When Did Twerking Go Mainstream? A Look at the History of This Now-Iconic Dance Move

Twerking has been around in its present form since the early 1990s but is the modern version of an ancient dance called Mapouka that originated in Côte d'Ivoire (i.e. Ivory Coast) in West Africa. It was a celebratory dance performed at festivals where women would shake their buttocks to the beat of a rhythmic drum, according to The Progress blog by Progressive Pupil, an organization associated with The New School in New York and behind the documentary "Black and Cuba". However, as colonial ideologies and "Christian" values spread throughout the continent of Africa, the dance became taboo and was even banned in certain places or on television.