What is waacking?
Waacking is a dance form that emerged from Los Angeles around the disco era and is presently going through a resurgence in night clubs in America and Europe by collectives such as the Imperial House of Waacking (IHOW) and the Waacktitioners.
It was Soul Train in the 1970s that brought waacking to the public’s attention when dancers like Tyrone Proctor would swing their arms wildly in time to the music. He later on formed the group The Outrageous Waack Dancers with another pioneer of the style Jody Watley of pop group Shalamar.
Waack dancing is recognisable by it’s femininity, flailing arms and vogues (pausing while dancing to pose), using the arms hit every beat in the music to extenuate musicality.
Waacking is being pushed forward by the IHOW with dancers such as Aus Ninja, son of Tyrone Proctor, and Kumari Suraj helping to spread the message and the style.
Waacking: Key Facts and People
Tyrone Proctor, pioneer of waacking style and co-founder of the Imperial House of Waacking, along with Jody Watley are the mother and father of the style both from the 1970s dance group The Outrageous Waack Dancers.
Responsible for the re-birth of waacking are Waack King Aus (Aus Ninja), Duchess Lockeroo and Duchess Black Kat.
Kumari Suraj (aka Frankie Douglas) was part of the Waacking Tour organised by B-Better in 2009 to bring the dance style to the UK in a nationwide movement touring all the major cities.
If you’re confused as to why everyone in the Imperial House of Waacking has royal names, it comes from the dancers following the same structure of House Dance International.
Our judge Lady Venus has trained in waacking in New York with some of the original Waackers and original ‘Soul Train’ dancers, including Tyrone Proctor and Archie Burnett. She has also trained and performed with the LA Waackers in Los Angeles for ‘We Are Heroes’, on the show ‘America’s Best Dance Crew’.
She is a prominent member of UK’s pioneering first waacking crew, The Waacktitioners.
