Popping Fans & Blowing Whistles In "Boots On The Ground" And "Follow Me" Soul Line Dance Videos

Line Dancing With Terressa, Dec 30, 2024 (Richmond, Virginia)

Choreographer: Tre Little (Dem Kuntry Folks)

Artist: 803Fresh

Song: Boots On The Ground

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Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest Update - Feb. 28, 2025

This is the fourth post in an ongoing pancocojams series about the cultural meanings of and uses for blowing whistles (instruments) in various Black cultures throughout the world.*

This pancocojams post showcases three YouTube videos that feature Soul line dancers popping fans. These videos also feature at least one person blowing a whistle while dancing.

This post also includes my Editor's notes about popping fans* and my Editor's notes about circle Soul line dances. This pancocojams post also includes selected comments from the discussion thread for each of these videos  

The content of this post is presented for socio-cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos online.
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*Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2025/02/some-traditional-meanings-contemporary.html "Some Traditional Meanings & Contemporary Uses For Whistles" for the first post in this pancocojams series.

Except for that first post, all posts in this pancocojams series are published in no particular order. 

Subsequent posts can be found under various tags that include the words "blowing whistles" (such as "blowing whistles history", "blowing whistles during social dancing", and "blowing whistles drum majors").

** "Popping fans" means "to flick your wrist while holding a folding paper fan. That action results in a popping sound which is the inspiration for the verb "popping fans". 

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITORS NOTES ABOUT POPPING FANS WHILE DOING SOUL LINE DANCES by Azizi Powell, originally written in June 19, 2022 and updated February 19, 2025

"Popping fans" is a relatively recent custom in Soul (African American) line dancing. (I haven't come across any online videos of Country (predominately White) line dancing-that include popping fans - yet. However, I won't be surprised if some Country line dances eventually include the Soul line dance originated custom of popping fans. Two 2016 YouTube videos are the earliest video examples of this "popping fans" custom that I've come across. I've found additional YouTube videos from 2021 on, but discussion threads for late 2024 videos of Soul line dancing include a number of comments that document that line dancing with fans is still viewed as a new phenomenon. For instance, many of the commenters in YouTube videos and YouTube video shorts of soul line dancing that feature fans ask where they can purchase these fans. (The usual answer is "Amazon" (i.e. on the Amazon shopping website.) And these queries about where to purchase these fans aren't met with any comments that would suggest that line dancing with fans is a common occurrence.

When the line dance begins, the line dancer carries one fan in their right hand. The fan is folded and then opened on a specific beat or lyric. "Popping" the fan means to flick the wrist of your hand that is holding the folded fan. That action causes the fan to open, resulting in a "popping" sound. All of the line dancers holding fans "pop" their fans at the same time depending on the song's beat and lyrics. The unfolded fan may be waved, but is usually quickly re-folded. That process continues throughout the line dance. I've come across a few relatively early YouTube videos of some line dancers hitting their folded fan on the palm of their hand, and/or tapping the folded fan to their side while they danced. However, I haven't noticed that custom in later YouTube Soul line dance videos.

Prior to the introduction of this custom of popping fans, a few Soul line dancers -particularly males- held and sometimes waved (usually white) mall towels, cloths, or handkerchiefs. These items probably served a dual purpose of wiping sweat from the dancer's face at the end of a line dance, and adding a visual effect which highlighted a particular beat or song lyric. Also prior to the introduction of popping fans, some line dancers chose to clap their hands on particular beats and/or lyrics. And since popping fans have become a thing in Soul line dancing, some dancers who don't have a fan may clap their hands or wave a small cloth at the same time that other dancers are popping their fans.

The New Orleans Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs custom of dancing and strutting while holding one or two large fleather fans may have influenced the custom of African Americans line dancing while holding a hand fan, It's also possible that popping fans was influenced by Flamenco fan dancing and by Chinese fan dancing, although both these dance styles may be largely unfamiliar to African Americans and those dance customs are quite different from popping fans. .

In the earliest YouTube videos of Soul line dance videos that include dancers popping fans, that custom appears to have been largely reserved for females. That is probably because in United States culture and in other cultures throughout the world such as in Flamenco dancing, holding fans and dancing with fans is reserved for females. However, by at least 2024, an increasing number of males are shown in videos dancing with fans, suggesting that custom has become acceptable regardless of a person's gender.

The fans that are used for Soul line dancing can be any color. Every Soul line video that includes fans shows members of the dance group or dance class who have fans with different colors which adds to their visual effect,

Most YouTube videos on African American line dancing only have a small number of comments in their discussion threads. In perusing various discussion threads of line dancing videos in which the dancers hold fans, I've only come across a few comments about the custom of "popping fans". Some examples of those comments are included below. In the early 200s my daughter Tazi Hughes taught line dancing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with Roland Ford's Dance & Be Fit program. She shared with me that some members of the line dance community in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in Maryland, and in other states dance with folding fans to accentuate the beat. For instance, in a line dance when a person takes three steps to the right and claps, a person with a fan would snap open the fan instead of clapping on that beat. My daughter also told me that one way that line dancing with fans has spread throughout the United States is because a lot of dancers do it during at national and regional line dance conventions as well as during their regular line dance sessions and get togethers. It appears to me that just about any old or new Soul line dance can incorporate the popping fan custom, depending on the song itself and on the aesthetic taste of the group or class instructor/leader who may really like or may not at all like this popping fan sound.. -snip- Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/06/african-american-soul-line-dancing-with.html for the 2022 pancocojams post entitled "African American (Soul) Line Dancing While Popping Fans."

**** PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTES ABOUT CIRCLE SOUL LINE DANCE "FOLLOW ME" by Azizi Powell, February 18, 2025 Alys-Us' 1992 House music hit "Follow Me" is the record that is used for one of the few circle Soul line dance circle formation dancing that I've come across. The only other circle Soul line dance that I've come across as of this date is "Trailride Sailing". (Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwAIoNY8Dzs "Dance: Trailride Sailing" by Memphis Finest 901 Line Dance Krewe,July 11, 2024 Here is the earliest online mention of Soul line dance circle dancing that I've found:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oiO5A8OOlk "Aly Us - Follow Me (Slightly Better Quality Version)

@COACHFSTATON, 2022 "That line dance we did when this song came on. Freshman year at Wake Forest University Fall 2000. At the gym jams or at Brew-Has in Winston-Salem NC and Winston-Salem State would come over and we'd get it the party started lol".

-end of quote-

There are a number of "Follow Me" Soul line dance videos on YouTube and on other social media sites. All of the "Follow Me" Soul line dance videos that I've come across as of this date feature a circle dance formation. However, the exact movements the dancers perform while moving around that circle may be different.

In most of the other YouTube videos of "Follow Me" that I've come across, the dancers are clearly moving in single file around the circle. However, in the 2024 rodeo gathering in Florence, South Carolina video of "Follow Me",  some dancers proceed in twos or threes, some dancers appear to move in small groups, and other dancers move in single file. However, regardless of whether they are moving alone or dancing alongside of another person or persons,  the dancers perform the same choreographed movements, dancing forward, than turning back, then dancing forward again in a more or less organized way. Also, in the 2024 (Columbia, South Carolina) video, the circle procession appears to be somewhat disorganized, and sometimes some dancers appears to be doing the usual horizontal line dance while other dancers are still proceeding in a circle around the dance floor.

In both of these two "Follow Me" showcased videos, many of the dancers popped (flicked) a hand held folded fan at specific times during this song while they danced. In both these videos their processions reminded me of a Conga line although in the rodeo gathering video (Showcase #2 in this post) there was no contact between the dancers. In contrast, in Showcase video given as #3 in this post where  some of the dancers circling the dance floor touch the shoulder of the person in who is dancing in front of them.

Popping fans isn't an essential element of that circle line dance or of any other Soul line dance, but it adds to the percussive sound of the record. There are some people that don't care for the addition of the sounds of fans "popping", but I'm among those who like that feature. These two showcase videos of the have far more people popping fans (flicking fans) than any other "Follow Me" videos that I have come across. Showcase Video #3 also has a large number of dancers popping fans.

Blowing Whistles in "Follow Me" and in some other Soul Line Dance Videos

Both of the Showcase "Follow Me" videos that are showcased in this pancocojams post as well as the video of Boots On The Ground that is given as Showcase Video #1 in this pancocojams post include at least one person blowing a whistle (instrument). Blowing a whistle to the accompaniment a line dance record (or another type of Soul music record) since at least the early 2000s, thus predating the custom of popping fans during Soul line dancing. These whistle sounds aren't meant to signal an action such as whistles blown by sports referees. Also, these whistle sounds aren't mean to command people to move out of the way such as the whistles that are blown during Haitian Ra Ra processions by a man serving as a band's colonel. Instead, the whistles that are blown by one or more dancers during Soul line dancing are meant to add "flavor" to the sound of the recorded song that the whistle blower and other people in the group are dancing to.

My guess is that Too $hort’s 2006 Hip Hop record "Blow The Whistle" record should largely be credited with expanding the already existing custom among Black people (in particular) of listeners' and/or dancers blowing a whistle (instrument) to add that whistle's percussive bursts to recorded (or live) music in (hopefully) aesthetically pleasing ways. Since at least 2012 if not earlier, multiple Soul line dance videos of "Blow The Whistle" have been posted online. Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxIcd-Xnvn4 for a 2012 line video of "Blow The Whistle". That video doesn't include any actual whistle blowing. Nor does it include any fan popping. To date, I haven't come across any "Blow The Whistle" line dance videos in which any one actually blows a whistle during that dance line. Also, none of those Blow The Whistle line dance videos that I've watched-including recently published videos- don't include any fan popping.   

According to two online articles that I've read about Too $hort’s hit 2006 Hip Hop record "Blow The Whistle", the phrase "Blow The Whistle" in that record is a sports metaphor commanding that someone needs to act like a referee and blow their whistle on a person who has done something wrong. Too $hort wasn't indicating in that record that people should actually blow a whistle to add to the music that they were hearing.

Click https://genius.com/Too-short-blow-the-whistle-lyricsandhttps://genius.com/a/too-short-breaks-down-blow-the-whistle-on-genius-series-verified  Genius [Verified series]- Jun 27, 2018

WARNING - Too $hort's record "Blow The Whistle" and these article's about that record contains lots of profanity as well as the n-word.

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COMMENTS FROM THE DISCUSSION THREAD FOR SHOWCASE VIDEO #1

Numbers are added for referencing purposes only. All of these comments are from 2025.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDrBn6HRZjQ


1. @makebacunningham6795
"It’s the fans and the whistle for me ❤❤❤❤"

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2. @Kat-gj4fk
"Yesss!!! 💃🏽 🪭"

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3. @dawnkesheakluesner2770
"I LOVE OUR PEOPLE!!!  There’s nobody like us!!❤❤❤"

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4. @zetteamor
"Black people always adding flavor!"

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5. @wordplay6665
"😂 can’t just go and bootscoot"
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"Boot scoot" is a verb that refers to doing country line dancing that came from the 1991 hit song "Boot Scootin Boogie" by American country music duo Brooks & Dunn. According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_Scootin%27_Boogie , 

Click https://www.youtube.com/live/dkaa3hJH02g for a YouTube video of Boot Scootin Boogie Line Dance. 

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6. @walibashir102
"Hearing that whistle did it for me being from that party whistle era. Love the fans but I'm blowing my whistle."

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7. @ninared6816
"Love the fans. We take everything to the next level of fun. Love my people and their creativity.❤❤❤"

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8. @GratitudeGriot
"too fun and fly!!! the stanky leg with the fan is sending me 😂❤🖤💚"

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9. @kimknight-is3yt
"WE ALWAYS GOT THAT SWAG AND YES WILL BREAK THIS DANCE OUT PERIOD"

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10. @Nunya-k2u
"Now we knew when black people started line dancing it was gonna be LIT!"

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11.@the.real.rj4400
"You can just feel the extra flavor ❤.. "FAN SNAP"😊"

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12. @Teebee407
"It's sooooo refreshing to see men line dancing! Some where in time we've made
line dancing (a female thing) dude in the burgundy shirt on row 2 is a VIBEEEEE"

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13. @saysaythediamondprincess8820
"Awww poor guy his fan broke"

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14.@ronaldjoseph809
"And it was at that moment, when the brother in the red shirt realized  his fan was made it CHINA 🇨🇳 😁🙃"

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15. @normacroberts-hakizimana8785
"I think he done fanned that fan to deaf!"

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16. @liahbooker3900

"I feel like my blackness just leveled up"

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 - RnB Southern Soul Rodeo Florence South Carolina 2024 #trailriders #trailriding #trailride #steppers

Rachael Reed, Dec 24, 2024

Music - Follow Me (Club Mix)
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/06/african-american-soul-line-dancing-with.html for the 2022 pancocojams post entitled "African American (Soul) Line Dancing With Folding Fans ("Popping Fans")". 

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COMMENTS FROM THE DISCUSSION THREAD FOR SHOWCASE VIDEO #2

Numbers are added for referencing purposes only. All of these comments are from 2025.

From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-UFGNXu7gw

1. @whynot8901
"love the theme of this song.... UNITE"

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2. @JR3BOI
"I need to get home and catch me a trail ride!!"

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3. @sammimaloy5161
"Now that's adulting love and unity and enjoying life not a wall flower in sight"

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4. @angelalewis6152
"I  Want A Biggg fan🎉"

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5. @woodswal
"I wonder where they get those larger fans???"

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6. @rhondafountain648
"That's the South for you"

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7. @v.p.6422
"I can see me and my equilibrium turned off self. They going this way me going that way🤭They turning around! Me going straight..... LORD HELP 🙌🏼🥰😁🥴BUT I WANNA GO!!! DERN IT 😂"

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8. @jnetteepooh994
"Can someone explain where this originated and where I can participate in the next one lol"

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9. @iamrachaelreed
"@jnetteepooh994  Try searching field parties and/or trail rides where you are on Facebook and Tik Tok if you have it I also posted a 2025 trailride calender in my community posts check and see if one is near you"

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10. @catricedrew2428
"I love black peoples!!! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾"

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11. @Gullahbae
"Folks in the South are cut from a different cloth! ❤🕺🏿💃🏾"

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SHOWCASE VIDEO #3 -Follow Me!!

@LinedancingwithTerressa, December 26, 2024
-snip-
Several commenters wrote that this line dance event occurred in Columbia, South Carolina.

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THE DISCUSSION THREAD FOR SHOWCASE VIDEO #3

Numbers are added for referencing purposes only. All of these comments are from 2025.

https://youtube.com/shorts/dwDV42rQcd0?si=5QsJTZM98AYsLrJO

@rbenitez6140
"I remember many years ago doing that dance to follow me at a motorcycle club in Brooklyn.

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2. @caralatise1706
"Looks like a cool Powwow dance ❤"

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3. @token787
"I would have been behind the Cam shirt kickin it with him!"

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4. @doebaby6222
"Always a person that do too much 😂😂"

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5. @uprayup
"Let me get a fan!!! Flop! flop! flop! flop!"

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6. @heathermorris8840
"You better work"

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7. @loribobson3237
"Alright now! Party"

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8. @MarchellTurner-e5s
"I wish I could be there!!!!! Jam y'all ❤❤❤❤❤"

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