Crowds of young people gathered at Prime night club on Saturday to witness the latest dance craze: the twerk. The ProTwerkers, apparently South Africa’s premier twerk team, had come to town.
Crowds of young people gathered at Prime night club on Saturday to witness the latest dance craze: the twerk. The ProTwerkers, apparently South Africa’s premier twerk team, had come to town.
Twerking is a dance style that’s taken urban culture by storm. A cursory search on YouTube results in some two million hits for your viewing pleasure.
The word comes either from the phrases 'to work' or from 'twitch and jerk'. The dance style involves the shaking, popping and locking of one’s derrière, usually by girls and young women.
Cue Sir Mix-A-Lot’s song Baby Got Back: "I like big buts and I cannot lie…"
The actual show was fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your gender politics) rather short-lived: less than 15 minutes, which made the entrance fee of R60 seem quite excessive.
Members of the audience were invited to join in the fun and strut their stuff.
The only male participant, Sifiso Xulu, a very able twerker, received mixed reviews from the testosterone-fuelled crowd, drawing both applause and jeers for his performance.
All in all, the ProTwerkers’ performance was overly short, uninspired and received too much hype – no 'ifs' or 'butts'.
