SteemDance - Exploring The World Of Dancehall

in #vida7 years ago

Every time @dianabeatz and I get together, we always find more things that we have in common.
Besides the hiphop dancing, we both discovered that we are having fun with the African/Jamaican style too. I feel like Dancehall is exactly what is says - for dancing, mainly in a club. The musicians record songs over a rhythm, as they add something unique to it. Because it is now globally popular, Dancehall has countless regional variations, but with a little practice, almost anyone can learn the basics of this unique style.

History
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably, with digital dancehall becoming increasingly characterized by faster rhythms. Key elements of dancehall music include its extensive use of Jamaican Patois rather than Jamaican standard English and a focus on the track instrumentals.

Dancehall saw initial mainstream success in Jamaica in the 1980s, and by the 1990s, it became increasingly popular in Jamaican diaspora communities. In the 2000s, dancehall experienced worldwide mainstream success, and by the 2010s, it began to heavily influence the work of established Western artists and producers, which has helped to further bring the genre into the Western music mainstream.

I already learned some basics at the dancehall class (the class is a mix of dancehall and fitness) which I take every Friday. If you haven´t been exercising for a long time, you get really exhausted after literally a few minutes into the dance routine. It takes a lot of energy to keep it going. Even when you're a beginner, the dance coach does not go easy, as he believes that it is the best method to get you motivated. After a few weeks I got used to the tempo and enjoyed every single class.

Diana showed me a dancehall song which is featured by our favourite artist, Chris Brown. We started to share our knowledge and techniques for basic dancehall steps. That training resulted into our own dance routine to Koshens feat. Chris Brown - Bruk Off Ya Back.

Having someone to share your passion and your motivation isn´t everything. We have never been so creative until we danced together. We also never created a routine before, but as we were together, our own short dance routine came through within an hour.

Diana and I will be teaching you some favorite and funny dancehall moves very soon. We are really looking forward to that!

Much love, Lisa