Tyrone Proctor, 'Soul Train' Waacking Dance Pioneer, Has Died

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Tyrone “The Bone” Proctor, one of the last of the Waacking dance pioneers, passed away in his sleep on Saturday at his home in New York. Proctor rose to fame as one of the original dancers on the television classic Don Cornelius’s Soul Train. Proctor was 66.

Proctor was a familiar face on Saturday mornings on Soul Train. It was on the show where he introduced the rest of the country to Waacking, a dancing style which had evolved in the gay Black and Latino underground club scene — the performer has in fact been credited with coining the term "waacking" as the style had been previously called "punking" by some. He was personally chosen by Don Cornelius to perform in the 1973 when the show went on a stadium tour. Proctor and dance partner Sharon Hill later competed together in 1975 on American Band Stand where the pair won the dance competition. Proctor can be seen below in a later video teaching Waacking.

He has been awarded life time achievement awards and been recognized as a "New York Legend of Hip Hop."

Proctor is remembered as a visionary dancer, demanding taskmaster, and warm and loyal friend.

Brandy Sanders remembers Proctor with “a heavy heart” and that “whenever I was sad or not feeling well, he would always call to check on me.”

Jeffrey Daniel, the dancer, choreographer, and singer-songwriter best known as a founding member of the R&B group Shalamar, recalled how Proctor “touched so may people around the world with his talent and crazy sense of humor.”

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If you watched Soul Train in the 70s, you will remember him:

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Tyrone was a legend and a household name where I come from. Thanks to him for making our Saturday mornings a little more special. May he rest in power.