Indian show renews interest in 1970s dance style from America’s gay clubs

A woman dances in the spotlight, the glittering tassels on her dress shivering and swaying in tandem with her moves.

But it’s her arms that catch the light; they wave, spin and whip through the air at breath-taking speed, almost like the blades of a fan.

These are the opening visuals of a recently released web series on Amazon Prime Video called Waack Girls, a drama centred around six women who learn a new dance form to become their city’s first all-female waacking crew.

Not many know about the dance and so the women have to fight hard – against society and their families – to be taken seriously. But waacking ends up being the gift that keeps on giving.

Directed by Sooni Taraporevala, the series has been released at a time when many Indian cities – big and small – are witnessing a renewed interest in waacking.

“I was fascinated by the dance style and the importance it gives to self-expression,” says Taraporevala about why she made the series.

Workshops and underground waacking jams – events where dancers battle it out with their moves – are mushrooming in several cities and international waacking legends are visiting the country to teach the dance.

Recently, Archie Burnett, who was a club dancer in New York in the 1970s and 80s and is a respected figure in the waacking community, visited India for a jam.

Dancers hope that the web series will give waacking more visibility in the country and show people that there’s more to dance than classical forms, hip-hop and Bollywood.

Waacking has a history steeped in the LGBTQ+ liberation movement and the freedom championed by disco music.

The dance style emerged in the gay clubs of Los Angeles in the 1970s, when there was a lot of stigma surrounding homosexuality. Gay men used waacking to express themselves on the dance floor and push back against the hate and discrimination they experienced.

Consequently, the dance style developed swift, sharp and forceful movements – much like how action heroes in comic books beat up their villains, accompanied by sound-effects like “ka-pow” and “bam”.

“Waacking comes from the onomatopoeic word ‘whack’ and is reminiscent of [the effects] found in comic books,” says Tejasvi Patil, a Mumbai-based dancer who has been waacking for more than a decade.

The dance style also drew inspiration from the drama of Hollywood and its glamorous leading ladies. Dramatic poses, quick footwork and striking arm movements are characteristic of waacking but dancers have continued to add new moves to the repertoire of steps, as celebrating individuality and self-expression are at the heart of the form.

And because of its core ethos, waacking continues to be a tool of empowerment and self-expression for India’s LGBTQ+ community.

“In fact, many people explore their sexual identity through the dance style because it allows space for introspection and expression,” says Ayushi Amrute, who has been waacking since 2012 and is a frequent host of Red Bull’s Your House Is Waack – a waacking jam for dancers across the country.

“Another important factor is that the waacking community always strives to be a safe space, so that people feel comfortable expressing themselves,” she adds.

When Amrute was introduced to waacking by her dance teacher, the style was virtually unknown in India. Her teacher encouraged her to watch videos and reach out to dancers abroad to learn more about the style.

“We [the handful of Indian dancers who began waacking over a decade ago] learnt waacking the hard way; by doing our own research, learning about the history of the dance and connecting with dancers in countries where waacking was popular,” says Amrute.

Patil remembers learning waacking the same way. But things are remarkably different today. In the past five years or so, the dance style has picked up in popularity, with more youngsters flocking to classes to learn it.

Patil, who teaches dance, says that she encourages her students to stay true to the ethos of the style – unabashed self-expression.

When it comes to music, India is still finding its soundscape for the style, she adds. Songs by disco queen Donna Summer and American pop legend Diana Ross are still popular, as are tracks from the 1983 film Staying Alive.

Bollywood had its own disco era too, with songs like Koi Yahan Nache Nache and Aap Jaisa Koi becoming chart-toppers in the 1980s, but they don’t often find space in today’s waacking jams.

For Waack Girls, Taraporevala brought in indie artists to create an album of original soundtracks, which Patil says has created a brand new and promising soundscape for waackers in India.

“I think the time is right for people to embrace who they are fully,” says Patil, “and waacking is the perfect platform to showcase what you find.”