Dancehall

Dancehall

Dancehall is a rapidly growing form of dance. He came to us from a small island in the Caribbean: from Jamaica. It would seem: it seems that it is not the largest country in the world, and not the most developed or popular, but still gave birth to a whole huge music and dance culture, which is now known all over the world.

Start

This whole story began in the 60s. With the advent of a new musical direction, dancehall. To sum it up very strongly, it is a mix of hip-hop and reggae, which was popular in those years. This musical style gained particular popularity in the 90s. Then the world-famous dancehall appeared – parties at which the whole of Kingston is now gathering.

What do people do at music parties? Of course they dance! Gradually, movements began to appear, the so-called steps, which everyone knew and danced. One day Bogle, a famous local dancer, collected them all and gave them names. And this very moment is considered to be the beginning of the dancehall as we know it now.

Almost twenty years later, dancehall, as a musical style and as a dance style, has developed to incredible proportions, a large-scale dance base has formed. If earlier there were no more than fifty steps, now their number is already in the thousands, and dance teams not only from Jamaica, but already from all over the world, come up with more and more every day. But do not be afraid ahead of time: to dance a dancehall, it is not necessary to learn them all, it is enough to know at least some.

Styles in style

Now, within this main dance style, many directions have appeared with their own characteristic features.

For example badman. The word itself speaks of what the dance is about. Jamaica is an unsafe country, armed clashes between residents of different districts and street gangs are constantly taking place there. And now badman is just a representative of such a group. This sub-style is characterized by a special aggressive presentation (attitude), harsh music, and the dance uses steps depicting weapons or an attack (dancehall is a very plot dance, and in many steps it is typical to display objects or actions).

Or seductive and sexy female dancehall. He dances, most often, to lyrical music. As the name suggests, girls. It is characterized by smoothness, softness. The main movements are waves and vines (wine), that is, rotations of the hips. It also has taps, but traditionally only girls can perform them, for men, women’s dancehall is a taboo.

In contrast to the previous sub-style, there is Dancehall queen style. This is perhaps the most spectacular dancehall direction, which is also danced only by girls. Here, in addition to the steps, there is also acrobatics, headstands, splits and everything in the same spirit, and the music is more aggressive, with a hard beat.

These are just a few of the main popular trends, and there are many more within the style. Everyone can find in it what is close to him. You can be gentle, you can be dangerous, sexy or aggressive, lyrical or dynamic. Dancehall allows each dancer to be himself and find something close to you.

Now this culture is gaining momentum. Almost every weekend there are dancehall events (battles, parties). There will be a place for freestyle dance lovers, choreographers, and those who just love to dance. Dancehall is a style that is literally invented on the street by people for people. Therefore, it is fun and it is close to everyone.