who facilitated the exchange between Los Angeles and New York. Tyrone Proctor came to New York from the West Coast to work on the show Soul Train. Today he continues to teach, despite the fact that one of his hips is damaged and he can only focus on working with his hands, avoiding movement.
Archie Burnett is a consummate and highly respected dancer in the underground scene. 30 years of clubbing in the hottest clubs in New York have shaped his unique, strong and confident style. He's 54 now, but if you saw the man, you wouldn't think he was older than 40. He's posed for dance magazines like Dance Ink and Village Voice Dance, documentary film Sally Sommer - Check Your Body At The Door, gives workshops on Waacking/Vogueing at Peridance Dance Center (New York) as part of NYC International and House Dance Conference.
Modern fitness studios offer their clients the opportunity to visit Wacking. For beginners, this is a completely new concept, and when they come to their next lesson, many do not even suspect that we're talking about it's about dance. What is Wacking dance? Its origin and style are of interest to many. This is exactly what will be discussed in the article.
What is the secret of wacking?
Wacking is a popular type of street dance direction, which is characterized by grace and mannerism of execution. This style is gaining increasing popularity both in youth circles and in the professional show industry. Wacking wins the hearts of only those who are confident and bright people, capable of showing all their plasticity and beauty.
What is wacking? The dance, the origin of which interests many, has established itself as rhythmic and fast-paced. Its essence lies in precise technical movements of the hands and an important, proud gait. An important feature is close communication with the public. The dance is often performed in nightclubs and other entertainment venues.
Vacking represents fun show, where each participant imagines himself famous model or a popular star who visited the famous Broadway. The dance is characterized by lightness and femininity, so the main attention when constructing it is paid to clear hand movements and quick changes of poses.
Historical reference
Origins of origin and appearance unusual dance It is impossible to specify exactly. None of its performers can specifically tell how this movement appeared, which became popular thanks to its extravagant performance technique and a number of extraordinary body movements, which, when combined, give an unusual effect, intriguing viewers with its individuality.
Where did the Wacking dance come from? Its origin has several versions. The first says that Wacking originates from the enthusiastic applause of the surprised spectators who attended the performance. The second version of the origin of this trend has English roots and is derived from the word wacking, translated as “waving one’s hands.”
According to one of the theories of the origin of the wacking style, the very first dancers who reproduced the dance were men of non-standard sexual orientation living in America. In their movements they wanted to reveal feminine behavior, in some cases they even tried to parody them. It was they who defined the dance as garbo. The explanation for this was the famous G. Garbo, who became famous for her extraordinary theatrical poses. The movements of the actress were often imitated by beginning dancers, hence the origin of parodies and techniques.
When wacking is performed by a male cast, it causes strange and strange feelings, but after some time the audience receives a colossal charge of positive emotions. Time has passed, and the direction is of interest to both the stronger half of humanity and the fair sex.
Is the stylized wacking, the origin of which we are so interested in, difficult to perform? At first glance, one can agree that there is nothing complicated, but only professional dancers boldly declare that it is very difficult for beginners to achieve liberation on stage by combining the sharpness of movements with plasticity. Not everyone can master the language of this dance. At the time of the lesson, dancers often cannot master the technique of liberation, which is where mistakes and stiffness arise. To learn the basics of this direction, it is necessary to get rid of all shortcomings and complexes once and for all, and also force the body to obey the basics of dance. Therefore, Wacking is a dance only for selected and gifted people who achieve their goals and go straight to their goal. If you have great confidence in your abilities, then wacking is for you.
Wacking and modernity
Why is the Wacking dance style, the origin of which we are discussing, so interesting today? Currently, he embodies several styles that have original parody roots. Some of the dancers conveyed the voqueing style, where they demonstrated a model gait and facial gestures of the girls. Another part depicted the locker technique, parodying arm swings. All this was combined and presented to the viewer in a relaxed version, characteristic of representatives of non-traditional orientation.
In response to such imitation, lockers gave wacking another name - punkin. Dancers of the two styles adopted the best techniques and body movements from each other. As a result, many believe that wacking is a type of locking.
Modern wacking is not considered a dance of sexual minorities; it is performed with great pleasure by both girls and boys of any orientation.
Waking and music
What kind of music suits the wacking dance, the origin of which interests us? The origins of the dance indicate that for it musical accompaniment A variety of music is suitable. The very first tune to which wacking is performed is funk. It was replaced by the disco style.
Modern dancers choose house music to dance. Professionals say that music has no meaning in this dance. The priority is always a positive mood and a good inner attitude. Only they will help convey the meaning of the dance to the viewer.
Wacking: the basis of the performance technique
- Swinging your arms in different directions and forward.
- Clear and precise swaying combined with energetic movements around the stage and hall.
- Sudden acceleration and decline in rhythm.
- An abrupt stop in movements and, conversely, an unpredictable start of a new dance element.
What is the power of dance?
- Wacking will help you gain confidence in yourself and your abilities.
- Dance will make you stand out from the crowd of people.
- Wacking will make you harmonious and graceful, flexible and fast.
- You will become the owner of an easy and beautiful gait.
- Wacking will teach you to move freely, despite difficulties and difficulties.
- Dance will reveal all your internal sides and will force you to relax.
- Dance will make you look at yourself and your inner world in a new way.
Wacking today is danced by very creative people who know how to express their “I” in dance. Viewers are delighted with this direction because it is unique and colorful.
