The Evolution of Hip-Hop Dance, From Popping and Locking to TikToking

Locking emerged in Los Angeles in the 1970s. The creator of the dance form, Don "Campbellock" Campbell, was attempting to do a dance called the robot shuffle but instead ended up creating a new form of dance by accident. He and his crew, The Lockers, performed on the musical variety show "Soul Train" for the first time in 1971, which brought national attention to the dance form. Along with using this dance form to elevate hip-hop culture, it was also used to show solidarity within the Black community. Many lockers were also civil rights activists who used moves like the "locking handshake" to represent Black unity.

Choreographer Toni Basil, cofounder of The Lockers, and the crew are credited with changing the world of dance through this form of movement. They performed on "Saturday Night Live," at Radio City Music Hall and Carnegie Hall, on countless award shows, in movies, and many went on to have successful solo careers. This form of dance is most notably associated with wrist rolls, jazz splits, high kicks, and knee drops. Dancers perform fast movements and then "lock" in a position for a moment before returning to fast movements.