Best Reggae Dances Ever (Classic edition)

Big ups to all our new Maad German fans, Respekt jedes Mal  and welcome to the Musical madnessss

Based on feedback on our features on  Best Riddims we are starting a new feature called Best Reggae  Dances yes Dancehall music is known for its dances but reggae the proud musical father, has a few moves of its own that are noteworthy

What makes a Best Reggae Dance, apart from the coolness and novelty of the dance:

• it is the best "go to" dance for anything reggae or dancehall related, especially foreigners who want to show they are hip to the music, you bet your bottom dollar this is the dance they are going to pull.

•  automatically of any of these dances can be done by a crowd of people instantaneously

•  it is very genre specific and cannot be used for any other musical genre other than reggae, (caution don't try these to hip hop).

•  there is a very easy learning curve.

• both men and women look cool doing it 

So lets look at the Best Reggae Dances mmmmmaaaahd

1. Bogle

Considered Mr Dancehall Master, Gerald levy is credited with any dances and the first cross over dancehall dance called the Bogle after himself. Whereas Bogle is known for creating many dances such as Willy bounce, Pon di river Pop di collarand many others by far this one is undoubtedly the most popular.

The song was further popularized by Buju Banton's song of the same name inspired by the dance. If you want even more proof on the popularity and relevancy of this dance see Caribbean pop princess Rihanna's video for Rude boy  where she is seen doing the Bogle.

Bogle was named after the Jamaican national hero Paul Bogle, lets take in a feature on Bogle at the height of the Bogle dance's popularity.

Just in case you forgot watch this video on a very clinical break down on how to do the Bogle (our advice however is better learn it in the dance rather than the dance studio lol)  

2. Butterfly
This one is also a perennial favourite not sure how created  this dance but in terms of a go to dance this falls right beside Bogle where people love to do to show this move outside of Jamaica that they are current with the reggae scene. Even more popularized by the 1988 Jiggsy King and Tony Curtis song of the same name.

 



and for these of you  who still don't remember this dance move  here is a quick refresher  video courtesy, bikini top is optional but preferred..................maaahd







3. Easy Skanking

This dance was formulated in the 1960 in the Jamaican dance halls.not dance hall music but the DANCE Halls  like Silver Slipper and Glass Bucket that characterized the era of ska. 

Ska was the foundation but with the transition of ska (a much faster tempo ) to reggae the ska became skanking as the dance slowed down. The name was more  reflected in the Easy Skank which is also mentioned in the Bob Marley song of the same name.


The dance style was adapted by British mods and skin heads and altered to to hardcore punk and ska punk  music scene of the 1960s, many versions have been developed since

Skanking consists of a “running man” motion of the legs to the beat while alternating bent-elbow fist-punches, left and right.

Here is a Punk ska version of How to Skank.


Then if you want to real thing here are some Jamaicans giving you the real reggae skank Watch from the 1:10 time mark and the dancer in the blue pants (taken at Reggae Sunsplash 1987)

Actually at the beginning of this video is another classic reggae dance move  the "rub a dub"  not known as widely worldwide but obviously a favourite to this day at most retro dances.

4. Electric Slide

Yes, the electric slide also called the Electric is  a dance immortalized at every single wedding, family get together,hotel entertainment party and cruise ship gathering, its  continues to fascinate on lookers who don't quite get it and kids who love to pick it up within a few steps. Although you may say it's not reggae, ohh we disagree.

First recorded by the original Wailer, Bunny Wailer, the song actually called Electric Boogie was a reggae song however it was only when Marcia Griffiths recorded a reggae pop version that it really took off. The choreography featured in the the accompanying music video, akin to line dancing became an overnight hit and as they say the rest was Maaad history the four wall line dance was created by choreographer Ric Silver in 1976.




Interesting factoid the choreographer of this 18 step dance move, Ric Silver  has actually copyrighted this move so you cant  use this move in a movie or commercial without the cha ching of rights being paid to this man. Our reggae dances need to take a leaf from this book and move to getting paid.


and yes we hear you all, look out for soon for the best dancehall dances 

Maaahd