The Waack Off is a three-day festival dedicated to the urban dance style Waacking*. It gathers its international community at one place to foster encounter, exchange, and advancement. The festival programme includes battles, a performance night, a community hangout, an after-party, and workshops.
In 2008, Waacking first gained visibility in Germany as a battle category at the “Funkin Stylez” event at tanzhaus nrw. Yeliz Pazar/Manuka subsequently trained the next generation of Waacking dancers in Germany. The need for a space for exchange, education, and discourse grew. In 2018 and 2019, she organized “The Waack Off” at tanzhaus nrw and invited international guests whose versatility influenced the local community. To create a nationwide and sustainable platform, and to further build and empower the community, she organized “The Waack Off – Festival” again in 2024. In addition, Yeliz choreographed the first Waacking dance theater piece in Germany in 2024 and won the Performing Arts Promotion Award in Düsseldorf in 2025.
*Waacking is a dance style that emerged during the disco era of the early 1970s within the Afro-Latinx American LGBT* community in Los Angeles. Queer people faced exclusion and discrimination in society and had to hide their identities. In gay clubs, however, they could be themselves. Thus, Waacking became a form of expressive dance against d
