Lija Turner-Carroll (pictured) is tearing down the stereotypical take on twerking and showing Maitland ­students how to hip-gyrate like the Nigerians do. 

“I’m not a big fan of the whole Miley thing, I think it’s really negative toward the dance style,” the Lovedale dance teacher, who is the first to bring the style to the Hunter, said.  “It just does not do it justice; it is the biggest disrespect to it, culturally.”

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Mz3xSGxrbbE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>She said twerking was the Americanisation of a style known as Jamaican Dancehall, developed by West African slaves brought to the country hundreds of years ago. 

“We see it as a mainstream provocative, sexualised dance nowadays but that’s not how I teach it in my classes,” Ms Turner-Carroll said.

“I teach it as a celebration, which is what it originated from, so you’d see it in churches, in weddings, births, funerals, parties. Many of the women would be in hypnotic states.” 

More than butt-shaking, the ­pulsating gyration is a whole lower-body workout using abdominals and thighs. 

“It’s giving women confidence no matter what their size or shape, whether they have flabby bits, whether they have cellulite. 

“I say if it doesn’t wobble then I don’t really want to watch it,” she laughed. 

Ms Turner-Carroll trained in Afro Jamaican Dancehall six years ago and started her Twerkshop classes this year. 

“Melbourne is huge with this style of dancing,” Ms Turner-Carroll said.