Twerkumentary gets to the bottom of twerking's origins

Miley Cyrus's 2013 MTV Video Music Awards performance was the twerk seen around the world. 

That, though, led some to think that the pop star was the creator of this dance move, a phenomena that actually stems back to African styles of dancing such as the mapouka from the Ivory Coast. Curious and wanting to give credit to twerking's originators, filmmaker Diana Manfredi set out to find the real stories behind twerking in her documentary, Twerkumentary. 

In an interview with Funkadelic's George Clinton, one of the first people to use the phrase "twerk," Manfredi reveals: "He said that it was a funky way to say 'work it,' to look back at your behind and work it as in dancing — he just added the 't' because it was more funk." 

From Clinton's use of the word to the actual origins of the dancing itself, Manfredi talks to some of dance and music's most influential artists in her film. In the end, Manfredi concludes that twerking is "going to last," and while some many see it as demeaning or objectifying for women, she argues that it's empowering. She adds, "It's something that women do to feel good about themselves."