Time Out New
York / Issue
552: April 27–May 3, 2006
A new DVD puts the focus on dancehall’s
backbone—the dancers
By Jesse
Serwer RING MY
BELL Ding Dong chimes in on It’s All About
Dancing.
When Gerald “Bogle” Levy was shot and
killed at a Kingston gas station in January of last year,
his murder received only scant attention outside the West Indies. But in Jamaica—and heavily Jamaican NYC communities
like Flatbush and CrownHeights—the late dancer-choreographer was as
recognizable as Sean Paul or Elephant Man. A staple in videos by his close
friends Beenie Man and Buju Banton, as well as of Kingston’s nightlife, Bogle is
widely credited with ushering in the current dancehall era, in which a
distinctive, signature dance move is just as important to a song as a catchy
hook.
“Bogle is one of the
biggest icons in Jamaica right now—he’s near
the level of Bob Marley or Marcus Garvey,” explains Jason “Jay Will” Williams,
director of The newly released
DVD serves as a
documentary/tutorial on reggae dancing that plays like crossed with the
definitive early hip-hop culture docStyle Wars
Bogle’s death has, if
anything, stoked Jamaica’s dance fever. Led by
host Ding Dong, along with female dancehall queens such as Keiva the Diva, and
crews like Timeless, Fresh Kids and Sample Six, new dancers are perpetually
vying to create the next dance craze, as well as competing in head-to-head
battles modeled after break-dance competitions and DJ soundclashes. Brooklyn’s Suspense and French
Connection are among the many local troupes which have sprouted up in recent
years.
“Right now the hype in dancehall music is all about dancing,” says
Donnaray Lawrence, founder of Brooklyn-based Face-Off Dancerz. “We used to sit
and wait for Bogle or one of a few other guys who made up dances in
Jamaica. Now
we make up our own dances, and there are so many different dance groups, not
only in Jamaica
but inBrooklyn,
it’s crazy.”
In
Jamaica,
teenagers come to dancing as a way to stay out of trouble, but they’re also
finding that the internationally distributed DVDs filmed at Kingston’s
Passa Passa street
party—a dancehall equivalent to an all-night rave that takesplace in Kingston’s
TivoliGardens
neighborhood—are a potential route to fame. “If you show up at a club and ‘buss’
something unique, all of a sudden everybody is like ‘Wow, I want to learn that
dance,’” explains Lawrence, who teaches reggae dancing to teens in Crown
Heights, and runs an informational website at
dancerzblvd.com.
If you haven’t seen
videos for songs like Sean Paul’s “Gimme the Light” or Elephant Man’s “Pon De
River, Pon De Bank,” reggae dances require varying levels of coordination and
often involve exaggerated versions of “real-life” movements, like “Fan Dem Off”
or “Signal De Plane.” While some female moves like the “Dutty Wine” are derived
from the overtly sexual dances of dancehall-queen competitions, other unisex
dances reference personalities such as Jerry Springer or Jamaican track star
Veronica Campbell (the namesake of a new dance involving a sort of running in
place and the simulated passing of a baton).
“There’s no money in it
for a lot of them, but they wake up and go out every single night,” explains the
27-year-old Williams, who created after directing dancers like Bogle, John Hype
and Japanese dancehall queen Junko in videos by artists including Beenie Man and
T.O.K. “It’s actually very expensive because a certain image and fashion goes
along with dancing. You have to have a look and when the camera gets on you, you
have to know what to do.”
As dancers’ prominence
in the clubs has grown, so has their influence over the actual music. Speaking
in John Hype explains that producers often have him create a dance for their new
riddim tracks (the beats that form the foundation of dancehall) before they have
even been used by an artist. “If people aren’t dancing in the dancehall, you
have a problem,” Williams says. “So who’s the best people to get advice
from
Time Out New York / Issue 552: April 27–May 3, 2006
Dancerzblvd was added to
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5JAMAICA.COM is the
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You can think of TOP5JAMAICA.COM as your free guide to
the Internet's TOP Jamaican websites. From the seldom-visited to the
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Dance or Die 2k6
On
May 19th the Dance
or Die dance off was an event to remember. Not only exciting it was really a
dance or die dance off. Groups that took part in this dance massacre were Ice
Crew from out of New Jersey, The
Face-Off Dancerz from out of Brooklyn, AK from Jersey
,and 5 Deadly Venoms from the Bronx. This event was put
together by Banky Hype from hot 97. I must say the first round between face -Off
and the Venoms was really to die for. Unfortunately the Face -Off Dancerz had to
slaughter the Venoms out of the first round to challenge the Ice Crew. I must
say all groups did well but, the Ice Crew assassinated everyone that night.
However, because that event took place in New
Jersey, knowing that the Ice Crew is from
Jersey the crowd took the advantage and gave them full
support. I think the Ice Crew took it because 1, they were very charismatic, 2, they were
expressive, and they were from Jersey. lol....Anyway, the
face off dancez did put up a fight but was reluctant to murder them. The face
off Dancerz had to murder two other groups before they get to the Ice Family, so
in fact they were very tired, which shouldn’t be an excuse. Between the groups
of course Face-Off was more coordinated and had better choreography but the Ice
Crew had a better competition strategy. Just to say even if you’re the best in
what you do you must have a plan. In fact the Ice Crew did very well in the
assassination..By Donnaray
The Face Off
Dancerz are surely making bigger progress in every aspect of performing right
now. They are the VP Record world dance champions for 2k6. Nuff love from your
Director and coordinator Donnaray, you guys are doing a great job and am looking
for you to exceed all possibilities. Please remember that "The Sky is the
limit".
