THE cultural significance of 'twerking' and its modern connotations will be discussed at Oxford Brookes following Black History Month.

The university has invited professional dancer Kelechi Okafor to give an introduction to twerking on November 1.

The equality, diversity and inclusion team at the university booked Ms Okafor to lead a mini dance session as well as a talk about the dance history and media representation.

The 'twerkshop' will follow Black History Month this month, which celebrates positive parts of black history and reflects on the adversities of the lived black experience today.

Reflecting on how she came into the arts, Ms Okafor said: “Twerking is something I fell into teaching. I had always danced in this way as a child.

“I looked at the way in which it was being taught and saw something rather contrived and soulless about it so I checked online to see where people found inspiration.

“Suddenly there were lots of videos of Miley Cyrus and other white women doing an almost farcical version of this dance I've known for decades.

The movement, which requires thrusting the hips backwards in a low squat, was seen as sexually provocative and came into popular mainstream channels through musicians like Miley Cyrus and Iggy Azelia, who were accused by some of whitewashing black history.

Ms Okafor said: “I decided to teach the classes as link movements to the West African – specifically Yoruba and Igbo dances – I saw growing up.

“Since last year there has been a greater demand for the workshops as people of colour want to see something that bears some authenticity and truth as well as a mapping of histories.”

A spokesperson from the equality, diversity and inclusion team said “We wanted to be able to offer a wide variety of different ways of getting involved with the celebrations, all of which raise awareness of the past, present and future contribution of black communities to our social, economic, political, cultural and intellectual life in the UK.

“We’re looking forward to Kelechi’s mini-class and discussion and look forward to seeing staff, students and members of the local community at our events over the next few weeks.”

Ms Okafor said she was glad to be contacted by universities for Black History Month as it showed a willingness to open a dialogue about correctly attributing history.

She said: “It’s great that they do as I think it enriches their experience at university to engage in discourse about blackness”.

The university has also organised several coffee mornings, lectures on diversity, and a self-care workshop for the month.