Mr. Campbell died on March 30 at his home in Santa Clarita, Calif. He was 69. His son Dennis Danehy, a dance teacher, performer and locking expert in his own right, said the cause was cardiac arrest.

Mr. Campbell did not go straight from the cafeteria to center stage; he spent 1970 and much of 1971 honing his technique in discos and nightclubs in Southern California, clad in colorful attire that helped him stand out in the crowd. Night after night, he developed a flair that wowed spectators, dominated dance contests and in time attracted a group of talented dancers who adopted his style.

Locking, based on several central movements including Mr. Campbell’s signature locking of his joints, is a personal expression with moves that can vary from dancer to dancer. Mr. Campbell’s style involved interacting with the audience through stylized hand slaps, pointing and tricks with his hat; intricate footwork and rapid, sinuous upper body motions; and acrobatics, like knee drops and perilous swan dives, performed seemingly without effort.

One of the dancers who joined Mr. Campbell was Fred Berry, who told The Los Angeles Times Magazine in 1995 that Mr. Campbell had taken him to every dance contest in Los Angeles, but that eventually “they’d just give him money because no one would dance against him.”