Is it easy to find locking in music videos today? That depends on whether you watch MTV or VH1 more.
In today's music videos you're more likely to see current jazz, current hip-hop and other genres than locking. Popping and breaking is fairly common but not as much as the first two styles.
You were more likely to see popping and locking in the music videos nearer the times when the first generation of lockers and poppers were doing their thing in the 70s and 80s.
Why? Think about it - when a new dance style is created there is inevitably some excitement that goes along with it. And the mainstream media will be keen to capitalise on it while it's hot.
Right now hip-hop and jazz-funk choreography is big and fairly recent, and that's why you're seeing a lot of it.
If you watch VH1 and watch the videos of songs to do with dancing or a groove that you can dance to, don't be surprised to see locking.
VH1 generally shows a lot of the biggest hits of previous decades, so a good example might be Lionel Richie's "All Night Long".
There were a lot of old school styles such as locking and popping in that video. This was representative of the type of dancing that was being done in that era.
Today you're most likely to see the odd bit of locking but not much. Perhaps a bit of freestyle or some watered down locking.
I'm surprised to see any locking at all, when it's there you kind of notice it straight away because it's so rare.
Some big mainstream artists have taken to locking though. Michael Jackson did a bit, albeit in his classic Jackson style. As did his sister Janet. Usher more recently has dabbed his hand into some locking on stage as well.
In many ways what you see in terms of dancing reflects the changes in the dance scene, in the same way that music changes.
Locking also generally worked much better with the music from the 70s and 80s than today's music. And vice versa. I'm sure if some of th hip-hop routines of today were done to James Brown's Sex Machine they would not work anywhere near as well.
Music and dancing are linked and the decades where each dance style emerged are no coincidence.
While no one can say for sure what the next major breakthrough in dance will be for now, you can bet that it will be influenced by a certain type of music or the new music the future brings.
On the next page: Why Is Popping Often Called 'Popping & Locking'?