In Jamaica, there is a cutthroat competition named the king of dancehall. Over the years, people who have claimed to be the king of dancehall include Yellow Man, Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Shabba Ranks, Ninja Man, Shaggy and Vybz Kartel. Even pop star Sean Paul has been mentioned as king of dancehall, but mostly for his popularity around the globe.
On the female side, one woman that could definitely claim the title of queen of dancehall dancing is Latonya Style (real name Latonya Dillon), who will be making an appearance at Dancehall Delight tonight at Triangle.
Style will also host two days of dance workshops tomorrow and Sunday at Road Castle.
Photo courtesy of Latonya Style
Style has been moving and grooving ever since she was in the womb. All through her junior high school days, Style took dancing very seriously. When she competed in festivals, Style and her crews always came away with the gold medals.
The first turning point in Style’s life was when she was accepted into the ASHE Company at the age of 15. This school was known for edutainment — educating while entertaining. It was at ASHE Company that Style started teaching professionally and she soon had the opportunity to work with many big name artists including Elephant Man, Sean Kingston, Mr Lexx, Busy Signal and more.
The second turning point in Style’s life was a few years later when she quit her administration job and fully dedicated herself to promoting the hidden Jamaican dancehall culture to the world. She developed the Web site DanceJA.com and started building a community with other dancers and artists.
The Web site was a hit and soon Style was getting booked in far away places like Russia, Australia and Taiwan to hold workshops.
“YouTube is my best friend,” Style said. “DanceJA.com and social media connected me to the world.”
BURN BABY, BURN
Instead of just shaking her booty or being all over the place, Style said that her dances, called Stylish Moves, are classy, confident, fluent and a bit more formal than most dancehall dancing.
On her Web site, she has a list from A to Z of all the Stylish Moves she has created with videos to go along with each one.
Every year, Style publishes a small magazine with step-by-step graphics on how to do her moves as well as the history of certain dances. She plans on publishing a definitive book on the theory of dancehall dances within the next few years.
Style came for a quick trip to Taiwan last year and came away impressed by the open-mindedness of the local dancers. Everyone in the classes gave her a lot of energy, and the students were catching all of her moves when she was teaching them.
This time around, Style promises even more fun at the nightclub and in the workshops.
“I’m gonna burn the flames higher and bring the sunshine all the way from Jamaica here for the dancers,” she said.
■ Dancehall Delight featuring Latonya Style, Mighty Lion, Taili, DJ Cola and DJ Jose is tonight from 10pm to 2am at Triangle, 1, Yumen St, Taipei City (台北市玉門街1號). Admission is free before 11pm. After 11pm admission is NT$300 and comes with a drink.
■ Dance Apparent Dance Exchange featuring Latonya Style is tomorrow and Sunday from 2:30pm to 6:45pm at the Road Castle Water Theme Park (洛德城堡), Ln 160, Tingzhou Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (台北市汀洲路三段160巷). Admission is NT$7,200 for six classes and free entrance to the Dancehall Delight party tonight. To register for the workshops contact danceapparent@gmail.com.
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