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Words by Emily Shapiro
Dancehall’s unique dancing culture still breathes in clubs and bashments everywhere, with party steps being developed on what seems like a weekly basis. But some might argue that the scene has lost some of the flavor from the days of Mr. Bogle and the Wacky Dip.
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Words by Emily Shapiro—
Big tings a gwaan for the dance community in Kingston, Jamaica. Our friends at Dance JA have collaborated with some talented dancers to open a new dance training center, Dance JA Skool. While Jamaica has many opportunities for formal dance training, this is the first official space where all the dancehall crews out of Jamaica can share their skills.
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Words by Emily Shapiro, Photo by Martei Korley—
For many of us, Labor Day weekend is full of excitement and stimulation. There’s parties and parades and then Tuesday hits and we are forced to face the reality that we are not living in an infinite Carnival. If you are experiencing this kind of slackness withdrawal, get your fix with the King of the Dancehall’s new video. Beenie Man, who plans to release a new album later this year, has just released some visuals for his latest track “Dweet Again” on the Mercury Riddim, produced by Chase Millz and Jah Snowcone. Beenie’s made some classic videos over the years and this one, directed by Ras Tingle, taps into that tradition, mixing vintage and current party scenes as a statement on the staying power of Beenie’s style and music. Check the video below, and stay tuned for what will no doubt be a dope album:
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Words, Photos and Video by Martei Korley
I first met “Tyquan Di Girl Dem Ikon” when he was just a skinny youth hanging out at the Sandhurst Hotel in Kingston’s Barbican neighborhood, Summer 2006. I passed through there to see my now dearly departed friend, Natasja, who had then just landed in Jamaica, eager to participate in Red Stripe’s “Big Break” song competition. Ikon Tyquan was then a mildly under-stimulated gangly youth, but Natasja took a shine to him and incorporated one of his dance routines in her Sumfest Show.
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Words by Jesse Serwer
When the earliest B-boys were first getting busy on the linoleum floors of the Bronx in the 1970s, no one would have imagined that “hip-hop dance” would one day be offered at every YMCA and health club the world over. And who would have guessed, back when strip clubs were still considered solely the stronghold of sleazeballs and sailors, that “pole dancing” would become a mainstream pastime for suburban housewives and soccer moms? Dancehall dancing, or reggae dancing, while still well off the mainstream radar in the United States, seems increasingly primed for similar acceptance. In true Jamaican fashion, the music has had its own distinct style of movement since the culture was birthed in the early 1980s. The distinctive aesthetic really became apparent in the 1990s, when the late Mr. Bogle, Gerald Levy, popularized his namesake step in videos and even the Hollywood film Belly.
