What is twerking?

Twerking is when an individual dances to popular music in a sexually provocative way by thrusting his or her hips in a low squatting stance. This dance move originated in West Africa and was adopted by African-American culture in the 1990s.

Twerking was not originally meant to be a sexual dance, but developed into that with the rising popularity of hip-hop music in the 1990s. It became part of the industry when video models began dancing provocatively in rap music videos. In the United States, the dance first received national exposure in the early 2000s when the song "Whistle While You Twurk" by the Ying Yang Twins became popular.