Dancehall: the genre that inspired young Jamaican street boys and girls to create the ragamuffin swagga and iconic dance moves that is catching on really fast around the world. The popularity of dancehall has spawned dance moves that help to make parties and stage performances more energetic.
Dancehall is originated in the late 1970s and In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably, with digital dancehall (or "ragga") becoming increasingly characterized by faster rhythms.
The dancing music, or dancehall music, grew to incorporate new beats and sounds like electronic music and sampling. Also this new style of reggae periodically included a DJ rapping and singing to fast, quick tempo rhythms. This concoction of music and dance quickly became a popular weekend hobby for the young people of Jamaica and the world.
BEYONCE: Do the beyonce wine
DanceHall Moves:
Early stages of Jamaican Dance Moves started with the Ancestral and spiritual dances known as Dinki Mini and Bruckins, which are now mainly practiced at Independence/Emancipation time in celebration of Jamaicans who fought for freedom while in captivity. These are processional dances where all participants dress up in costumes and the dance moves are performed in a uniformed way depicting naturally exhumed choreography.
Over the years, these foundations have remained but evolved and progressed into new dances which are used worldwide.
There are many cool dances that has been rocking Jamaican dancehall, and Jamaica in general for the last few decades.
It usually emphasize lots of choreographed body movements, rhythm and beat. Jamaican young women and men gather to form new groups all the time, where they create more fresh versions of dancehall moves each week, they sometimes use it as an escape from violence they face in the innercity and to also make themselves a few bucks to finish their education. Thanks to a strong culture, many of the traditional dances were passed on to the younger generation thus enabling ideas and newer inventions of creativity.
Many dance moves seen in hip hop videos are actually variations of Jamaica's dancehall dances. Examples of such dances are: "Like Glue", "Bogle", "Whine & Dip", "Tek Weh Yuhself", "Whine Up" (a mix of various genres), "Boosie Bounce", "Drive By", "Shovel It", "To Di World", "Dutty Wine", "Sweep", "Nuh Behavior", "Nuh Linga", "Skip to My Lou", "Gully Creepa", "Bad Man Forward Bad Man Pull Up", "Keeping it Jiggy", "Pon Di River", "Willie Bounce", "Wacky Dip", "Screetchie", "One Vice" (an underground dance) and "Daggering".
How did these hot new dance moves come about in the first place?
Jamaican 1990s dancehall artists Queen Patra
who was it that MASTERMINDED this growing trend?
His name is Gerald Levy (22 August 1964 – 20 January 2005) he was the mastermind behind many dance moves that he invented while enjoying himself at Jamaican street dance and popular night clubs. He was also known as, Mr. Bogle, Father Bogle, and Mr. Wacky. Many friends and artists explained that Levy could effortlessly create dances where he would move in such interesting and memorable ways. Little did Mr. Levy know that his dances would later become popular and help fuel a new and different Jamaican lifestyle. Mr. Levy invented moves such as the Willie Bounce (named after his Black Roses Crew member Willie Haggart), Wacky Dip, Urkle Dance, Sesame Street, Bogle Dance, Pelper, LOY, Jerry Springer, Zip It Up, Hotti Hotti Bogle, World Dance, Pop Yuh Collar, Row di Boat, Out and Bad, Sweeper, and Stuckie. Levy helped the crossover to dancing by making up his own sporadic, and exotic moves in which he was later known for.
American artists like beyonce who run the world(girls), usher, and many other artists, including rihanna has been injecting dancehall moves in their music videos that is created by jamaican street youths, that has formed groups and practiced their skills until it's been perfected before uploading them on youtube.
RIHANNA: Doing the bogle dance
Rihanna's first hit single pon de replay has injected dancehall moves in the chroreography and included the legacy of Gerald Levy in one of her most popular songs, “Rude Boy,” where she is seen doing the Bogle, and using other Jamaican dancehall moves, and psychedelic colors.
In an interview Rihanna said, "We used a lot of color, the costumes were very Jamaican dance-hall queen type." Rihanna as well as other artists continue to carry on the customs and culture of Jamaica.
Jamaica's Dancehall girl Daniel D.I wearing traditional 1990s Jamaican dancehall costume body suit
The Japanese love it
The Jamaican-born sound of dancehall is popular in Japan. During the rise of Bob Marley's worldwide domination, it seems Japan caught the reggae bug and now the dancehall fever, and the country has been harbouring a love for the stoner-friendly sound ever since.
The Chinese Love it
One of the most prolific and successful reggae producers was Leslie Kong. He owned a combination ice cream parlor and record shop called Beverly's. He got interested in the music business after selling records, and started producing records with a recording studio upstairs from the ice cream parlor. Kong was the first producer to spot Bob Marley’s potential. In 1962 Kong released Marley’s first two recorded songs: “One More Cup of Coffee” and “Judge Not”. Although neither of these songs ever became hits, Marley’s went on to become reggae’s most celebrated musician and the most famous Jamaican of the 20th century.
Africa love it
Since its burgeoning from within the Jamaican music scene during the 1960s, reggae and dancehall music has become an international idiom with broad, pan-diasporic appeal. It has moved and developed through a succession of styles and phases, and it continues to do so. It has generated a series of star performers who achieve both widespread popular recognition as well as critical attention within the music industry. Reggae stands apart from other styles of world music in having travelled the farthest from its place of origin and in having accrued an aura of being the quintessential African/third world/black musical form. For millions of consumers and listeners all over the world, this hybrid Caribbean musical style that began as a mélange of jazz, rhythm-and-blues, mento, soul, calypso, and Rastafarian music, and which first emerged from within the cultural setting of the urban scenes of Kingston, Jamaica, has taken on the status of African music par excellence.
it has a beautiful rhythm with a sound and feeling all on its own, and it's a music that moves people in body and spirit in an immediate, powerful way that is special to itself.
SAMANTHA J TIGHT UP SKIRT
The most recent artists to take the Jamaican culture to the world-wide audience is 16 year old Samantha J, since the begining of 2014 she released a single titled, ''Tight Up Skirt'' and she did the bogle dance, the wacky dip and many other dancehall moves in her video that climbed the American charts and became a popular hit among people her age group.
When rihanna and niki minaj's fans saw the video, they blasted little samantha j on several social networking sites for copying rihanna and niki minaj's dancehall moves,
but little do these fans know that Samantha J was not copying her moves, she grew up listening to reggae and dancehall and that's how jamaicans dance.
People describe her as little samantha j, because at the time when she made the hit song ''Type Up Skirt'', she was 16 but looked about 14 and has a very small body frame, compared to when rihanna or britney spears were 16. Adults in Jamaica complained about the video, they said it was too old for her especially the dancehall moves that she was doing in her video. Everyone thought that she was a 14 yr old getting her own way, they were shocked to find out that she was 16 and even so, they still thought that those type of dancehall moves were still too old for her.
The Bogle Dance: though its not 'new' anymore, it is still a favourite. The dancer points the hands toward the air in a flailing steady motion while moving the body back and forth in a snake-like movement.
The Bogle dance move became popular along with the acceptance of reggae and then Dancehall music and is now referred to as an “Old School” dance move. The bogle dance move is more prevalent in reggae dance halls, a popular gathering place for dancing such as a club or ballroom. The dance move has now developed and branched off into other dances, which continue to be used in music videos such as Rihanna's hit song “Rude Boy". Since the Bogle dance move originated in Jamaica, many Jamaicans think of the Bogle as a cultural or homeland dance and are proud to call Gerald Levy their own.
A relative of mine has told me once that she use to bump into Mr Gerald Levy a few times and he has the personality of a gentle giant. He is chatty, smiles a lot and likes to crack jokes. he was just a big guy trying to get along with everyone and to make a name for himself, he was a dancer.
Mr Gerald Levy was murdered by another rival dancehall moves creator, according to several leaks surrounding the time of his passing. Eventhough he has passed on due to his martyrdom, people of Jamaica still consider Mr. Levy the greatest dancehall dancer of all time.
Mr Gerald Levy otherwise known as Bogle:His quote "It's nice to be important, but more important to be nice."
Artists today continue to give the Bogle Man shout outs in their songs for the survival of his legacy of grace and creativity. DJ Bounty Killer, the trio Voice Mail, Elephant Man, and Beenie Man. In Beenie Man’s song, “L.O.Y.” he sings, “Check Mr. Bogle and the Roses Crew, have a new dance whey want everybody to do.
” At the time of Levy’s death, Beenie Man offered a heavy million dollar bounty for those who could find the suspected murderers of Levy and also said he would raise the bounty to two million dollars after a week. Beenie Man and Levy were very close friends due to the time they both spent in dancehalls in the 90’s.
Just remember that when you see people busting a move doing dances like Bogle,Wacky Dip,Signal de plane,Dutty Wine,Log On,Hot Wuk,Tek Weh Yuself, Beyonce Wine,Gully Creepa", "Bad Man Forward Bad Man Pull Up", "Willie Bounce", ", "Screetchie", (etc) we will always remember and never forget the originator of many of these popular dance craze, that has sweeped the nation and inspired the younger generation, he is the one and only Mr Gerald Levy (A.K.A) Father Bogle and the beat goes on.
By: V Goldson
"It's nice to be important, but more important to be nice."
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