In this article
- Your first class
- Origins and community
- Movement to notice
- Listen to the music
- Choosing a class
- Approaches and next steps
01
Your first class
Learn arm paths, rolls, lines, and poses slowly first. Repeat one move through a whole song, then add short bursts of speed. Coordination must come before haste.
Shoulders need a warm-up. A good teacher breaks down combinations, leaves time for freestyle, and teaches the history and names Waacking’s creators and music.
Choose one arm path and one clear pose. Try them with a slower part of the song, then quicken just one transition. Face and gaze can complete the phrase; the teacher should leave room for your own character choice.
02
Origins and community
The form grew in 1970s Los Angeles gay clubs, when living openly could be dangerous. Music and character made room for individuality that public life often denied.
The earlier name punking and histories lost during the AIDS crisis are part of the dance’s memory. They explain why oral accounts such as Billy Goodson's testimony matter so much.
The New York Public Library oral history of Billy Goodson records memories from an early Los Angeles dancer. Such accounts preserve names and club settings that a movement clip alone cannot show.
Culture and community
Soul Train, stage work, and travelling teachers carried Waacking beyond Los Angeles. Learn the names of the dance’s creators and its community history.
Hear Donna Summer, Sylvester, Chic, Diana Ross, and Grace Jones as different energies. One track invites flow; another asks you to cut the beat or build a character.
In a disco recording, hear where the voice rises over the beat. The arms can follow that phrase and a pose can mark its end. In another song, the same arm path can tell a new story through timing, gaze and distance from other dancers.
03
Movement to notice
Arms and character
Arm circles need a safe shoulder; expression grows from the music and a chosen character.
Waackxxxy's Waacking movement
Waackxxxy shows fast arm paths and a clear pose in this Red Bull Dance clip.
Red Bull Dance · WaackxxxyOpen the original source ↗04
Listen to the music
Disco music drives arm circles and character. Accents matter more than constant speed.
05
Choosing a class
Questions to ask
- How do you teach arm circles with safe shoulders and clear expression?
- What disco music will we use to explore character and accents?
- Where can students practise safely after class and learn more about this style's music and community?
06
Approaches and next steps
Waacking grew in Los Angeles club and disco culture, with rotational arms and character. Vogue belongs to Ballroom culture, categories, and another language of lines and poses.
Both can be theatrical and playful. Locking uses funk groove, locks, points, and wrist rolls; Waacking more often follows disco, rapid arm paths, and film poses.
