After over two decades in the contemporary lexicon (and approximately two centuries of historical context), twerking (or as us oldsters used to call it, βbooty-poppingβ) is proving to be as enduring and evolutionary as hip-hop itself. So much so, many of us who grew up with the dance are now technically years closer to being senior citizens than sexy young thangs poppinβ that stuffβbut that doesnβt mean we shouldnβt keep trying.
Inspired by the recent runaway success of City Girlsβ βTwerkββfeaturing the relatively unknown Cardi Bβchoreographer Radha Ruiz brought the ongoing craze (thankfully snatched back from the likes of Miley Cyrus and Iggy Azalea) to a Los Angeles-based group of senior women for a demonstration in βhow to get flewed out.β
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The results? Pretty adorableβespecially the fully choreographed and costumed reenactment of the video (complete with poles and lip-synching). Check it outβand try to not bop/rap along.
But while itβd be easy to play this off as a parody strictly made for laughs, these women looked like they were legitimately having fun; the kind of fun we hope weβre still having decades from now. In short, this shit was inspiring as hell.
For all of us waiting for better days aheadβyou know, when weβre thinner, or fitter, or less busy (I know itβs not just me)βthe time is now, and the key to a happy life is clearly to let all the self-consciousness go and use those hips as long as theyβre still functional (after all, they say if you donβt use βem, you lose βem).
And for those of you afraid of being the βold [lady] in the club,β Iβm just going to refer you to βDisco Sally,β the New York City attorney who was one of Studio 54's regulars at age 77βand ended up marrying a twentysomething, in the process (h/t Guest of a Guest).
Okay, so maybe those arenβt our exact aspirations for old age, but staying limber and fly certainly are, so why not twerk our way into it? Itβs also worth noting that Ruiz isnβt the first to bring twerking to an older generation; remember this now-viral video from 2015?
The moral? While twerking may seem a young womanβs game, chances are she got it from her mamaβand youβre never too old to get flewed out.
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