You might not think that a gray-haired, art-oriented blogger would have much of a personal connection to Miley Cyrus. Aesthetically speaking, you’d be right. But sentimentally, Cyrus will always have a place in my heart. In the role of Hannah Montana, Cyrus was a beloved guest in my living room as my daughter grew up, thanks to the Disney channel. And when Cyrus took the stage in the New Orleans Arena in 2008, my daughter and I were there. It was her first real concert. For me, the memory is beyond sweet.
Last summer when Cyrus asserted her womanliness with a bewilderingly bawdy performance at the MTV Video Music Awards show, I was swept up in the symbolic passage of time. Cyrus was intent, it seemed, on destroying the memory of the innocent adolescent she once portrayed. She didn’t intend it, I’m sure, but in obliterating Hannah, she caused considerable collateral damage among nostalgic fathers across America.
What made Miley’s MTV moment even more unintentionally compelling was the fact that in the midst of her flouncing, she’d performed twerking, a caboose-focused dance custom that I knew from the bounce shows I’d seen at Jazz Fest and Voodoo Fest. Cyrus had appropriated New Orleans’ peculiar dance floor outrageousness and made it her own. The notion provoked a certain cultural pride.
Fensterstock reported that Cyrus may have caught the twerking bug while shooting a movie in New Orleans in 2010 or 2011.
Cyrus's twerking has also provoked a touch of irritation.
To some, the former Disney diva has borrowed a cup of Crescent City custom, and there's no telling if she can ever pay it back.
The sexualized Cyrus takes the Arena stage (now the Smoothie King Center) again on Tuesday (March 18) with her extensively ballyhooed Bangerz tour. When tickets for the show became available, I hatched an idea. What if I invited an original New Orleans bounce authority to the Cyrus concert and shared what he or she had to say about the big act? My colleague Alison Fensterstock had already written a story discussing the topic of Cyrus’s twerking appropriation. But there still seemed to be room for an informed concert night interview.
Alison suggested I invite bounce star Cheeky Blakk. Cheeky’s chant titled “Twerk Something” dates all the way back to 1994. It might be the first time the term was recorded in song. Who could be more steeped in the cultural implications? Better yet, Cheeky’s supposed to be a hoot in person.
I saw her at Voodoo Fest one year. Her act seemed a bit bracing for broad daylight, as I recall.
So, there you have it. That’s the plan. I pick up Cheeky at 6:45 p.m tomorrow and we’re off to the Smoothie King Center. I’ll be taking notes on the evolution of Miss Cyrus, the commentary of Miss Blakk, my own antiquated opinions on musical entertainment and anything else that produces a blip on my radar.
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