Music and the people that surround us with it have changed a lot over
the years. Music can set up an era. Change attitudes and make you do
things never thought possible. Simply with a voice, or an instrument.
In 2014 the charts are cluttered with a genre called ‘twerking music.’ Twerking
is that dance where you almost seem to completely disconnect your back from
your arse and move them simultaneously. Pretty tricky when you think about
it. Originating from similar traditional African dances, Miley Cyrus is a bit of
a well-known twerker, causing controversy at the MTV VMA’s with her on
stage performance with Robin Thicke. 2013 was the year ‘twerk’ made it into
the Oxford English Dictionary, with Busta Rhymes and Nicki Minaj releasing
‘Twerkit’, alongside Katy Perry, Major Lazor, B.o.B and 2 Chainz. Its Oxford
Dictionary definition - ‘Dance to popular music in a sexually provocative
manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance.’
In the 20’s it was all about the Charleston, popularised in the USA by mainstream
dance music by a tune called ‘The Charleston.’ The song was used in the Broadway
play ‘Runnin Wild’ by composer James P. Johnson. The Charleston consisted of
throwing your legs from side to side, then a swift kick forwards and then backwards.
The roaring twenties was a time of glitz and glamour, and the women with their newly
bare ankles, danced around in their kitten heels to this new, jazzy kind of music.
Elvis Presley’s hips. In 1956 the King of rock’n’roll, Elvis Presley released ‘Hound
Dog.’ Mr Presley was soon the cause of thousands of broken hearts all over the world;
a rather major factor within this was due to his rock’n’roll star dance moves. It could be
said that those hips broke those hearts. The power that man had in his lower body was
unimaginable. Up on his tiptoes with the knees swinging inwards, his hands delicately
placed over his belt, and the swift swooping of his crotch sent women into a frenzy.
He would almost walk across the floor with simply a swishing movement in his knees.
1959; the twist. The song ‘The Twist’ was released in 1959 by Hank Ballard
and the Midnighters, but wasn’t a hit until 1960 when re-released by Chubby
Checker. It reached No.1 in the billboard charts in just one week and the dance
was born. Put one foot in front of the other, twist, and that’s it. Twisting. Vincent
and Mia have a rather sultry moment in Pulp Fiction when they get up on stage
and show us all how it’s done. Vincent (John Travolta) may even remind you
of the late Presley with his knee, hip and toe collaboration whilst twisting.
1983; Mi