'Jacking' was the physical, hip-driven dance style that gave early house its bodily character

‘Jacking’ (as in ‘jack your body’) was the dance style that emerged in Chicago’s Music Box and became part of the culture and language of early house — ‘I’m going to go down to the box, I’m going to jack my body.’ It grew out of an earlier ‘punking out’ grind and was a loose, repetitive, hip-driven motion done with a partner or against a speaker, wall, pole or doorway (‘you’d just jack, jack, jack all night long’). Jacking spread contagiously across the dance floor and gave house its bodily, physical identity — the dance is why so many early tracks are built around a relentless, driving beat and why titles and vocals invoke ‘jack’. It is the embodied counterpart to house’s synthetic pulse.

Examples

Dancers ‘jacking’ with a partner, or against a speaker/wall/pole when alone; the phrase ‘jack your body’ entering the scene’s vernacular; tracks with ‘time to jack’ hooks.

Assessment

What is ‘jacking’ and where did it originate? Explain how the dance style connects to the driving, repetitive character of early house tracks.