Introduction to Caribbean Fusion -Tutorial 1

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Introduction to Caribbean Fusion
Very excited to get started with some Caribbean Fusion on here :) 

This first Tutorial covers an introduction to 'wining' and 'Tick Tocking'.
A practice video will follow.

Please keep reading below to learn more and to see some examples of some incredible Caribbean style Dancers to check out.

Caribbean Fusion is a blend of Caribbean Music and dance movement with belly dance (aka Raqs Sharqi) dance movement. Both dance genres have their foundations in African dance and in my opinion these movement vocabularies and musicalities blend well together largely due to that.

Culturally they are both rooted in social dances, that eventually made their way to becoming performances and stage entertainment, but before that they were simply done amongst people as a means of connection, expression and celebration.

I am first generation Canadian, my family is originally from Jamaica. The joke is my parents moved to Canada because they wanted to freeze their children lol.  I was fortunate that I was very close with my maternal grandmother who was an avid lover of dance and music. She was the biggest influence on my dancing and dance style. She was a huge fan of soca and reggae and never missed an opportunity to dance. Even in her final years she kept dancing.

Fusion certainly does not appeal to everyone, and that is okay. We aren't all cut from the same cloth and we all find satisfaction from different means. If you do fuse it is beneficial to understand what you are fusing and consider if the fusion works respectfully. On that note I would love to share with you some Caribbean Dancehall & Soca style Dancers to check out. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
If you are already familiar with the genre and have favourite Dancers not listed below please do share them in the comments 😊 😀


Dancers to check out

The original Dancehall Queen (Literally) Carlene and why yes that is who I named my cat after.
Carlene Smith is a Jamaican icon and trailblazer
She is hailed with defining and starting the dancehall queen genre and stared in many of the most popular Cadibbean music videos of the 90s. She was also known for her original and bold performance outfit choices. She has since retired from professional dancehall but she remains an integral part of dancehall history.

Her instagram - https://instagram.com/dancehallqueencarlene?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Here is a snippet from a documentary about Carlene talking about her experience in Cuba
https://youtu.be/xBzaZ4l0ZDg

Carlene talking about her dancehall fashion
https://youtu.be/aePb-q9_rk0

The Soca Butterfly Music Video - Soca(Carlene is in the black thigh high boots and platinum blonde wig)
https://youtu.be/R8nZbu1wM3A

Murder She Wrote (Dancehall)  music video
https://youtu.be/-av7F1JBmj4


More dancers:

Royal Gale (Barbados background by based in NYC), goes by @royal.g on Instagram
https://instagram.com/royal.g?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Honestly there are no words that do justice to Royal's immense beauty, skill and talent. You just have to see for yourself.

Royal gracing us with her exceptional waistline and headtop skills
https://www.instagram.com/p/CMmyCRhjbX4/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Waistline for days
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CY7h3q8INKQ/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

You can find many more videos on her instagram. :)

Latonya Style (Jamaica) - Latonya is a fantastic dancehall dancer, choreographer and teacher. She founded Stylish Moves which does a brilliant job of codeifying dancehall and honoring the waistline of dancehall queen style and the modern crew stylings of dancehall.  Her instagram
https://instagram.com/latonyastyle?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Her

A beacon of creativity for creating/defining/ naming moves
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CeemxYnJIlz/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Luna (Trinidad)
Luna is a brilliantly vibrant and energetic soca dancer from Trinidad. She has so much joy, and so much fun to her. Always engaging to watch.

https://instagram.com/ixmluna?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Her showing us her marvelous wine
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CeZPpLojwAN/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=


And one more (there are so many but I just wanted to give you a varied sample)

An I Mal - is a dancehall dancer and choreographer from France and oh my goodness I just adore his choreographies. His musicality and technique, and the dances he puts together are just spectacular. His choreo to "No Dirt" is one of my favourites.  (He is the one in the white tank top) note what you see here is dancehall style not dancehall queen style.
https://youtu.be/ZSHSuIXzggA

An I Mal performing a dancehall solo. I don't know if this was choreographed or improvised but either way its perfect!!
https://youtu.be/X-anQfaKOzI

I hope you enjoy these Dancers as much as I do and that you find some inspiration and find yourself searching to see more.

Thank you for choosing to learn with me :)