Clack / Clacking

In drag and ballroom culture, a clack is a crisp percussive sound used to punctuate a performance and show approval. It most often comes from a folding hand fan snapped open or shut with a flick of the wrist, and it can also describe the deliberate strike of high heels hitting a hard floor during a confident walk. To clack, or the act of clacking, is to make that sound at just the right beat, cheering a queen as she serves a look, hits a pose, or delivers a sharp read. The gesture and its slang grew out of Black and Latine ballroom and drag communities, where fan work and a commanding walk are part of the theater and the language of support.