Wu-tang is a dance originating in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

before spreading throughout the city and the surrounding region. The dance is normally performed to

Baltimore club Baltimore club, also called Bmore club, Bmore house or simply Bmore, is a fusion of breakbeat and house genres. It is often referred to as a blend of hip hop and chopped, staccato house music. It was created in Baltimore, Maryland, United States ...

music. The dance involves a jerking of the arms in an up-and-down/side-to-side motion. The movement of the arms sometimes resembles flexing. Each individual person adds their own spin to the dance, be it fancy footwork or the mimicking of gunshots. A similar Philly dance is the "D-Mack" or "D-Mac," in which a dancer moves his arms or legs on one side of his body (often in a similar motion as the Wu-tang), and then imitates the same moves on the other side of his body. The Wu-tang dance has become very popular around the

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

region, and it has been compared with the Harlem Shake of

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

, the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

hyphy The term hyphy ( ) is Oakland slang meaning "hyperactive". More specifically, it is an adjective describing the hip hop music and the culture associated with the area. The term was first coined by Oakland rapper Keak da Sneak. History The hy ...

dances,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

crunk Crunk is a subgenre of hip hop music that emerged in the early 1990s and gained mainstream success during the mid 2000s. Crunk is often up-tempo and one of Southern hip hop's more dance and club oriented subgenres. An archetypal crunk track fre ...

dances,

's "Rockin' Off" dance,

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

's "stickin' n rollin'", and Compton's "

Krumping Krumping is a style of street dance popularized in the United States, described as Afro-diasporic dance, characterized by free, expressive, exaggerated, and highly energetic movement. Dancers who started krumping saw the dance as a means for th ...

" or "crip-walking." South Miami also has their own version of the Philadelphia Wu Tang dance, but it consists of more rapid movements of the arm and vigorous swinging of arms in a forward motion and has more use of the legs. The dance bears no relation to the rap-group "

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close aff ...

" nor does it to the style of martial arts known as Wutang, though the name of the dance itself may have been derived from either source. Ciara can be seen doing part of the dance in her music videos for songs "Work" and "Gimmie That Bass". The creator of the Wu-Tang was originally DJ Freaknasty.

References

Breakdance moves Culture of Philadelphia {{dance-stub