Whacking and Voguing

Whacking (also Waacking or Punkin') and Voguing are quite similar dance styles which are often confused because they both started as underground dances and battles in the gay scenes. As often, they are more up-to-date. Whacking evolved at the west coast from funk and dance music in the early 70s, while Voguing has mostly been danced to house music at the east coast in the early 60s. Since nowadays dancers use all kinds of music to dance, a seperation is difficult.

Voguing consists of poses (like on a runway) and also the transitions between them. There are three styles: 1. Old Way (formation of lines and symmetry), 2. New Way (more rigid and geometric movements, influenced by mime) and 3. Vogue Femme (exaggerated femine movements, influenced by modern and ballet - with 6 elements: hands, duckwalk, catwalk, spins, dips and floor performance). The events are called balls with battles on a runway clearly demonstrating the influence of fashion runways on this style)

Whacking is more fluent than Voguing, accentuating the beats with the hands and the body rather than the poses.

The following video shows Kaba Modern at the Body Rock in 2010. This section concentrates on whacking with the slow motion in shablam, death drop or dip (however you wanna call it).

S**t Kingz

The S**t Kingz are a Japanese dance crew consisting of four male dancers (Shoji, Kazuki, Noppo, Oguri). They are very famous for dancing Hip Hop New Style, especially since winning Body Rock twice in a row (2010 and 2011). Body Rock is a very prestigious hip hop dance competition in San Diego existing since 2000, originally called Bustagroove. The S**t Kingz were actually the first international dance crew to ever win it. I was quite surprised to see them participate because I find it difficult to compare these four dancers with the other crews of 20+ dancers. I think Hip Hop Internationals made a better job, dividing Megacrews (14+ dancers) and normal groups (up to 8 dancers). But still, I love them and their style...