Arm-driven street dance born from 1970s LA disco and club culture. Covers fast arm movements and posing through battle competition, choreography creation, and cultural contribution to the art form.
Waacking is a dance style born in the LGBTQ+ club culture of 1970s Los Angeles, defined by rapid arm movements rotating from the shoulder and dramatic poses. Performed to disco and funk music, it draws inspiration from the glamour of Hollywood golden-era actresses and drag performances. Beyond technical mastery, this guide values self-expression, musicality, and understanding the cultural roots of the art form.
You are taking your first steps into waacking. You can recognize the four-on-the-floor disco beat and attempt the waack back (rotating the arm behind the shoulder with a sharp finish), but your arm trajectory is unstable and speed control is difficult. You imitate basic strike poses and begin to learn that waacking was born in the LGBTQ+ clubs of 1970s Los Angeles.
What Comes Next
If you've checked off most of this list, you're ready for the Foundation stage, learning the waack forward and double waack, and refining your upper body movement through isolation. Kolb(1984)'s Experiential Learning theory suggests that arm trajectory and rhythmic sense are internalized through repeated cycles of attempting waack backs and poses and reflecting on the experience.
Defines the official HHI whacking battle judging criteria (attire, arm-feet coordination, floor work, full body control), used as the authoritative basis for battle and competition competency boundaries at Levels 4-6.
Incorporates waacking into the ISTD Street Dance syllabus as a formalized teaching framework, referenced for structuring foundational technique proficiency boundaries at Levels 1-3.
Systematically documents waacking fundamentals (Waack Back, Waack Forward, Double Waack) and historical context, used as direct evidence for Level 1-2 checklist movement criteria and cultural context grounding.
A scholarly history of 1970s American dance music culture documenting the disco club scene and LGBTQ+ community self-expression, providing academic grounding for waacking cultural context and musicality checklist items.
