Miley Cyrus in her video We Can’t Stop

Rihanna shook her booty last week (on Instagram video) to make a new dance move go viral –– the twerk, which has its origin in 1990s New Orleans and is a fave among hip hop stars.

Twerking involves thrusting one’s hips back and forth vigorously. And it works best when done by women in tight pants!

The Barbadian beauty may have put a sexy spin on twerking but it’s Miley Cyrus who did all the shaking first... this year.

So, how did it all begin?

Miley Cyrus vs Jay-Z

In 2009, Miley Cyrus released her song Party In The USA, which was also a tribute to the 1978 hit film Grease. Making the song appear “cute” was the line “And the Jay-Z song was on”. But when asked which Jay-Z song she was referring to, Miley said: “I’ve never heard a Jay-Z song. I don’t listen to pop music.” Ouch!

Last month, Miley released the video to the song We Can’t Stop in which she looked like a woman possessed, twerking and grabbing butts, kissing a doll and showing off the word ‘twerk’ in an alphabet soup... just the stuff to ridicule!

Jay-Z gets his revenge in Somewhere In America, a song on his just-released album, Magna Carta... Holy Grail. He sings: “When I was talking Instagram / Last thing you wanted was your picture snapped / Feds still lurking / They see I’m still putting work in / Cause somewhere in America / Miley Cyrus is still twerkin’, HA! / Twerk, twerk, twerk, twerk / Twerk, Miley, Miley, twerk / Twerk, Twerk, Miley, Miley, Miley, twerk / Twerk, yeah, ugh-huh / Twerk, Miley, Miley, Miley / Only in America.”

Rihanna

Rihanna jumps in

Last week she made twerking popular by dancing to a song by A$AP Rocky and Drake and posting it on Instagram video. Her Twitter and Instagram followers are still shouting “encore”!

Katy Perry plays mentor

The singer spotted a video of 10-year-old Kaycee Rice doing the twerk and she tweeted to her millions and millions of followers. Another YouTube star was thus born.

Britney stirred by Miley’s shake

Britney Spears, who is recording her new album, took to Twitter to praise Miley Cyrus and her video for We Can’t Stop: “Loving your new video for WeCantStop! Maybe you can teach me how to twerk sometime LOL.”

Demi Lovato wants to but...

While fielding some questions on Twitter, she spoke about the rage of the week, if not the year: “I do know how to twerk but I save it for the bedroom.I feel like my twerking doesn’t need to be captured in front of the whole world.”

Catty Vine

The cat-like moves have caught the attention of many cats, especially the one belonging to Vine user Jakari Forde. The cat shakes her butt to Juvenile’s song Back That Ass Up.

TWERK TIPS

First move

Make sure your knees, feet and elbows point outwards. Squat and thrust your hips back and forth.

Second move

Squat once again but this time lean forward and place your hands on your knees. Bounce your backside up and down.

Third move

Throw your arms out while doing the previous step.

Adventurous move

Do the move against a wall to see your bum wobble!

How it started

DJ Jubilee’s 1993 dance number Do The Jubilee All went like this: “Twerk baby, twerk baby, twerk, twerk, twerk...”