Twerking

Twerking is a dance style. The dancer (usually a female) shakes and bounces (jiggles) her buttocks in a sexually provocative manner while in a low squatting posture.^[1] Oxford Dictionaries defines 'twerking' as a verb: "dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance".^[2] Twerking drew a lot of attention in the United States when Miley Cyrus did a twerking dance on nationwide television during the MTV Video Music Awards program in August 2013.

Twerking's origins lay in West and Central Africa^[3], where traditional dances such as Mapouka from the Ivory Coast and other related pelvic dances emphasized expressive hip and buttock isolations in ceremonial, celebratory and social settings.^[4]

References

↑ Levy, Megan (14 December 2012). "Do you know how to twerk? (Or even what it is?)". The Age. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
↑ "Definition of twerk in English". Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on September 13, 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
↑ Janine, Christa (2023-08-01). "When Did Twerking Go Mainstream? A Look at the History of This Now-Iconic Dance Move". Popsugar. Retrieved 2026-08-11.
↑ Sauphie, Eva (2021-11-19). "African origins: From New Orleans to Abidjan, the roots of twerking". The Africa Report. Retrieved 2026-08-11.

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[theage-1] Levy, Megan (14 December 2012). "Do you know how to twerk? (Or even what it is?)". The Age. Retrieved 20 December 2012.

[2] "Definition of twerk in English". Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on September 13, 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2013.

[3] Janine, Christa (2023-08-01). "When Did Twerking Go Mainstream? A Look at the History of This Now-Iconic Dance Move". Popsugar. Retrieved 2026-08-11.

[4] Sauphie, Eva (2021-11-19). "African origins: From New Orleans to Abidjan, the roots of twerking". The Africa Report. Retrieved 2026-08-11.

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