NEW YORKTre Little was ecstatic and thankful when he walked out in his cowboy boots during this summer’s BETT Awards preshow.
The 22-year-old Atlanta native remarked, “I used to watch this on TV every year, and I’m now performing.” I began to shed happy tears.
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He sang his hugely popular song, “Boots on the Ground,” with Southern soul vocalist 803Fresh.The line dance and song, which was inspired by a trail ride, were released in December and have since become a staple at African American events such as cookouts, weddings, graduations, celebrations, and family reunions.
Little came up with the Boots on the Ground dance during a work lunch break. It features the sounds of folding hand fans clacking rhythmically while the South Carolinian belts ask, “Where are the fans at?” He experimented with a routine after seeing a sample on TikTok and posted it without giving it any attention.
My family is usually the source of my little six opinions. “I slept and when I woke up, it was at 100K,” said Little, who is now in high demand around the country as a line dancing instructor and event presenter. People have even asked him to make new dances. People are coming together to dance and laugh together.
Beyonc included the dance in her historic Cowboy Carter tour, and Shaquille O’Neal and Michelle Obama, the former first lady, have both publicly performed it. Although popular line dances are not a new phenomena, this song spread at a never-before-seen rate due to a number of variables. It peaked at the top of Billboard’s adult R&B airplay and R&B digital song sales charts.
According to recording artist Cupid, also known as the Line Dance King and the creator of the well-known Cupid Shuffle (2007) song and choreography, “I think that opened America’s eyes to what we’ve been doing down in Louisiana and Texas and Mississippi and Alabama for years with the new energy toward country music and trail ride music and African Americans’ presence in it.”
He claimed that line dancing and the unity it fosters had opened their eyes.
A fresh interpretation of an ancient custom
Line dancing is a popular form of exercise and social interaction when people assemble to do coordinated, repetitive dance routines, usually in lines. The fact that dancing can be learned in real time and that there is no age or talent limitation is a big draw.
The origins of line dancing are a matter of debate. During fieldwork, enslaved Black Americans chanted or danced in tandem, a tradition some historians attribute to African celebratory tribal dances. According to some academics, it originated with European immigrants who brought with them traditional folk dances from their home countries. Soul line dancing is supported by R&B, soul, and hip-hop, whereas the country western style is danced to country music.
Along with the Cupid Shuffle, soul line dancing has made routines to DJ Casper’s Cha Cha Slide (2000) and V.I.C.’s Wobble (2008), as well as the most well-known song from 1972, Electric Boogie (The Electric Slide), by Marcia Griffiths, canonical. However, many Americans outside of the Southeast have been exposed to trail riding line dancing thanks to Boots on the Ground.
Socialized equestrian processionals that travel to a predetermined destination are known as trail rides. Black Southern culture is characterized by a party environment, complete with food, dancing, and specialized music genres including Southern soul, which combines R&B, blues, gospel, and country, and zydeco.
People were largely unaware of it. According to 28-year-old Jakayla Preston, who uses the TikTok handle @_itsjakaylaa, when something is popular, everyone follows suit. The Houston-based professional dancer started teaching line dance courses this year in response to recurring requests from her fan base, which grew more intense after the Boots on the Ground craze. She found that attendance was more than just foot taps and turns while teaching classes around the nation.
She said, “I have people who are fighting a lot of things, and sometimes they even cry and thank me for hosting the class there or just giving them the opportunity to come and express themselves.” It’s an inexplicable emotion.
Beyonc-inspired line dancing
Preston responded, “Beyonc probably had a lot to do with that, as far as her Cowboy Carter album,” alluding to the focus on line dancing on trail rides.
Attendees of Cowboy Carter’s Grammy-winning CD often dressed up as Black cowboys, sparking discussions regarding the contributions of African Americans to country music and Black cowboy culture. Numerous first-timers and social media users claimed that they traveled to Queen Bey’s hometown to experience what she sung about, which contributed to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo breaking its attendance record this year.
Preston, who grew up going to the rodeo, remarked, “I never saw ever that many people that were out there line dancing.” It’s a breathtaking sight.
Beyonc’s influence goes beyond music, according to Sharlene Sinegal-DeCuir, chair of African American and Diaspora Studies at Xavier University in New Orleans.
According to Sinegal-DeCuir, who grew up in Lafayette, Louisiana, line dancing and listening to zydeco, the sound, the banjo, and the violin are all African instruments in country western music. She is taking it to the globe to show that we are our country and not just a place to enter.
The sand’s political line (dance)
According to Sinegal-DeCuir, the popularity of Boots on the Ground and interest in line dancing may have been indirectly influenced by the political environment. She points out that 92% of Black women voted against President Donald Trump because of his policies, which disproportionately affect Black Americans. These policies include cutting SNAP benefits, Medicare, and Medicaid, abolishing DEI programs, and mass layoffs at government agencies.
According to Sinegal-DeCuir, “we know how to survive these things because we rely on family, on community, and on this joy.” We’re learning a new line dance as a form of protest because we’re sick of the political climate while the world burns down.
Cupid recalls a turning point in the social justice movement that was brought on by the murder of Black man George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020. After watching a video of a heated altercation between demonstrators and police at a demonstration, he turned on Cupid Shuffle to defuse the situation. During that time, more social media videos were posted that featured his music being played at protests across the United States.
The Flex musician, who is preparing a new album that he claims will be the first all-line-dance album, said, “I realized the importance of it, as far as connecting two people that don’t even see eye to eye.” Line dancing is undoubtedly one of the three songs that, if you had to choose just three, could temporarily unite people from opposing sides of the argument.
He went on to say, “I don’t think any other genre is more powerful than line dance.”
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Gary Gerard Hamilton, an entertainment journalist for the Associated Press, can be followed on all of his social media channels at @GaryGHamilton.
