Locking Crew Routine: Lock, Point and Wrist Roll in Four Eights

A study of locking, the funk style created by Don Campbell in Los Angeles in the early '70s and made famous by The Lockers. Groups build a short routine with its basic moves, its sharp freezes and its upbeat, theatrical character.

How to play

1. Context and listening: funk music, the idea of 'locking' a move to a sudden stop and playing to the audience (3 min).
2. Fundamentals by imitation: lock (stop the movement dead), point (point with your whole body) and wrist roll (8 min).
3. Each group of five writes a four-eight routine on a whiteboard that includes all three moves and one freeze (10 min).
4. Rehearse with one classmate acting as the 'outside eye' who fixes the timing (7 min).
5. Show it in two rounds, with applause after each group (7 min).

Rules

• No drops to the floor and no knee drops: the routine stays standing.
• Point at the audience or the space, never in someone's face.
• Everyone in the group contributes at least one eight-count.
• Respect other groups' rehearsal time.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: arm moves (point and wrist roll) are done seated, and the group adjusts the formation to that level.
• Students who are nervous performing: dance in the middle of the group, or act as outside eye and introduce the routine.
• Students with visual impairments: describe each move with a verbal image and guide the arms with permission.

Learning goals

• Perform locking fundamentals with clean freezes.
• Compose a short group routine using their own notation.
• Know where locking comes from and its link to funk music.

Equipment for a class of 25

• speaker: 1
• whiteboards: 6
• markers: 6

Teacher tip

Find an instrumental funk track around 100–110 BPM. The usual problem is soft, mushy moves: keep reminding them the lock is a hard stop, not a gesture.

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