Bounce
Also known as: New Orleans Bounce, Sissy Bounce, Bounce Dancing
History & Cultural Context
Bounce is New Orleans' call-and-response party music and the dance culture inseparable from it. It broke open in 1991, when MC T. Tucker (Kevin Ventry) and DJ Irv recorded 'Where Dey At'; by 1992 it was a citywide movement, grown out of the city's housing projects. Nearly every bounce record rides the same loops — the 'Triggerman' beat from The Showboys' 'Drag Rap,' named for Showboys member Phillip 'Triggerman' Price, and Cameron Paul's 'Brown Beats' — over which MCs run roll calls of wards, projects and neighbourhoods and trade chants with the floor. DJ Jubilee became the city's most popular bounce DJ, Take Fo' Records the first label dedicated to the genre, and Cheeky Blakk's 1994 'Twerk Something' carried the first recorded use of 'twerk' in the music. The dancing is hip- and glute-driven — twerking, shaking, p-popping, wall work and floor splits — done in a ring at block parties, with steps called out from the microphone. From the late 1990s the openly queer performers Katey Red and Big Freedia, working in a city with a long tradition of gay and drag performance, took bounce international.
Cultural Significance
Bounce is neighbourhood music: roll calls name specific wards and projects, and the form sits alongside second-line and Mardi Gras Indian traditions in New Orleans' street culture. Its long-standing overlap with the city's queer and drag performance scene is central rather than incidental.
Characteristic Movement & Technique
Fast isolated hip and glute percussion — twerking, shaking and p-popping — with wide-stance bounces, drops, splits, floor work and wall work, all cued by chanted instructions from the MC.
Partnering Dynamics
Mostly solo and communal, danced facing the DJ or MC in a crowd, with dancers occasionally pairing or forming a ring around a soloist. Call-and-response makes the MC an active partner to the entire floor.
Competitive Context
Not primarily a battle form: status comes from the block party, the club floor and the record, with dance-offs occurring informally. Competitive display has grown through filmed sets and touring shows built around Big Freedia and Katey Red.
Regional Variations
Uptown and downtown New Orleans crews and labels developed distinguishable sounds, with Partners-N-Crime associated with Uptown; the style spread across the Gulf South and later fed national pop and rap production.
Common Misconceptions
Twerking is not a 2013 pop-culture invention: it was named on record in New Orleans bounce by 1994 and was already established practice. 'Sissy bounce' is also a press label applied from outside rather than a separate genre or a term the artists chose for themselves.
Peak Popularity
Signature Figures
- MC T. Tucker (Kevin Ventry)
- DJ Irv
- DJ Jubilee
- Cheeky Blakk
- Magnolia Shorty
- Ms. Tee
- Katey Red
- Big Freedia
- Partners-N-Crime
Notable Codifiers
- Take Fo' Records
- The Showboys ('Drag Rap' / Triggerman beat)
- Cameron Paul ('Brown Beats')
Bounce Music & Tempo
Drawn from 23 Bounce tracks in the LODance music library.
Example tracks at practice tempo
- Twerk Something — Cheeky Blakk101 BPM
- N.O. Bounce — Big Freedia100 BPM
- Melpomene Block Party — Katey Red101 BPM
- U Already Know — 5th Ward Weebie & Big Choo100 BPM
- Get It Ready, Ready! — DJ Jubilee100 BPM
- Get the Gat — Lil Elt101 BPM
What to Wear
Attire guidance for Bounce and other Hip-Hop & Street Dance dances. Each card below is sized to the moment — class, practice, social, or competition — because the wardrobe shifts as the stakes do.
Reading the cards
In Class
Street clothes you can sweat in and move fully in: joggers, sweats or loose jeans in thin denim, a tee or hoodie, layers you can shed. The one hard rule at most studios is a dedicated indoor sneaker that has never been worn outside — grit tracked in from the street scratches marley and wrecks the floor for everyone. For breaking, add a flat vulcanized sole (Sambas, Chucks, Gazelles) rather than a cushioned running shoe, cover your knees and elbows, and skip slick nylon or heavy zippers that catch on the floor. Long hair tied back, and take rings and bracelets off before floorwork.
Social Dancing
Jams, cyphers and club nights have no dress code — you dance in what you would wear on the street, and that is the point of the form. Practical constraints only: clean sneakers you can pivot and drop in, nothing so oversized that a judge or the circle can't read your movement, and pockets emptied before you go to the floor. Bring a second shirt if you plan to be in the cypher all night.
Competition
Battles and championships (Red Bull BC One, Juste Debout, World of Dance, the Olympic breaking format) generally have no prescribed costume — dancers wear their own street look or crew kit, and personal style is part of what gets judged. Practical rules do apply: a visible competitor bib or number, nothing that can fall off mid-round, and shoes that won't mark the stage. Breakers competing in power moves usually add a spin beanie or headspin cap and taped wrists.
Shoes
Flat, thin, minimally cushioned soles — vulcanized rubber rather than a built-up foam or air heel. Adidas Sambas and Gazelles, Converse Chuck Taylors, Puma Suedes and Vans are the perennial choices because you can feel the floor through them and pivot on the ball of the foot without the sole grabbing. Running shoes are the common beginner mistake: the raised heel and aggressive tread lock the foot mid-turn and blunt every slide and glide. Whichever pair you choose, keep it indoor-only.
In Practice
Training alone or with a crew sits between class and battle — wear what you would battle in, so you know how it moves before it counts. Fitted enough to read your own lines in the mirror while drilling isolations, since popping and locking are invisible inside an oversized hoodie, with the hoodie back on between rounds. Breakers add knee pads and a long sleeve under the top for floor sessions, and empty their pockets: keys and a phone in a pocket are the classic cause of a bruised hip.
Common Pitfalls
- ✗Wearing the shoes you walked in on — street grit scratches marley and most studios will stop you at the door.
- ✗Cushioned running shoes for breaking or footwork: the tread grabs on turns and the raised heel kills ground feel.
- ✗Clothing so oversized that isolations and body lines disappear — the teacher and the judges cannot see what you are doing.
- ✗Attempting headspins or windmills without a spin cap or padding.
- ✗Keys, phone or a belt buckle still on you when you go to the floor.
Price Range
- Budget: You likely already own the clothes. An indoor-only sneaker at roughly $60–100 (Chuck Taylors, Puma Suede) is the only real purchase.
- Mid: Adidas Samba or Gazelle around $100–120, knee pads $20–40, a spin beanie roughly $25–50.
- Premium: A purpose-built spin cap (Spincontrol and similar) at roughly $60–100, wrist supports, and multiple indoor pairs rotated for different surfaces. Beyond that the money goes into workshops and travel to jams, not gear.
Key Terms
- Vulcanized sole
- Thin, flexible rubber sole bonded flat to the upper — gives ground feel and a predictable pivot, unlike a cushioned running sole.
- Spin cap
- Padded cap or doubled beanie worn for headspins and halos; protects the scalp and reduces friction and hair loss.
- Floor burn
- Friction abrasion from footwork and floor rocks — the reason breakers wear long sleeves and durable fabrics rather than thin jersey.
- Indoor-only sneakers
- A pair that never goes outside; grit carried in from the street scratches marley and ruins the floor for the whole studio.
- Crew kit
- Matching or coordinated crew clothing worn at battles — identity rather than costume, and never required of an individual entrant.
Quick Tips
- •Suede-soled shoes allow controlled sliding and pivoting — essential for most partner dances.
- •Avoid rubber soles on dance floors; they grip too much and can cause knee injuries.
- •Bring a separate pair of clean shoes for the dance floor to keep it in good condition.
Recommended Gear for Bounce
Essential equipment and apparel selected for dancers learning Bounce.
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Sources & Further Reading
Where This Dance Is Documented
Matt Miller – Bounce: Rap Music and Local Identity in New Orleans (2012)
An editor's note on where the technique for this dance is actually written down — sometimes a named book, sometimes the fact that no such book exists. A judgement, not a count of what we hold.
Cultural & Historical Context
Bounce emerged from New Orleans, Louisiana, USA during 1991—present day. Understanding the cultural roots, musical traditions, and social circumstances of this era enriches appreciation for the dance's characteristics and significance.
Formative Influences
Codifiers & Standardizers:
Take Fo' Records, The Showboys ('Drag Rap' / Triggerman beat), Cameron Paul ('Brown Beats')
Signature Movement Vocabulary:
MC T. Tucker (Kevin Ventry), DJ Irv, DJ Jubilee, Cheeky Blakk, Magnolia Shorty, Ms. Tee, Katey Red, Big Freedia, Partners-N-Crime
Primary Source Documents
The Library of Dance contains public-domain primary sources for dance history. Copyrighted modern syllabi are indexed with purchase links to their respective copyright owners. Search by dance name or codifier to discover primary source documents.
Last reviewed: September 2026 — This dance profile synthesizes historical research, cultural documentation, and contemporary practice knowledge to provide authoritative context.
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Browse the gallery →Works from the wider Hip-Hop & Street Dance tradition — we have not yet identified enough that depict Bounce specifically.
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