Many in Panama may not be familiar with the jerkin’ dance movement and that is ok, because it only started early 2008 and started getting traction on 2009. The jerkin’ dance has a basic move which consists in moving the legs in and out to the rhythm. There are a few variations called the reject, the dip and the pindrop among others. The dancers often wear skinny jeans, in order to distance themselves from the hip hop style who favors baggy pants. Wearing skinny jeans while dancing the jerk also emphasizes the leg movement.

The jerkin’ dance is gaining popularity in Panama as it’s often mixed with passa passa and break dancing. In Panama, like in other parts of the world it’s still not widespread, but if you’d like a sample, simply attend discos where dance hall and passa passa music is played, you are bound to see a few dancers swinging their legs or jerkin’. Even popular dance crews in Panama have already started adding jerkin’ moves into their choreographies. The movement also has a few dedicated artists; one example is the duo “New Boyz” who with their hit “You are a Jerk” has boosted the popularity of the movement. Such is the buzz about this brand new type of dance that major recording labels like Arista have signed various groups and are looking seriously at many other jerk groups.

The Teatro Nacional is hosting a dance festival this year! It is the IV Festival Internacional de Artes Escénicas 2010 (IV International Stage Arts Festival 2010). Groups and companies from nine different countries including Panama will be presenting the very best in dance for this well waited festival. This event has been organized by la Fundacion Pro Artes Escénicas y Audiovisuales. It all begins on the 17th of March to the 24th of March of this year, so you have plenty of time to prepare for these exciting performances! If you are interested in learning how to do some of these different dances, then feel free to attend the classes that will be given. You can check the groups and dates for the IV Festival Internacional de Artes Escénicas in the below link:

http://www.faepanama.org/calendario2010.html

Tickets for the IV Festival Internacional de Artes Escénicas will be on sale at boletospanama.com, or you may call at 360-2350. Prices start at $5 for the gallery, $10 for the II stage, $15 for the 1st box, $20 for the balcony, and $25 for the orchestra. For access to all the functions or a full pass, prices start at $60 for the 2nd box, $90 for the 1st box, $120 for the balcony, and $150 for the orchestra. The rest of the events are free! We will be waiting for you at the IV Festival Internacional de Artes Escénicas in Panama!

There is a new dance fever hitting the streets of Panama and it is called Passa Passa also known as dance hall. Passa passa is an addictive energetic dance which worked its way to the streets of Colon and various places in the city of Panama. There are even people dancing to this popular Caribbean rhythm in the outskirts of Panama where the smaller towns are located.

Dance hall originally came from Jamaica and started in the late 70s. This dance and music initially came from reggae and like reggae; dance hall brings many different people across the globe together. Although dance hall or passa passa dancing came from Jamaica, it has moved on to different countries like Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and now Panama. Passa passa involves a lot of movement and difficult steps, but it can be learned with practice. Once you got the passa passa riddim you can pretty much learn to dance all the steps. There are very popular parties such as dutty fridaze where many people go to dance passa passa. Usually men like women go to these parties to compete with their rivals. There are many popular dance hall steps like hot wuk, tek weh yuself, willie bounce, dutty wine, and wacky dip that they dance when competing. These dance hall moves are a more decent way of dancing passa passa.
Others dance passa passa in a more sexual way. This usually involves the man and the woman dancing erotically. Not everyone likes this type of dance so a lot of people in the Caribbean and Panama prefer to dance Passa passa in the more decent version. The general attire worn by women dancers for this kind of dancing is more revealing and sometimes even R rated. Others go dressed normally but this doesn’t stop them from busting a move on the dance floor.

Everyday more and more dance steps are being created for dancehall. Some very popular dancers of passa passa are Ding Dong and his crew. They dance passa passa steps like the badman pull up, wacky dip and many more. Ding Dong also makes popular dance hall music which Panama enjoys listening to. You get different themes and tones from this kind of dance and music. A lot of passa passa rhythms’ are influenced by religion, sex, violence, social issues, and issues like women’s rights.

Panama dancers are catching up with the rest of the Caribbean pretty fast. Soon all of Panama will be dancing the difficult but fun steps to passa passa. Next time you go out, look for your nearest dance hall parties and learn the steps to the most popular dance in the Caribbean. In passa passa for every song there is a dance.