Punking: How appropriation revitalised it and the role institutions play in the protection and longevity of this elusive art

From the streets of Los Angeles in the early 1970s, a dance style named Punking emerged. This occurred at the height of the civil rights movement in the underground LGBTQ+ clubs of LA by a group of BIPOC queer men. A blend of sharp, exaggerated poses and movements borrowed from Hollywood films and pop culture became an art form that reflected their identity and encapsulated the escapism and liberation of a group of young queer people growing up in an environment where being queer was illegal and dangerous.

By the late 1980s and 1990s, the dance faded, but it still influenced dance styles such as jazz, house, and even vogue. In the early 2000s, interest in the dance was reignited. However, its name and origins remained elusive, prompting an investigation into its history, shifting narratives and exclusion from dance history. In this article, I will explore how a dance form becomes lost in translation and how this dance can be preserved and introduced into institutionalised spaces to offer resources and legal protection for an art form on the verge of erasure from history.