Anonymous defend World Reggae Dance title

Leighton Levy, Gleaner Writer

With an incredible dance routine that included themes of the Super Mario Brothers and slapstick comedy, and that was characterised by seamless transitions as well as some of dancehall's latest styles, the Anonymous dance group successfully defended their title as World Reggae Dance champions at the National Arena on Monday night.

It was the first time in the five-year history of the competition that a group defended their title.

The last of the 14 dance groups contending for this year's title to perform, Anonymous, settled the issue with a compelling performance that entertained the large crowd of enthusiastic dance fans and left them awestruck when it was all over. True, there were several other outstanding performances on the night, including an emotionally charged performance from a group called Black-a-Nize who came away empty-handed, but there was no doubt that Anonymous had raised the bar to new heights.

Great prizes

For the win, the group walked away with a $500,000 cash prize and cellphones, courtesy of Claro, a trophy from Party Time Services and a gift certificate from Cooyah. Second place went to the All-Star Dancers while the Overload Skankaz copped third place.

Leader of Anonymous, Matthew Richards, said a lot of hard work went into perfecting their routine, but it paid off in the end. "It took us about a week and a half (to put together and perfect their routine). It was so hectic for everybody's schedule. We just went like in the nights from between 12 and 4 in the morning, and for a week we did not sleep, just worked on the routine," he said.

The six-man group - Matthew and Conray Richards, Andrew Higgins, Garfield Hinds, Peter Bellas and Courtney Brown, whose members hail from Portmore, Washington Gardens and Cassava Piece, said they didn't have a place of their own to practise, but some 'kind people' helped out, giving them access to venues where they were able to perfect their routines. The comedy, Matthew said, is an extension of who they are as a group and as individuals. "It's a reflection of our natural personalities. We try to mix who we are with our dances and expression. In addition to our adrenaline and our strength, we try to incorporate our humour and creativity," he said.

Quality competitors

The competition was of such high quality that any of about four other groups could have won the minor positions. Chief among them was Black-a-Nize, a group of three extremely energetic Orientals and two Jamaicans, who produced a funny-but-moving dance set that depicted the cultural connection between Japan and Jamaica, and mimicked Bounty Killer, Buju Banton, and Vybz Kartel. Their performance evoked cheers, raucous shouts of approval, as well as prolonged gales of laughter.

Dust Ville Dancers, too, who featured a super-flexible dancer who many in the audience felt had no bones, produced an entertaining routine. They included gimmicks like blindfolded dancers jumping through human hoops, and other acrobatics that had the audience cheering non-stop throughout.

The 2010 Dancin' Dynamites champions, Card Unit, opened the performances with what many believed to be a performance of high quality that would have been difficult to top. However, except for perhaps a couple of dance crews, by the time the performances were done, they would have realised that they were completely outclassed.

Richards says Anonymous is hoping to travel overseas in the future. Recently, a French film crew shot a movie/documentary in which they were featured, and they hope that it will open other doors for them to show off Jamaican dance and culture.