Endevarous takes dance title - Impressive Japanese group JA to JA out of top three

Although it was a Japanese group which managed to whip the audience into a frenzy, this year, the World Reggae Dance Championship title was finally won by a Jamaican team after two consecutive Japanese victories.

Endevarous was crowned winner at Monday night's staging of the contest at Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre, Hope Road, St Andrew. However, this came as a shock to some members of the audience who thought the title would have gone to Japanese group JA to JA, which wowed patrons during their performance.

JA to JA thrilled with humour and creativity, using their bodies to make props such as microphones, a guitar and a keyboard. The crowd seemed wowed by the seamless performance and responded with thunderous applause.

Previous Japanese groups to win the World Reggae Dance Championship were Ivan Squad in 2012 and Attack Dem in 2013.

Members of Endevarous cried onstage as they accepted their winning trophy. They placed ahead of Untouchable Squad, with Equanoxx taking third place.

With a few exceptions, the moves were much of the same during the contest, the dancers doing some of the popular dancehall moves with very few variations. The 8 p.m. opening piece was explosive, but the freestyle segment was less than impressive, as most groups did the same moves and exposed their inability to be spontaneous.

During the main performances, High Voltage struck the right chord with their lightning bolt outfits, but failed to impress with their routine. Str8 Edge Society got points for their costumes, but faltered on choreography.

Dynamix Team was more energetic in the freestyle segment, while Untouchable Squad had down moments.

Following performances from Hectic Dymondz and Xclusive Dancers, some persons seemed uninterested and openly voiced their displeasure. "This embarrassing. Dem couldn't go pon YouTube?" one patron questioned. Another demanded "a dis dem call dancing?"

a lift to the evening

Luckily, Equanoxx came immediately after in their body painting and army fatigues outfit to lift the evening. Ice Lynk Skankas didn't move the audience, but Endevarous was able to have more of an impact. After doing some of the popular dancehall moves, Endevarous had patrons out of their seats when one of the group members took the stage dressed as deceased dancer Bogle. The crowd showed approval for the slick dance moves, rewarding the group with strong applause.

Another Japanese group, Yallow Yellow, was average, while Inkursion Group's display of creativity stopped at the drumming that started their performance. The audience also liked Flava Flava's tribute to Bogle.

The dancing was followed by musical performances with Deep Jahi, who was up first, singing his winning Festival Song I Love JA.

He was followed by Voicemail, who had many persons in the audience dancing to Step, their feet lifting the already loose dirt at the venue. Throughout their short performance, Voicemail had most persons in the venue dancing, with women of varying nationalities showing off their skills onstage.

The most entertaining performer of the lot, however, was Mr Vegas, who unleashed his catalogue on the audience. He did songs such as I Am Blessed, Nike Air, Tek Weh Yuself, Man A Gallis and Sweet Jamaica. The crowd was very pleased when he brought Latty J onstage for friendly musical banter. And, as expected, the audience responded very well to Bruck It Down.