Original - Official Jody Watley Website

Jody Watley. Original. Shalamar 1983 on tour in Belgium. Photo Courtesy of: Etienne Go.

Seeing this photo shared by a Etienne Go on Facebook from a club in Belgium in 1983 while on tour with Shalamar is another reminder of how long I’ve been getting to do some of the things I love and working really hard at it, and always fighting to be myself – through the many ups and challenges, obstacles overcome ..singing, performing, dancing, designing, writing and bringing joy to the people.

Here’s to the now, to the weekend. It’s OK to take a glimpse back, evaluate, reflect, see how far you’ve come, use the lessons learned and so on – just don’t get stuck there.

Much Love!

I’m not a trained dancer, singer nor writer – I do them all from my soul with my own distinct feel and style much like an improvisational jazz musician. There is a joy in dancing no matter the style. I’ve always loved it and always will – watching and doing.

It’s so incredible to see ‘Waacking’ continue to grow with a younger generation around the world. You just search Youtube, ‘Waacking’ and you will find battles and performances going on globally; fused with other elements including Hip-Hop, Propeller (created by Princess ‘Lockeroo’ Samara Cohen), Voguing, Punking and so on. The origins of ‘Waacking’ date back to the 70’s, my teen era. I was amongst a few girls who were doing it on the show; and was a member of dance troupe ‘The Outrageous Waack Dancers’, along with other Soul Train alums Tyrone Procter, Cleveland Moses Jr., and my former Shalamar colleague Jeffrey Daniel.