• Search
  • Login or Sign Up

New Orleans Bounce

Short Films
2018
3 min
Directed by Amber Felix

Many of the most exciting global dance scenes have sprung out ghettoised environments and marginalised communities, only for them to be co-opted by the mainstream. Take twerking: Miley Cyrus’s behind went viral because of her cheek-jiggling moves but in fact men were the original twerkers and New Orleans Bounce was the movement that spawned it. “It’s project music, it’s call and response,” says the lead dancer from the Game Ova Boys crew, who this short introduction to the bounce world follows, of where it came from and how the dancers vibe off the music and vice versa.

It originally coalesced around dance battles at an ice skating rink as far back as 1991, but bounce became increasingly important in bringing African-Americans together during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Bounce’s sexually explicit lyrics and short, chanted refrains inspire body-popping moves that live up to its name but isn’t as bro-ish as it sounds; since the late-2000s it has morphed into the sub-genre that’s been dubbed ‘sissy bounce’, with LGBTQI+ artists like Big Freedia adopting the sound as a spearhead for sexual liberation.

  • Kate Hutchinson

title
x

New Orleans Bounce

Short Films
2018
3 min
Directed by Amber Felix

Many of the most exciting global dance scenes have sprung out ghettoised environments and marginalised communities, only for them to be co-opted by the mainstream. Take twerking: Miley Cyrus’s behind went viral because of her cheek-jiggling moves but in fact men were the original twerkers and New Orleans Bounce was the movement that spawned it. “It’s project music, it’s call and response,” says the lead dancer from the Game Ova Boys crew, who this short introduction to the bounce world follows, of where it came from and how the dancers vibe off the music and vice versa.

It originally coalesced around dance battles at an ice skating rink as far back as 1991, but bounce became increasingly important in bringing African-Americans together during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Bounce’s sexually explicit lyrics and short, chanted refrains inspire body-popping moves that live up to its name but isn’t as bro-ish as it sounds; since the late-2000s it has morphed into the sub-genre that’s been dubbed ‘sissy bounce’, with LGBTQI+ artists like Big Freedia adopting the sound as a spearhead for sexual liberation.

  • Kate Hutchinson

title
x

Rebellious Movement

Flyer for event An introduction to Passinho.

An introduction to Passinho

Brazil has long been drunk on funk, from the 70s when DJs introduced James Brown to the barrios, to the early-2000s style of rudimentary electro, baile funk. But few people knew about the dance craze that was coalescing from within those parties until much later. Passinho is danced to funk carioca’s foundation of soul, funk and disco crossed with Miami bass and its specific drum beat – complex, fast, shot through with skittering samples – inspires a hyper-energetic blur of moves. Unlike the masculine moves of baile funk, passinho work capoeira, samba, breakdancing and rapid-fire, wholly improvised footwork into a more fluid mix. Most of these moves took root in inter-favela dance duels; like NYC ballroom’s Houses, its dançarinos proudly belong to crews who compete against each other. But passinho has also proliferated online via pixelated homemade videos shot on old mobile phones, many of which have gone viral thanks to dedicated passinho YouTube channels (one popular 2008 clip has over 4m views). It reached worldwide notoriety when a group of passinho dancers performed at the London 2012 Paralympic Games’ closing ceremony and Beyoncé, Chris Brown and eve n Ricky Martin have since featured the style in their music videos. Kate Hutchinson
Flyer for event New Orleans Bounce.

New Orleans Bounce

“It’s project music, it’s call and response,” says the lead dancer from the Game Ova Boys crew, who this introduction to the bounce world follows.
Flyer for event Shangaan Electro: Tshetsha Boys.

Shangaan Electro: Tshetsha Boys

“The way they dance and move; it's like they don't have any bones!"
Flyer for event En Vogue.

En Vogue

A lustrous appreciation of the glitzy safe haven of ballroom culture.
Flyer for event Raised By Krump.

Raised By Krump

For the people of Compton, Krumping is catharsis.
Flyer for event [Mirrored] Koi dance.

[Mirrored] Koi dance

Thanks to social media, novelty routines can catch fire quickly than you can say ‘dance craze’ and none more so than in Japan. In 2016, the hot trend was “the koi”, also known as “the love dance”, which was the theme song to a Japanese TV drama called Nigeru wa Hajidaga Yaku ni Tatsu, about a twentysomething live-in housekeeper who pretends she is married to her employer. Each episode ends with the cast dancing to the tune, which involves ‘cute’ gestures like tapping your chest and, like the Spice Girls, making 2-become-1 signs with your fingers, and has, like the Harlem Shake and Gangnam Style, since been interpreted thousands of times online, by celebrities, sports stars and even ambassadors at the US Embassy. But while viral dance phenomenons are common, the koi videos have been praised for, said the Japanese Times, “referencing the pop culture of another generation”. One such video features The Tomioka Dance Club throwing back to Japan’s bubble era in the 1980s (think shoulder-padded blazers and hair-sprayed bouffants) – a sign that while viral dance fads can whip Japanese millennials into a frenzy, they’ve got the potential to cut across generational divides, too. Kate Hutchinson
Flyer for event ¿Quién Quiere Tuki? / Who Wants Tuki?.

¿Quién Quiere Tuki? / Who Wants Tuki?

“Raptor house” sounds like something that could have been made in the Jurassic Period, but it’s a strain of dance music from Caracas, Venezuela, started by a small group of DJs including DJ Baba and which peaked between 2002-2008. They put a colourful, agitated spin on 90s Technotronic-style techno with aggressive synths and distinctly Latin rhythms, which came to be known as ‘changa’. It quickly turned into the sound of street dances and the dancers who battled each other were known as tukis, who had a distinct look that often included tight trousers, sleeveless shirts, snapback caps and bleached hair. The way they used synthesisers, says Baba, corresponded to the dancers’ body popping and created a new language between dancer and DJ. And as one of the lead dancers in Elberth explains this doc, they developed distinctive moves – including “the tantrum” and “the elastic”, an elaborate back lean that looks like a very painful yoga stretch. Key to the changa tuki movement’s subversiveness, however, is that it was rejected by many Venezuelan culture: the term “tuki” was originally a derisive word that was associated with “trashy” and also, the barrios being engulfed in crime, violence and poverty. And yet the sound continued to bump and grind outside of the Venezuelan mainstream media, having been adopted into the ‘global bass’ community thanks to artists like Portugal’s Buraka Som Sistema and their Enchufada label. Kate Hutchinson
Flyer for event Wizkid: Azonto.

Wizkid: Azonto

Like footwork and bounce, azonto is a style of dance and a music genre. While it’s not the first to emerge in Ghana, it was perhaps the first to blow up across west Africa and then the world, going internet-famous via YouTube tutorials and music videos by Afrobeats artists like Wizkid and Fuse ODG. Originally, the style paired drumming and dance moves from Ghana with contemporary house and hip-hop influences, with a knee-swivelling emphasis on attitude, ‘sassy hand gesticulations’ and fierce competitive in the way of voguing, as dancers mime everyday activities like washing, driving or dialling phones during monthly dances at the beach and in clubs. The dance was already spreading across global media like wildfire but in 2012, Nigerian pop star Wizkid released his version of the craze, in the video for his Afrobeats tune called Azonto, and the song and dance became ubiquitous. Kate Hutchinson
Flyer for event I am the Queen.

I am the Queen

“Footwork is male-dominated and oriented around brotherhood but we wanted to show how key women are to its longevity as a dance and music genre.”

Rebellious Movement

Flyer for event An introduction to Passinho.

An introduction to Passinho

Brazil has long been drunk on funk, from the 70s when DJs introduced James Brown to the barrios, to the early-2000s style of rudimentary electro, baile funk. But few people knew about the dance craze that was coalescing from within those parties until much later. Passinho is danced to funk carioca’s foundation of soul, funk and disco crossed with Miami bass and its specific drum beat – complex, fast, shot through with skittering samples – inspires a hyper-energetic blur of moves. Unlike the masculine moves of baile funk, passinho work capoeira, samba, breakdancing and rapid-fire, wholly improvised footwork into a more fluid mix. Most of these moves took root in inter-favela dance duels; like NYC ballroom’s Houses, its dançarinos proudly belong to crews who compete against each other. But passinho has also proliferated online via pixelated homemade videos shot on old mobile phones, many of which have gone viral thanks to dedicated passinho YouTube channels (one popular 2008 clip has over 4m views). It reached worldwide notoriety when a group of passinho dancers performed at the London 2012 Paralympic Games’ closing ceremony and Beyoncé, Chris Brown and eve n Ricky Martin have since featured the style in their music videos. Kate Hutchinson
Flyer for event New Orleans Bounce.

New Orleans Bounce

“It’s project music, it’s call and response,” says the lead dancer from the Game Ova Boys crew, who this introduction to the bounce world follows.
Flyer for event Shangaan Electro: Tshetsha Boys.

Shangaan Electro: Tshetsha Boys

“The way they dance and move; it's like they don't have any bones!"
Flyer for event En Vogue.

En Vogue

A lustrous appreciation of the glitzy safe haven of ballroom culture.
Flyer for event Raised By Krump.

Raised By Krump

For the people of Compton, Krumping is catharsis.
Flyer for event [Mirrored] Koi dance.

[Mirrored] Koi dance

Thanks to social media, novelty routines can catch fire quickly than you can say ‘dance craze’ and none more so than in Japan. In 2016, the hot trend was “the koi”, also known as “the love dance”, which was the theme song to a Japanese TV drama called Nigeru wa Hajidaga Yaku ni Tatsu, about a twentysomething live-in housekeeper who pretends she is married to her employer. Each episode ends with the cast dancing to the tune, which involves ‘cute’ gestures like tapping your chest and, like the Spice Girls, making 2-become-1 signs with your fingers, and has, like the Harlem Shake and Gangnam Style, since been interpreted thousands of times online, by celebrities, sports stars and even ambassadors at the US Embassy. But while viral dance phenomenons are common, the koi videos have been praised for, said the Japanese Times, “referencing the pop culture of another generation”. One such video features The Tomioka Dance Club throwing back to Japan’s bubble era in the 1980s (think shoulder-padded blazers and hair-sprayed bouffants) – a sign that while viral dance fads can whip Japanese millennials into a frenzy, they’ve got the potential to cut across generational divides, too. Kate Hutchinson
Flyer for event ¿Quién Quiere Tuki? / Who Wants Tuki?.

¿Quién Quiere Tuki? / Who Wants Tuki?

“Raptor house” sounds like something that could have been made in the Jurassic Period, but it’s a strain of dance music from Caracas, Venezuela, started by a small group of DJs including DJ Baba and which peaked between 2002-2008. They put a colourful, agitated spin on 90s Technotronic-style techno with aggressive synths and distinctly Latin rhythms, which came to be known as ‘changa’. It quickly turned into the sound of street dances and the dancers who battled each other were known as tukis, who had a distinct look that often included tight trousers, sleeveless shirts, snapback caps and bleached hair. The way they used synthesisers, says Baba, corresponded to the dancers’ body popping and created a new language between dancer and DJ. And as one of the lead dancers in Elberth explains this doc, they developed distinctive moves – including “the tantrum” and “the elastic”, an elaborate back lean that looks like a very painful yoga stretch. Key to the changa tuki movement’s subversiveness, however, is that it was rejected by many Venezuelan culture: the term “tuki” was originally a derisive word that was associated with “trashy” and also, the barrios being engulfed in crime, violence and poverty. And yet the sound continued to bump and grind outside of the Venezuelan mainstream media, having been adopted into the ‘global bass’ community thanks to artists like Portugal’s Buraka Som Sistema and their Enchufada label. Kate Hutchinson
Flyer for event Wizkid: Azonto.

Wizkid: Azonto

Like footwork and bounce, azonto is a style of dance and a music genre. While it’s not the first to emerge in Ghana, it was perhaps the first to blow up across west Africa and then the world, going internet-famous via YouTube tutorials and music videos by Afrobeats artists like Wizkid and Fuse ODG. Originally, the style paired drumming and dance moves from Ghana with contemporary house and hip-hop influences, with a knee-swivelling emphasis on attitude, ‘sassy hand gesticulations’ and fierce competitive in the way of voguing, as dancers mime everyday activities like washing, driving or dialling phones during monthly dances at the beach and in clubs. The dance was already spreading across global media like wildfire but in 2012, Nigerian pop star Wizkid released his version of the craze, in the video for his Afrobeats tune called Azonto, and the song and dance became ubiquitous. Kate Hutchinson
Flyer for event I am the Queen.

I am the Queen

“Footwork is male-dominated and oriented around brotherhood but we wanted to show how key women are to its longevity as a dance and music genre.”
title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x

title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x

title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x

title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x

title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x

title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x

title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x

title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x

title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x

title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x

title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x

title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x

Boiler Room

  • About
  • Editorial
  • SoundCloud
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • TikTok
  • Facebook
  • Apple Music

Projects

  • Broadcast Lab
  • Energy

Information

  • Brand Partnerships
  • Accessibility
  • Support
  • Careers
  • Privacy Notice
  • Cookie Notice
  • Website Terms Of Use
  • Open Dance Floor Policy
  • Purchase Terms & Conditions

title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x

title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x

title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x
title
x

Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on film screenings and residencies.

You can opt out anytime. We will treat your information with respect. For more information about our privacy practices please read Boiler Room's Privacy Notice. By clicking above, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with these terms.

Boiler Room

  • About
  • Editorial
  • SoundCloud
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • TikTok
  • Facebook
  • Apple Music

Projects

  • Broadcast Lab
  • Energy

Information

  • Brand Partnerships
  • Accessibility
  • Support
  • Careers
  • Privacy Notice
  • Cookie Notice
  • Website Terms Of Use
  • Open Dance Floor Policy
  • Purchase Terms & Conditions
© 2026 BOILER ROOM
© 2026 BOILER ROOM

Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on film screenings and residencies.

You can opt out anytime. We will treat your information with respect. For more information about our privacy practices please read Boiler Room's Privacy Notice. By clicking above, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with these terms.

Boiler Room

  • About
  • Editorial
  • SoundCloud
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • TikTok
  • Facebook
  • Apple Music