by Teino Evans, Staff Reporter
The John Squad brings the hype to the Go Local Jamaica's Net Generation celebrations in Montego Bay, recently. Dancers enjoy greater success with tours overseas. - Tashieka Mair
Dancers have, in recent times, been touring more than usual. They leave the island nearly as often as the deejays and some will tell you that they even perform sets onstage that are equal in length to that of some deejays.
John Hype says, "when yuh guh perform yuh have yuh own time onstage, an same how the deejay dem have dem riddim dem line out, a same way mi have mi tune dem line out, mi prepare fi it, just like a normal stage show weh yuh si artiste a work. Any and every tune wi do di dance dem to, the hottest tune dem inna di party wi haffi dance to."
Hype says contrary to the belief that dancers are only called on- stage by the artistes, when they get shows overseas, "we alone deh pon di stage fi bout a hour or suh an den afta dat wi inna di crowd a party wid di people dem, cause dem waan party wid wi same way."
John Hype has performed in places like Boston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York, and is currently gearing up to head out for a two-week tour in New Jersey with the 'Squad'.
Pioneer
They are not the only dancers who are regular fixtures on shows overseas, as Shelly Belly, Ding Dong, Ice, Kieva, Boysie and others have been touring extensively in the United States and the Caribbean.
It is widely known that the late Gerald, 'Bogle' Levy, aka 'Mr. Wacky' was the pioneer in this regard, as he broke the international barriers for the profession of dancing to be taken more seriously, earning more money for performances and being booked for shows overseas.
Strangely enough, this practice of dancers having their own shows in Jamaica is virtually non-existent.
One dancer says, "maybe a because a foreign, more people nuh familiar wid di dance dem like we, di regular people in Jamaica, suh when di new dance dem buss a yard, wi haffi bring it guh a foreign guh show di people dem."
Dancer Shelly Belly says, "a we alone perform, an mi have mi track dem weh mi work wid, mi mek sure start wid my tune wid Zumjay, Nah Nyam Nuh Gyal an den Beenie Man tune weh name Heart Attack an den di Elephant Man tune weh buss mi weh him a seh 'from credit deh pon yuh cellie
Shelly Belly', a next Beenie tune weh seh, 'John Hype who dat a run who dat a ball', till it reach Chakka Belly an den mi close wid my new tune Shelly Belly A Di Man Fi Di Future."
"A di promoter dem, dem nah highlight di dancer dem like how dem highlight di deejay dem inna Jamaica, cause dancer fi have dem show, bring dem track an just come work, suh if anything dem (the promoters) have a segment fi di dancer dem, blend in di dancer dem wid di deejay dem, cause a nuh one dancer or a nuh two dancer, an everybody (the fans) have dem dancer like how dem have dem deejay," Shelly Belly said.
In looking to his upcoming tour in Bermuda, starting August 4th, Shelly Belly will be performing at his own shows, dubbed, 'Shelly Belly Di Man Fi Di Future, Welcome Back Again'. The tour will be just over a week long and will feature acts like Roy Dip (Rankle Dankle), Portmore Dancehall Queen Dahlia and Canada's Dancehall Queen, Sheba.
Shelly Belly is also getting his own set of dancers ready, as he says, "a time a come fi me an my dancer dem to, dem name 'Bermuda Cleek' wid yout like Crazy Hype, Roy Dip, Bermuda Kid, Bermuda Pimp an Bermuda Cool, a my group dat, every weh mi deh dem deh deh."
As for promoters in Jamaica, they are not too fond of the idea of dancers being given an entire segment on their shows since they are not deemed as pull factors.
"We tend to add elements to the party that are research-based and I have never gotten a feedback from patrons that this is something that they would want. Dancing exploded in the dancehall over the past couple of years and is not yet fully developed as a part of the culture to have it, so patrons aren't clamouring for it and therefore promoters can't use it to draw patronsÉthe whole dancing thing, the business aspect of it, has not been properly developed," Promoter, Roderick Reid told The Star.
Reid also added that, "the trend for dancers is to get a big name artiste or selector to bring them overseas and then see where they can take it from there but in Jamaica, the market is almost non-existent."
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