Women hard at twork

Posted on: November 24, 2015

Understanding the why behind ‘twerking’…and lemme tell ya, it ain’t got nothing’ to do w/ MileySyrus! Why do people have such strong emotional reactions when they see it?

In case you are unfamiliar with it, (have had your head in the sand) ‘twerking’ is a modern name for an age old African dance whith the booty as the main focus bouncing with varied isolated movements. Mapuoka’s rooted in traditional dances founded from the Ivory Coast (including Africa, Jamaica and Columbia). Mapuoka (literally translated – the dance of the behind) is not a NEW bootie dance. Apparently the popular American ‘twerking’ has been around for ages in some of our most deeply rooted cultures. Over the years there have been many reincarnations of bootayshakin’ moves, twerkin is one.

People have a polarity of reactions when shown this ‘dance’ or body movement called ‘twerk’ or ‘twerking’.  People seem to love it, or hate it!

Maybe it’s primal, maybe it evokes strong emotion b/c we as apparently humans have been doing this for over a hundred years.

I’m not going out on a limb here to state it’s most likely been used as a mating ritual, and has now been transformed to a fad and/or a form of expression (and an unconscious MODERN mating ritual)!

Some people are passionately offended by twerking, feeling it’s oversexed, crude, tasteless, untalented and degrating. They never want to see it again. Others find it a beautiful art, a historical tribal movement and absolutely fascinating. They want to see it over and over again. In fact many folks want to experience it for themselves ASAP. Do you remember your first reaction when you witnessed twerking?

For those who are made uncomfortable by this dance craze, I’d like for you to ask yourself, ‘what lays behind your discomfort while watching these twerk videos or moves? ‘

 It’s not hurting anyone – in fact it’s a great workout. I find it fun, freeing, and a fabulous celebration of the feminine body. When I first saw twerking I felt more than a twinge of judgment. I thought – this move is degrading to women. I thought yes it looks fun, but people will think I’m ‘slutty’. I then remind myself that the way in which women choose to move, pop, display and ‘shake what their mama created’  belongs to them.

I had to break down barriers in my mind that limit my movements and categorize them as bad or taboo.

I had this moment of divine realization, ‘it’s for us to decide what feels right for our bodies and express it, NOT based on fear from what others may think.’

I then made a pact with myself to feel liberated, light hearted, and sexy while experiencing this movement and no longer be chained by fear of looking or being ‘slutty’ when shaking, twirking and MapuokaING! I teach my classes this move, and many private sessions have requested they learn to let go of their lower body and learn to twirk! I love it, I’ve learned how to do it inverted against the wall &it’s liberating to me. However, it’s all in the eye of the beholder and understanding your audience. Right?!

Ask yourself if you are doing it for yourself, or an ego show? If you worry about what others think of this, ‘a trashy hyper-sexualized fad,’ then hopefully you can twerkit out.

Hopefully being concerned about what others think is completely gone by the first few free flowin’ hip & bootie pops!

Dance is such a beautiful and true form of expression – don’t let others’ opinions, or your own self limiting judgments hinder your full expression!

I hope that this got your juices flowin’.

Next week I will teach you the moves, techniques, tips and tricks to this fun isolation in a JAMA video (Journey Around Moving your Asana). The first step in any dance is to begin with the intention to do it. The second step is letting go of all judgment around the dance. For those who love to move your body, stay tuned…