About Locking - Part 2
What is The Campbellock
A.k.a Locking
Before we dive into the history, let’s take a quick look at what the dance is.
The “Campbellock” aka “Locking” is an improvisational performance dance based on the expression of the individual, with “The Lock” as its base from which everything flows.
In simpler terms, it is a freestyle dance, where you are free to move to the music, returning to “The Lock” as a place to start over, pause/end or where you let the music guide your movements somewhere else.
Where was the campbellock created?
The dance was created as a mistake, at LA Trade Tech College in 1970, around the jukebox in the cafeteria, while trying to learn a dance called “The Robot Shuffle from a group of dancers (Sam Williams, Sweet Tee and a few others) who danced on local TV shows such as “Sha-Bang” and “Boss City”. It was developed in that cafeteria and in clubs all over Southern California.
what is the Lock?
So you may wonder, what is the Lock? According to Don “Campbellock” Campbell:
"Sometimes, I would stop, freeze, and Lock It Up! Or sometimes, it would be just one continuous motion. It wasn't a specific move that I practiced. I would Lock It Up, I would Lock, I would Lock Lock. I was doing my dance. And I wasn't trying to name things. I wasn't trying break things down. I was just doing me. It was my dance. And it's what made me "Campbellock".
The Lock is meant to be one continuous motion. Up, Down, Up, Down, etc. This motion was meant to keep the body moving with music. It was never meant to be broken down into 2 separate movements.
Sometimes when you hear a part of the music that suits the moment, you might freeze the motion that is “The Lock” either “Up” or “Down”. “The Uplock” being the “Up” part and “The Lock” being the “Down” part. It’s still “The Lock” up or down!
Next, we’ll talk about how and where the dance was created.
