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Pelvic Technique6 minutes

Learn the Twerk Booty Pop with a slight pelvic tilt

By Mary De LucaUpdated

In short
  • For the Booty Pop, tilt your pelvis slightly forward, then return it to the starting position.
  • Keep your knees soft and your chest as still as possible, rather than leaning far back.
  • Start by practicing without music, then add individual controlled accents to a steady beat.
  • Keep the movement small and pain-free. Stop the exercise if you feel pressure in your lower back.

In a video, a pop often looks bigger than it feels when you practice. If you force the visible effect, your back can easily take over before you can distinguish the actual movement.

What you need for your first attempt

  • A non-slip floor and enough space to stand steadily
  • Comfortable clothing that allows freedom of movement around the hips
  • Flat shoes with a secure fit
  • Small, pain-free movements of the hips and back
  • A few minutes of relaxed walking and loosening up

Tilt the pelvis, keep the upper body organized

Imagine your pelvis as a bowl: As you tilt it forward, the front edge lowers slightly while the back edge rises. This makes your butt look slightly lifted. As you bring it back, the bowl returns to its starting position. For this first exercise, the movement ends there, without tilting further back. Here, tilting forward means changing the angle of your pelvis, not pushing your entire hips forward.

Your pelvis and lower back do not move completely independently of each other. So a small change in the curve of your lower back is not automatically wrong. The problem comes when you imitate the movement by pushing your chest up, flaring your ribs forward and drawing your head back to create a bigger effect. Then it is hard to tell what your pelvis is actually doing. Keep your neck long and your abs active enough that you can continue breathing calmly.

The visible pop comes from a short, clearly defined movement impulse. Knee-driven shakes are a different task; the basics of different twerk movements can help you understand the difference. It makes sense that even a small isolation can be tiring, given the difference between coordination and physical exertion when dancing: Bigger movements are not automatically better exercises.

A side view makes small changes visible that you might easily miss in the front-facing mirror.
A side view makes small changes visible that you might easily miss in the front-facing mirror.

Learn the Booty Pop in seven steps

  1. Adopt a relaxed starting stance

    Place your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart, bend your knees softly, and lean your upper body slightly forward from the hip joints. Keep both soles of your feet grounded; you should be able to hold the position without wobbling or holding your breath.

  2. Mark your starting position with your hands

    Rest your fingertips lightly on the front of your hip bones. Remember their position and the distance between your rib cage and pelvis, without forcing yourself to stand up straight. This position is your reference point to return to, not a posture to hold with maximum tension.

  3. Slightly lower the front of your pelvis

    Tilt your pelvis forward just enough for your fingertips to feel a slight change in angle. Keep your knees about as bent as they are. Pause briefly: if your chest or shoulders rise instead, make the movement smaller.

  4. Return to the marked starting point

    Slowly bring your pelvis back to the position you remembered. Avoid forcefully tucking your pelvis or squeezing your glutes as a counter-movement. Your fingertips return to the starting point while your weight stays evenly distributed on both feet.

  5. Slowly connect the tilts and returns

    Combine both movements into a few calm repetitions and count aloud “tilt, return.” Speaking aloud helps prevent you from holding your breath. You’re ready for the accent when each return ends clearly and your upper body isn’t increasingly bobbing along.

  6. Clearly accent a small pop

    Give the forward tilt a short, slightly more decisive impulse now, then guide it back calmly. Don't increase the range of motion. The difference from the slow repetition is the clear beginning, not a deeper backbend.

  7. Tie the accent to a beat

    Choose music with an easy-to-hear, steady pulse. Do a pop on “one,” return on “two,” and leave “three, four” free. Once you can repeat the same small movement several times, end the round instead of speeding up right away.

This keeps the accent on the hips

That's it

  • If your ribs start to move, reduce your range of motion
  • Return to the starting position after every pop
  • Keep practicing with an audible exhale
  • End the round at the first feeling of pressure

Not like this

  • Throw your chest upward for a bigger effect
  • Arch your back more with each repetition
  • Hold your breath for a powerful pop
  • Work off the pressure in your back with more pops

Check off your short practice session

Before your first try

Start

After the Slow Round

Control

After the music round

Wrap-up

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. A small visible effect is normal at first and no reason to arch your back more. Body shape, clothing, and viewing angle affect what you see. At first, what matters is being able to distinguish the tilt from the return. A side view often shows the pelvic tilt more clearly than a front-facing mirror.

Control your booty together

On udansa, you’ll find people to practice with. With a practice partner, you can take turns dancing and observing whether your rib cage and pelvis keep doing their jobs.

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Control your booty together

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