Songs by Supriya / Courtesy of Prime Video
Waack Girls is a dance drama centered around six women
A woman dances in the spotlight, the glittering tassels of her dress quivering and swaying to the rhythm of her movements.
But it is his arms that catch the light; they undulate, spin and whip the air at breathtaking speed, almost like the blades of a fan.
These are the opening visuals for a web series recently released on Amazon Prime Video called Waack Girls, a drama centered on six women who learn a new dance form to become their town's first all-female waacking group.
Few people know this dance and so 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 is releasing at a time when many Indian cities, big and small, are seeing a resurgence of interest in waacking.
“I was fascinated by the dance style and its emphasis on self-expression,” Taraporevala says of why she made the series.
Underground waacking workshops and jams – events where dancers compete with each other's moves – are popping up in several cities, and international waacking legends are visiting the country to teach the dance.
Recently, Archie Burnett, a club dancer in New York in the 1970s and 1980s and a respected figure in the waacking community, traveled to India for a jam.
Sooni Taraporevala
Waacking legend Archie Burnett (left) with Mekhola Bose who stars in Waack Girls
The dancers hope that the web series will give waacking more visibility in the country and show people that there is much more to dancing than classical forms, hip-hop and Bollywood.
Waacking has a history steeped in the LGBTQ+ liberation movement and the freedom championed by disco music.
This style of dance emerged in Los Angeles gay clubs in the 1970s, at a time when homosexuality was heavily stigmatized. Gay men used waacking to express themselves on the dance floor and fight against the hatred and discrimination they faced.
Therefore, the dance style developed fast, sharp, and powerful movements – much like how comic book heroes beat up their villains, accompanied by sound effects like “ka-pow” and “bam.”
“Waacking comes from the onomatopoeic word 'whack' and is reminiscent of effects found in comic books,” says Tejasvi Patil, a Mumbai-based dancer who has been doing waacking for over a decade.
The dance style also took inspiration from the drama of Hollywood and its glamorous leading ladies. Dramatic poses, rapid footwork, and striking arm movements are characteristic of waack, but dancers have continued to add new movements to the step repertoire, as the celebration of individuality and self-expression is at the heart of the form.
Tejasvi Patil
Tejasvi Patil has been fighting for over a decade
And because of its core philosophy, 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 leaves room for introspection and expression,” says Ayushi Amrute, who has been waacking since 2012 and is a frequent host of Your House Is Waack by Red Bull – a waack jam. for dancers across the country.
“Another important factor is that the waacking community always strives to be a safe space, so 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 contact dancers abroad to learn more about the style.
“We (the handful of Indian dancers who started doing waack more than a decade ago) learned waack the hard way; by doing our own research, learning the history of the dance and connecting with dancers in countries where waack was popular,” says Amrute.
Patil remembers learning waack the same way. But things are remarkably different today. Over the past five years, this style of dance has grown in popularity, with more and more young people flocking to classes to learn it.
Patil, who teaches dance, says she encourages her students to stay true to the style's philosophy: unapologetic self-expression.
When it comes to music, India is still finding its soundscape, 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 also had its own disco era, with songs like Koi Yahan Nache Nache and Aap Jaisa Koi becoming chartbusters in the 1980s, but they don't often find a place in today's waacking jams .
For Waack Girls, Taraporevala brought in independent artists to create an album of original soundtracks, which Patil says created a whole new promising soundscape for waackers in India.
“I think now is the time for people to fully embrace who they are,” says Patil, “and waacking is the perfect platform to showcase what you find.”
