Culture

A Dance Troupe Twerking At A Navy Event Has Sent Australia Into A Spin

Off-beat twerking making conservatives mad? It truly can't get any better.

by Michelle Rennex  15 April 2021
Navy twerking 101 Doll Squadron

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In honour of a new $2 billion vessel, the navy’s top brass were treated to a very awkward, bizzare and baffling twerking dance troupe to commemorate the occasion.

On Sunday, seven ‘101 Doll Squadron’ dancers dressed in red tops and black booty shorts twerked up a storm during the official commissioning ceremony to name the HMAS Supply — one of two new $2 billion auxiliary oiler replenishment ships.

While the Royal Australian Navy decided to omit the twerking from their official summary video and the 90-minute ceremony posted to Facebook, the ABC decided to share clips of the dance routine last night much to Australia’s delight.

Why did the navy choose a bunch of out-of-sync dancehall twerkers wearing berets to celebrate, exactly? I don’t know. But what I do know is that it has resulted in the funniest clip I’ve seen all year.

Now, don’t get it twisted. We love the twerking dancers. They have better dancing skills than most of us ever will, and it takes some real guts to perform something like this in front of a bunch of old naval officials.

It’s just that the juxtaposition of the twerking against the unimpressed crowd is just so funny.

The outfits, the giant boat as the backdrop, the fact that none of the dancers are on beat, the navy’s top dogs sitting socially distanced from each other on plastic chairs, the low, ass-focused camera angles, and the audible slapping sounds heard during the dance is all just too much.

But because we can’t just have something ridiculous and funny to laugh at, conservatives have naturally become outraged over the navy twerkers.

With the twerk routine appearing to happen in front of high-ranking officials like navy chief Michal Joseph Noonan, the Australian Defence Force chief Angus Campbell, and Governor-General David Hurley, the performance has been called “disrespectful”, “inappropriate”, “trashy” and a “shameful demonstration”.

“Shameful demonstration for such a dignified event,” wrote one angered individual. “It makes a mockery of the sacrifice and discipline of female and male ADF personnel who will be relegated to this ship.”

“Why didn’t someone have the brains to stop the performance midway?!? Society has lost all integrity!” questioned another.

“Looks like a bad school assembly or a Chris Lilly sketch,” said someone else, despite the dance routine being objectively funny.

The sentiments of the angry conservatives under the viral clip of the dance routine were not a one-off either. Even Phillip Thompson, a former soldier turned Liberal backbencher, shared that he didn’t think the twerking was “appropriate” for the occasion.

“Standards in the Australian Defence Force, and definitely when commissioning a ship, should be a little bit higher than that,” Thompson told the ABC.  “We’ve got the chief of the defence force, we’ve got members of Parliament there, and the Governor-General’s there, I don’t think it’s appropriate to be twerking.”

“It should have been more ceremonial… a military band should have been playing ‘Waltzing Matilda’, the Federal Guard should have been there and I didn’t see a bugle play,” he continued. “None of the things that I see when I close my eyes and think of the military were there.”

Holding the same view, Senator for Tasmania Jacqui Lambie, who previously served in the Australian Army, called the decision to allow the twerking an “absolute shocker”.

“I thought I was watching the Super Bowl there for a split second, I will be honest with you,” Jacqui Lambie told 9 News. “Whoever made that call, it’s an absolute shocker for goodness sake. It is not the time and place.”

“Good on those young ladies for getting out there, but I tell you, being half-clothed outside a warship is probably inappropriate,” she continued. “If that is the leadership in our defence forces, God help our sons and daughters who are serving.”

Major newspapers even started criticising the twerking with The Daily Telegraph publishing a two-page spread this morning, shaming the women who were asked to dance at the official commissioning ceremony.

Titled on the front page as ‘Navy’s New Twerk Ethic’, the ‘Navy In Rear Admiral Saga — Shake Yer Boaty! Twerk Troupe Shocks Top Brass’ article, used pixelated screenshots of the dancers as a bunch of ass-related puns were pasted over the women.

“Anchors Wa-Hey!” read one. “It’s naval phwoar-fare!” said another. “21-bun salute,” read the last.

Despite all the pearl-clutching, the Defence Force has confirmed that dance was performed prior to the official commissioning ceremony and well before the Governor-General had arrived for the formalities.

101 Doll Squadron have also released their own statement sharing that dance members have been “under personal attack” since Sunday due to the ABC’s “deceptive editing of their video piece which cut to guests and dignitaries who were not in attendance”.

But even if the Governor-General had been present, it is no reason to shame the women who were asked to perform at a naval event. The 101 Doll Squadron explicitly state that they are a “female collaborating dancehall crew” in Sydney, with twerking being an integral part of the dancehall style of dance.

So if you’re going to blame anyone for the “inappropriate” dance routine, blame the person who commissioned the dance in the first place — or just enjoy the video for what it is: A very funny piece of history.

And if that seems too difficult, you could always try getting angry about things that are actually inappropriate, like the alleged war crimes of our own Aussie soldiers — who apparently also like to bury evidence in little pink lunch boxes — instead of freaking out over a little bit of ass shaking. Just a thought.