A Dancehall Adventure in Kingston

by MARIA PIA MOLINA (Ecuador)

I didn't expect to find Jamaica

We arrived at Manley airport at 1pm. The first thing we noticed was the high humidity and an intense sun over our heads. It was August, but it seems like Jamaica has hot weather all year around. After buying a sim card to explore without worries, we jumped into a rasta driver’s bus. A man tried to sell us some sweets, another was chatting with us; the driver said we were his friends. Everybody was so friendly, completely different from the shy people in our highlands town. For them, we were just the usual “white peoples” they see as wealthy tourists. In reality, we went there to take dancehall lessons, with a year worth of savings, and no money to waste. The streets were similar to the ones in our country: roads with holes, old cars everywhere, and plenty of street food. The differences were the African descendance of the people, and their language. We found out later that when Jamaicans wanted to impress us, they spoke using a UK accent, but in the dancehall scene, they kept their tradition by speaking patwá, the language from the downtown (ghetto). We were three friends from South America, wanting to learn Jamaican dance culture from its roots. At the beginning, Dancehall was a form of socialization used by impoverished people. It started in the late 1970s, and it became so popular that now represents a 10% of Jamaica’s GDP. These days, Jamaican dancers are touring in many countries and people from around the globe visit Kingston to learn from them. This dance evidently has African roots, and dancehall music is closely related to reggae, which is still the most popular music in Jamaica. We went to dance for two weeks. While Anahi and I were starting to understand the dancehall culture, our team member, friend, and dance teacher, Nury, knew everybody, so she took the lead and contacted the dancers. We met some dancehall pioneers. Unfortunately, the dancer who is considered the Godfather of Dancehall and who gave names to the moves, was killed in 2005. His name was Gerald “Bogle” Levy, or Mr. Wacky, and his legacy still remains. The most famous move of old school dancehall is named after him, and we had the chance to take classes with dancers who were his pupils. Like Boysie Roses, Orville Xprezionz, and Colo Colo, who are considered living legends Kingston has downtown parties every night on the streets; this is where dancers show their talent. We were surprised by the fact that the most popular party days were the unusual Sunday and Monday. Moreover, connections in Kingston are crucial. After we were kicked out from our Airbnb apartment due to confusion, we miraculously found the Dancehall Hostel where Seal, the owner, let us stay for a cheaper price after listening to our regrettable story. During one the parties we met Talis, a dancehall singer who wanted to show us a stunning island, Lime Cay. Nury had heard about it, and wanted to know how we could get there. The next day, Talis took us to a small port to catch a boat. The canoe was similar to the ones we have in Ecuador, with no proper safety precautions; very adventurous to say the least. After the longest boat trip of our lives, we arrived to an inhabited place. It was the perfect spot to rest. Not many people reach the island because there is no warranty of a safe journey. But we took the risk, and it worth it. Lime Cay is a two hectares piece of land, located 15 minutes away from Port Royal. There are no shops nor restaurants there, so we had to take our own food and drinks. There are at least two beaches to enjoy the warm and green ocean, but most of the island has rocks, palms, and plenty of seaweeds. It was a nice place to enjoy nature, sunshine, take pictures, and make improvised dance videos. After three hours, we heard that there was only one boat left, so we had to return to the mainland. When we came back to the port, Talis took us back to downtown Kingston where we kept learning dancehall.