Top 8 benefits of twerking, a dance with multiple resources
I know it, we are going on a slippery slope, because the twerk divides. Some consider it just a vulgar “ghetto” dance that you only see in rappers’ music videos, and in my opinion, they are very wrong. The twerk has origins in certain traditional African dances which have been taken up and transformed by the diaspora in North America mainly, but also in France. Twerking is cool, and there are plenty of benefits to this dance, so stop doing your damn thing when deep down inside you want to twerk a split every night to impress your friends. friends.
1. First of all, you have to understand where twerking comes from
Twerking is ingrained in pop culture as a sexual dance, defined as “dancing to popular music in a daring and provocative way by jerking your hips and squatting”. However, this definition is quite restrictive. The twerk is above all a derivative of Mapouka, a traditional Ivorian dance called “trance” which aims to celebrate the goddess of fertility.
Twerk is also inspired by Soukous which is a style of music inspired by Congolese rumba, a fast and dancing music characterized by a break and a change of rhythm, as well as improvised guitar solos. In short, as you can see it’s a little more than just a few chicks dancing in the evening. The twerk therefore takes up these elements by “modernizing” them to adapt them to the music originally from working-class and racialized neighborhoods, such as rap or RnB. Ok, you already know a little more.
2. I know many will cringe, but twerking empowers the female body
Ayoooo the problems! I said that twerking was a means of personal emancipation, to which I was going to be told “no, it’s quite the opposite, it sexualizes the female body, gneu gneu gneu”.
Well, we’re going to put the dots on the I’s and the bars on the T’s and put the church back in the middle of the village (yes, we’re really going to do all that): the root of the problem is not so much that the twerk is a sexual dance, the problem comes above all from the gaze posed on this dance.
It’s true, it’s perhaps an “anti-conformist” attitude that can be shocking, but basically why does it bother to see women (and men!) dancing while being proud of their bodies? Twerking is also about feeling good about yourself without necessarily thinking about the looks of others, and freeing yourself from your complexes.
3. In France, there are even Booty Therapy courses
And I’m not the only one to think so, since a certain Maimouna Coulibaly has been giving Booty Therapy classes since 1996. She explains this dance therapy as a means of reclaiming one’s body and exteriorizing one’s physical traumas. The goal of doing it outside, in everyone’s eyes, is to take responsibility for one’s body and to free oneself from a form of pressure that certain women or men may experience, of “decency” and “good behavior”. There at least, we shock and we are proud of it, according to Maimouna Coulibaly, that’s freedom.
4. More concretely, you will work on your cardio…
Well, let’s stop our honeyed speeches to get to the heart of the matter a bit. Twerking has plenty of physical benefits. If you twerk for 20 minutes, you’re going to feel it straight, it’s a very cardio dance. Putting yourself on the ground, getting up, doing tricks on yourself, it’s tiring. But it’s still more fun than an old jog on a Sunday morning while breathing in car exhausts. Afterwards, everyone has their own tastes.
5. …strengthen your muscles…
Same for muscle building. Stop all your squats in vain with loads that weigh as heavy as your guilt for eating too many Schokobons at your snack (damn shockobons). All you have to do to build muscle is to go to a party every night to put on a huge murge and twerk for 1 hour on the club bar. It has been demonstrated by INSEP, and I know you don’t know what INSEP is but I won’t take the time to explain it to you, do your research yourself (sorry, I get carried away ).
6. …but also work on your coordination
Moving your ball at the same time as your arms, legs and hair is not easy. You have 10 years of license and you still find it difficult to hold a conversation while driving because otherwise you get tangled up (and it causes deaths afterwards, it’s boring)? You never knew how to play hopscotch correctly because you were a big moron who started from the “SKY” square? Twerking can help you rediscover your body and (finally) coordinate yourself, in a playful way.
7. You will finally be able to win dance battles…
Have you been robbed of your glass, your seat, or worse, your boyfriend/girlfriend? You know like me that this kind of situation can only be settled in a dance battle. Who will be the next president? Dance battle. A law does not pass the Assembly? Dance battle. All the greatest dilemmas have ended in a well-rehearsed twerk to decide the outcome. Nothing could be fairer than that, so if you don’t want to be stepped on, learn to move your butt.
8. …and shine in the evening (because for now it’s not that much)
Even if you are perhaps a little puritanical, admit that deep down you find it stylish someone who arrives at the party, who pushes everyone, and who releases his best twerk. You are bound to want to take his place. Well know that the path to becoming a Queen is not that difficult, and twerking will restore your confidence in yourself and your body. No more hiding in the evening and dancing in your corner (don’t try things you might regret, each pleasure has its limits, so leave this pole dance bar alone).