LargeUpTV: 2011’s Toppa Top 10 Dancehall Dances

Words by Emily Shapiro:::Photos and Video by Kevin Ornelas:::Choreography Direction by Korie Genius—

Here at Large Up, we wanted to make sure that you hit the New Year’s Eve Bashment parties in style. So we got up with our good friend Korie Genius, of New York based dance crew Blackgold, to find out about the best and most popular dances of 2011. After some heated discussion, we chose what we think were the 10 most influential moves of the year, and linked with Korie outside the colorful Mollusk Surf Shop in Brooklyn. Watch the video below for a quick demonstration of each, then read the breakdown of each step below. We hope to send you into the New Year with an updated arsenal of party dances—and make sure to check back here in 2012 to keep them fresh.

10. Above the Clouds

A YouTube search of “Above the Clouds” may first bring you to Cyndi Lauper’s hit song or the Gang Starr classic but with further investigation, you can find our number 10 dance of 2011. “Above di Clouds” was brought to us by the M.O.B. dancers who are best known for their original dance, “Calm Dem Down.” The dance is simple. Genius explains, “You’re swinging your hands over your head in each direction like you are pushing something away, like you are pushing clouds away. Your body just turns towards the way you are pushing.”

9. Canna Cross It

Our number 9 dance was inspired by DJ Powa’s “Nobody Canna Cross It,” a comical re-mix of a TV interview with worker Clifton Brown in Jamaica where he talks about the problems caused by an overflowing river. One community’s disaster is another dancer’s viral video. The Blackgold dancers’ playful choreography to the song became an internet sensation, with people all over the world posting videos of themselves doing the “Nobody Canna Cross It.”

8. Gimme Space

The “Gimme Space” is one of the older dances on our list but we still see people busting it at parties all the time so we had to add to our list. The Chekkazz Dancers, who also brought us the “Punk Rock” in 2010, first debuted this dance.  Genius says, “You extend your right foot over the left, then step back and then switch.  Your shoulders are just shrugging down every time you take a step.  You can walk with it or do it in place, whatever you want.”

7. Splice

A collaboration between RDX and Voicemail on “Splice” led to an unofficial video that shows you all kinds of ways to do the Splice. Genius first makes clear “It is not a whine” and then explains, “I usually start with my right foot, so I pick my heel up on that side, then put it down and switch. While you are switching your feet, your hands are diagonally above your head and you are sort of rocking and leaning away from the foot that is up.” You should try it if for no other reason than “RDX and Voicemail, yuh know say the dance get nice.”

6. Cowfoot

Shelly Belly, one of dancehall’s most famous creators, made our number 6 dance after hearing Macka Diamond’s “Cow Foot,” a song in which she compares her man’s “buddy” to a cow foot. His description of the dance is short and sweet, “stretch out u han and kick out u foot, waist a jook.” Genius adds, “Your foot is hitting the ground like you have on a cow shoe and when you switch from one foot to the other you kind of whip your body around.” We agree with Genius that this dance embodies one of our favorite things about dancehall: style with a sense of humor.

5. Bucky Bounce

One of our favorite dance crews of 2011, Ghetto Legacy, brought us our number 5 dance. You can catch them in a whole bunch of videos, including Rihanna’s “Man Down.” Genius says, “You whip your head back and then you push it forward as if you hit a wall, or a soccer ball, and then it bounces back and your body and shoulders push back.”  The “Bucky Bounce” is definitely a unique movement unlike anything the dancehall has seen before.

4. Swag

Genius describes our choice for number 4 as a “flashy dance.” “All you are doing is picking up your heels and dropping them back down as you are moving your body. You could have your hands in the air, over your face…you can do anything you want with your body but your feet are always lifting up and back down. It’s your own style.”

3. Now You See Me, Now You Don’t

Ovamarz has been giving us faiyah on the dance floor for many years as a member of Ravers Clavers and now, with his own crew, Above A Dem. He is credited for dances like “Nuh Linga,” “Nuh Behavia” and “Step Ova” and now in 2011 he has brought us “Now You See Me, Now You Don’t” and our number 3 dance. Genius says he likes this dance because he can do it to almost any song and pull it out easily at parties. He explains, “you have your feet out wide and when you step you cross your hands. Then when you step again you uncross them. Your body leans in the direction you are stepping.” Or as Ovamarz so succinctly puts it, “Move your foot and your shoulder and your head and shub out.”

2. Bada Wave

Our number 2 dance comes to us from the innovative dancer, Raddy Rich. The Bada Wave is an infectious movement with lots of variations but Genius describes it in its purest form: “You punch with your fist into the air and then wave your body from your chest down to your feet while your feet are quickly stepping left, right, left, right (or vice versa).” Raddy Rich is featured killing the dance in Konshens’ “Do Sum’n” video and we put it near the top of our list because we expect to see it re-invented over and over in 2012.

1. Star Bwoy

Our pick for the number 1 dance of 2011 was a no brainer. “Star Bwoy,” (or Space Bwoy), even made it to mainstream fame when it was featured on Canada’s “So You Think You Can Dance.” To do this dance, brought to us by Chekkazz dancers, “you step one foot behind the other and then back out three or four times and then you step right, left, right, left as you wave your body from your pelvis up to your chest,” Genius says.  He explains that he does this dance so much because it is “one of the smoothest dances out right now and you could just chill with it.”