Princess Lockerooo

“Born and raised in New York City, Samara Cohen-O’Neal, professionally known as Princess Lockerooo, is a dancer, director, choreographer, producer, educator, and cultural leader whose work has reshaped the world’s understanding of Waacking—the queer, expressive dance style born in the underground clubs of the 1970s. Raised by a single mother, Samara was a vocal major at LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, with early dance training at 92nd Street.”

Origins of Waacking

Waacking is queer dance form that originated in Los Angeles Clubs in the 1970s. Its name derived from the onomatopoeia whack which references a sharp striking movement of the arms and hands that acts in dialogue with the music. Waacking requires for dancers to pop and freeze, to control their muscular tensions all throughout the body with poetic and ephemeral flowing transitional movements. The dance takes from different Black vernacular dance forms such as Voguing and Jazz which are known for their innovative spirit and theatricality.

But before Waacking was Waacking it was known as Punking. Punking comes from the slur punk, which queer men would be called. Punking emerged as a term by a group of friends who took the negativity within the term and transformed it into something that gave them power and that they could use against the people who called them such names. Punking didn’t start off as a social dance, it was an urban dance and a gay dance because it was made by urban gay youth. Punking was about expressing oneself to the fullest of one’s wishes and desires. It was about being free and open to being exactly whoever you want to be. Punking was pure judgment free expression.

Pioneers of Punking

Pioneers of punking include Andrew Frank, Arthur Goff (Virgin Islander), Billy-Starr Estrada (Chicano), Kenny (aka China-Doll due to his Chinese origin and his doll like appearance), Lonnie Carbajal (Filipino), Michael-Angelo Harris (half-Japanese), Tinkier Toy, Tommy Mitchell, Viktor Manoel (Mexican), Claude, Fay-Ray, Jo-Jo, Johnnie, Juan, Lizard-Woman.

Punking started to transform into Waacking when Punking Pioneers Arthur Gold, Tinker Toy, and Andrew Frank went on Soul Train Line. They showcased Punking to the world which invited more people to know about the dance form. Lockers such as Tyrone Proctor, Shabba Doo, Ana “Lollipop” Sanchez, Jazz dancer Dallas Zeigler, met the punkers and started to learn from them and innovate the style by incorporating their dance styles within it. Afraid of being considered queer, straight dancers started changing the name to Waacking. The name changed to Whacking because the Punkers did forceful movements that resembled someone being whacked.

Wacking then went from the West Coast to the East Coast with Pioneer of Waacking Tyrone Proctor moving back to New York and spreading the spirit of Waacking. In the 1980’s Waacking was getting attention and appeared in different types of media like music videos and films. Then in 1981 the Hiv & Aids Pandemic erupted and decimated millions of people, a vast majority being gay men. Due to the pandemic most of the pioneers of Waacking died and the art slowly faded from the periphery. Then in 2003 Brian Green managed to revive the interest within Waacking through teaching it to students in New York at the Broadway Dance Center. The people in New York loved Waacking and wanted more which led to different pioneers of waacking who were still alive to come back on the scene and teach to others.

Princess Lockerooo’s “journey into dance didn’t begin until age 19, when she began taking classes at Broadway Dance Center and discovered the electrifying world of New York City’s nightlife and underground street dance scene. It was inside the city’s drag bars and nightclubs where Princess Lockerooo’s life changed forever. The clubs were more than a stage — they were a movement, a community, a living classroom of culture, freedom, and transformation. It was here that she found her purpose, learning how to perform and tell stories through music, fashion, identity, and dance. Through this world, she formed a deep bond with Bob the Drag Queen, who became both friend and drag mother, and whose artistry helped shape Lockerooo’s own approach to performance.”

Princess Lockerooo met Brian Green at the Broadway Dance Center as well. Green was the one that introduced Princess Lockerooo to her teacher Tyrone Proctor. Tyrone Proctor a legendary dancer and choreographer. Proctor helped Lockerooo become a better dancer and Waacker. Lockerooo makes a commitment to persevering and appreciating queer culture and all its facets. Princess Lockerooo has dedicated her work to honoring Waacking and its roots while simultaneously pushing Waacking out of its set parameter.

Princess Lockeroo has performed and taught in over 30 countries and has appeared on major popular media such as Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, and America’s Got Talent. Princess Lockerooo founded The Fabulous Waack Dancers(TFWD), which is the first Waacking company in the U.S. in 2022.TFWD has performed at the Lincoln Center, The Guggenheim Museum, The Apollo Theater, The WOW Festival(La Jolla Playhouse), and at Jacob’s Pillow. Within that same year Princess Lockerooo launched the Waack Dancer Training program, which is an innovative educational initiative grounded in the purpose to teach Waacking through technique, history, club culture, and self expression. WDTP aids dancers in finding their voice and understanding where Waacking comes from. Lookerooo also has a partnership with the New York Public Library for Performing Arts, where they perform biannual. Lockerpool also worked with them to archive the oral history of Bill Goodson, a pioneer of Waacking. Lockerooo is also the founder of Waack to the Future, an international dance festival and battle held annually. The event brings together Waackers from all over the world that are innovating and changing Waacking.

Lockeroo was honored with a Bessie Award for Breakout Choreographer and has been recognized as a global cultural curator and visionary. Lockerloo’s work has been featured in Dance Magazine, New York Times, Brut, Document Journal, The Medium and so much more. They have given amazing talks at events like SAP NextGen HATCH,, and Original Thinkers, where they spoke on issues surrounding identity, movement, perseverance, and radical dream-making.