The ontology of twerk: From sexy Black movement style to Afro-Diasporic sacred dance (Article)
Department of Religion, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, United States
Abstract
The objective of this
article is to develop an ontology of twerk that situates it within
Black Atlantic choreographic modalities, including those of
Afro-Diasporic religions. As a corrective to the pervasive stereotyping
and appropriation of twerk, I place its normative performance within the
cultural space of contemporary Black New Orleans. I furnish an overview
of temporally proximate regional variations in the United States and
locate its more remote antecedents in the participatory dances
documented on North American plantations. Twerk also shares various
morphological and thematic similarities with Caribbean and Latin
American movement traditions that have promoted female sexual, economic,
and political freedom. Of these, I take into special account Brazilian,
Cuban, and Haitian dances sacred to Afro-Diasporic deities venerated
for giving life and bearing witness to death. I conclude that twerk
should be understood properly as part of a family of Black Atlantic
dances that emerged from shared histories of domination. © 2015 Taylor
and Francis.
Author keywords
Black Atlantic; dance; gender; Lucumí/Santeriá; race; Vodou
ISSN: 17528631Source Type: Journal
Original language: English
DOI: 10.1080/17528631.2015.1055650Document Type: Article
Publisher: Routledge
