Dancehall

Today, I will tell you a bit about my new passion which is dancehall. The style thanks to which I was able to feel the love of dancing again and which gives me satisfaction and self-confidence.

Dancehall is a dance style that comes from the Caribbean island of Jamaica. It was created in the Kingston ghettos and initially it was danced mainly by men. Currently, everyone is dancing in Jamaica - men, women and even children. It is an expression of emotion, expression, detachment from everyday life, and even spiritual purification for Jamaican residents.

Dancehall is not without reason called the street dance: the name "dance hall" means the space where dance parties take place, i.e. courtyards, markets or simply streets.

This dance style began with the rise of reggae music in the 1970s. After the death of Bob Marley, in 1981, in Jamaica there was a breakthrough in music. Elemental, strong, rhythmic songs began to displace chillout and calm reggae burdens. So far, music was played live, so it had a smaller audience range, but everything changed when in 1985 the first song created by means of electronics was made. This event is considered the beginning of a new era in dancehall music and the emergence of the reggae variety, which has been called the ragga.

Dancehall is danced by both men and women, but these two styles are slightly different. The steps in the male dancehall are based on strong, aggressive movements. To a large extent they consist of chest insulation, a large proportion of hands and strong strong rock bursts. It is a dance symbolizing strength and energy. In Jamaica, men can only dance in this way, while women can choose both male steps and those designed specifically for the female sex.

The feminine style is called Dancehall Female and Dancehall Queen Style. Dancehall Female is more sensual and "soft". It abounds in movements shaking the bottom (twerking), swinging the hips and demonstrating the strengths of the female figure. Dancehall Queen Style is a dance that is additionally enriched with acrobatic elements, such as shaking a bum in a twine or while standing on the head.

 In Jamaica every year there is a competition for the best dancehall dancer who later gets the nickname "dancehall queen". It is a real women's festival. Today I was talking to my dancehall teacher who was in Jamaica at this big festival and I’ve seen a video on her participating in this. I’m so impressed of her and the other participants moves and I’ve decided that from now my second dream (after Ariana Grande’s concert) is going to Jamaica and learn dance from the best teachers there. I’ve also heard that when people hear some music it’s so naturally to start dancing for them. (Try to imagine someone on the street who starts dancing. In Poland we would probably thing that he is psychopath. But in Jamaica It’s so normal.) So that is kind of heaven for me to dance every time I want to do it and don’t be afraid of others judgments.

Here you have some videos of me dancing dancehall.

First video is a male dancehall – you can see it by some strong and aggressive moves. (I'm in black shirt and a ponytail :P)

Second and third is a female dancehall – more sensual, a lot of shaking and twerking

S

Next week i'm gonna try afrodance style! I'm so excited and I can't wait to tell you more about it. ;D