My New Love for Kingston

Mara's class was the catalyst for the complete shift of energy during my first experience in Kingston. When I left her neighborhood, I immediately made plans for my next set of classes. I had reached out to a few groups on my own before I left, so I decided to follow up with them before my friends arrived.

The very first group I had reached out to before I left was a group called Kriptic Klique. When I had messaged them when I was still in California, and the leader of the group, named "7ven" immediately responded back with the class location, price, and what would be covered in the class. I soon learned that this was rare for dancers down there to do. Most of the time, I got a response that was very similar to "Yes, we can have class"... or an even shorter version of just "Yes"with no detail about time or place.

The next day, I called Autoy, who was available and drove me to 22 Ricketts Crescent in the heart of Kingston. The neighborhood was slightly different than the one I had experienced before. There were more houses cuddled by a few corner stores and patty shops, and not as many people in the street. When we pulled up to the house, 7ven was there waiting at the front gate. As I looked out, I noticed a brightly painted wall with blue lettering that read " Kriptic Klique". As he welcomed me inside, I could see he had two other teammates with him, along with Jay C Val, a well-known international Dancehall teacher from France. They were all training and practicing together for a video. I thought that was super cool, and watched them in amazement. When we got settled, we began class.

7vens class was very different from any class I had ever taken. He began by explaining the history of Dancehall and where all the steps originated. Not only did I learn his steps, but I got introduced, for the first time,  to different Old and Mid Skool steps. I finally started to recognize some of the moves I had seen Colo Colo and everyone from the hostel doing that night we went out. The class went for two hours, and it would have gone longer had Autoy not pulled up with one of my newly-made friends from the hostel and said it was time to go. Before I left, I made plans with 7ven and his crew to come back with my friends and get another class.

The selfie I snapped with 7ven before getting whisked away into the taxi. ( I don't know why my teeth are blue).

The reason why my friend pulled up with Autoy so abruptly was that she was on the way to another class and wanted to know if I was interested in joining. This one was with "Dancing Rebel", probably the most well known female dancer in Jamaica. When we pulled up, we saw two other girls waiting outside her house, and decided to wait as well. When Rebel finally came, it was almost as if we got graced by the presence of a celebrity. She was definitely Jamaica's Beyonce, rolling in with a solid crew, and a swag that spilled out into the whole neighborhood. The warm up was fast and energetic, which was only a precursor to the class that sped past my eyes. She taught two different portions. The first part was her "female" steps, where I felt like I could hold on, and the second part was a complicated, fast-moving gun choreography, where I felt like I got left behind at the gas station down the road. While the other girls in class looked so fierce, I looked like a tornado in a cartoon.The truth was, I didn't care. I was in Jamaica, dancing behind Spice's main back up dancer!

Class at Rebel's compound

The next day, my friends arrived, and I immediately planned a class at the hostel with a group of dancers called "Xqlusive Dance Crew." The class was planned for 4:00 PM, but they all seemed to arrive a little late. Even in the dark, you could feel their energy as they approached the gate. Class was a riot, to say the least. They all taught class one by one, and as one dancer came up front to break down the move, the other four would sit in the corner, and contribute to the most rambunctious peanut gallery you have ever heard in your life. Their addicting moves were full of energy, which were only outmatched by their hoots and hollers from the sidelines.

The following day, I had class with Latonya Style, the queen herself. Before I came to Jamaica, I had been following Latonya on Youtube, and learning her dance steps from her at a distance. She was the owner of the Dance Jamaica academy, and the CEO of her own company, called Stylish Moves, a fusion Dancehall program aimed at empowering women in Dancehall, and finding your own flow in the movement. While this class was different from the rest in that it had its own sense of calm, it was informative, fun, and as it was prescribed, empowering. The end of class was followed by a video along with our own photo shoot doing various Stylish Moves steps. Since I had gotten there by myself, she offered to give me a ride home. On the trip, I expressed my interest in becoming certified in her teacher training program. She encouraged me to apply, saying I would be a good fit. She waved good bye to me as she honked for Charlotte (her first student) to come out and say hi to her.

This was the photoshoot that proceeded class. I'm obviously not making the right duck face.

The next morning, I woke up energized for the day. Our first class was located in the heart of downtown Kingston in a sea of towering buildings with a small New Skool group called the Fantastic Steppaz. We soaked in their steps while looking out onto the streets of the swarming city. That night we had class with another group called Overload Skankaz, another New Skool group, this time, in the pouring rain.

Class in the pouring rain with Teroy from Overload Skankaz. (Don't worry, it's still hot AF outside.)

While each and every class took my breath away in a new, intoxicating way, the last two classes we had in Kingston left the real impression for the months to come. The first one was with Colo Colo, the character from my first night at the party, and the very last one was the second class at the Kriptic HQ.

Before our class with Colo Colo, I ranted and raved to my friends about how were about to have class with a LEGEND. After all, he was a legend. Colo ate from the same table as Bogle, the father of Dancehall. He walked around even the worst streets of Kingston like a king, with no fear. He entered every party for free, and everyone knew his name. That's how respected he was in the Dancehall community. When I saw him dancing my very first night in Kingston, I assumed that we would be getting an experience that we would never forget....and I wasn't wrong. He explained before that the class would consist of an hour of steps followed by a lecture. To be fair, the first half of class was learning steps, and the second part was, technically a lecture, just not in the way I thought it was going to be. Colo started the class without a warm up, making Charlotte control the music, as he danced the first step. When he finished, he turned around, and shouted " now, you do it!" As we gave our best attempt, he sat in a chair in the corner rolling splifs, and chain smoking, asking why we didn't get the move on the first try. The rest of the class played out just like this, with only a few more exclamations about how bad at Dancehall we were. In what we lacked in a real learning experience, we gained back in pure entertainment.

 Next came the lecture. My expectations of a lecture filled with the history of Dancehall were replaced by a detail by detail account of his first experience sleeping with a white woman. I honestly do think we wouldn't have been able to hold back our laughter if we weren't all waiting for the part when he was going to give an actual account of the history of Dancehall... but it never came. The experience, while it had every opportunity to be regrettable, was one of the best we all had. We had our true Jamaican cultural experience, right there in the flesh. But instead of a class, it was a performance.

Our final class was memorable in a completely different way. I got to introduce my friends to Kriptic Klique, and have another class with everyone together. In what Colo's class lacked in the history and culture, the second class at the Kriptic HQ made up for it in more ways than one. We stayed at the HQ most of the day, laughing, dancing, and getting immersed into the culture of Dancehall. When class finished, 7ven pulled me aside, and asked me how far I wanted to go with studying this dance form. In this moment of being completely present and immersed, I couldn't help but be 100% candid with him. I told him I wanted to improve my skills, so much so that I could know and dance any Dancehall step at the drop of a hat. I wanted to create choreographies, and have real, uninterrupted knowledge of the culture. When I said this he took my hand, and said that he saw a lot of potential in me to go far because my drive was so strong. He offered me a place to stay next time I came to Jamaica, and a pact to teach me everything I wanted to learn. At that moment, I knew I had no other choice but to return, and gain that knowledge I had so desperately craved. And I did, very shortly after.

Our final pose in front of the famous Kriptic wall

My friends and I golfing around at the Kriptic HQ

When I left Jamaica, and returned back to California, I had thoughts racing through my head at the speed of light. I couldn't get over how I had just had the experience of a lifetime packed into ten days of madness.

My story of my first trip to Jamaica did not start out the way I imagined. The beginning was rocky, discouraging, and full of uncertainty. It made me question every desire and intention I had with pursuing dance, and the specific type of dance that fed me the most. When it was over, every negative feeling I had felt before was reversed, and thrown back into the vault.  I had a new consciousness; a new way of looking at the world, and an even stronger passion for the thing I was already so passionate about.

But, isn't this what pursuing your passion looks like?

Pursuing the thing that you love the most is, most of the time not the easiest venture you will take in your life. I should have known this already going into my trip, because of the experiences I had in the past when I decided to pursue a career in teaching dance. That wasn't easy, so why should this be? In 2017, Jamaica was new to me, a completely unchartered territory where I knew no one. Why did I expect to conquer it immediately? There wasn't a whole lot I could have to done to make those first few days in Kingston easier, but because I stuck with it, and trusted my gut, the experience rewarded me in the end. This story, while unique in itself, began to actually be a pattern that I would see emerge in my journey time after time when I pursued the things that I love.

In fact, it came up again the next two times I returned to Kingston....