At the Dancehall, Where Party Meets Performance
At the Dancehall, Where Party Meets Performance
In a recent documentary, Beenie Man did something that top dancehall reggae stars don’t usually do. He said vocalists like him play a secondary role. “Dancing was before singing,” he said. “Be honest.”
You could see the proof on Friday night when hundreds of revelers converged on a grandly named place called Convention Hall: a big, dingy-carpeted room. (What it lacked in charm, it made up for in — well, a low rental fee, let’s hope.) The event was called “Dancing Will Never Die,” and it gave a hallful of Jamaican-Americans a chance to show off their moves, their clothes and — thanks to some roving cameras — their most videogenic sides. (Not, it seemed, their front sides.)