Jamaican parties are so much fun, even the tamer ones.  Outdoor parties in open air environments are the best.  And Jamaican dancers now rule my Jamaican world.

By the end of Monday’s free ‘MoBay Nite Out’ Party at Old Hospital Park in Montego Bay, the dance crews had my jaw to the ground. Travelling half way across the world to get to Jamaica all felt worth it at that moment.

MoBay Nite Out was a nice Party – good vibes all round. It was in a park by the sea.  It was a full moon. It was free, which meant accessibility for people of all means and a more local flavour than the previous night at the Reggae Sumfest Beach Party.  There were kids there enjoying it, generally always a good sign of a friendly event.

The DJ for the night, DJ Shem, did the same thing I hated when he played at the official Sumfest Beach Party – played too much American pop music. I loved watching him up there though, just for his posse of one or two ‘assistants’ always standing there with him in support.

At the start of the night, the boring and predictable tourist games went on again.  I learned this lesson a second time in Montego Bay – do not listen to taxi drivers about when events start here. The good stuff happens late.  Do not arrive until midnight.

The singers and toasters who graced the stage during the night were certainly entertaining – some good, some bad.

But it was the dance crews at MoBay Nite Out who absolutely rocked my world – doing their thing on the stage, and in the crowd.

Never in my life before, not anywhere in the world I’ve been, have I seen such amazing dancers. I’ve seen incredible dancers across the Caribbean waters in Cuba (and elsewhere in the world), but for me there is something extra special about the way Jamaicans move. Maybe it’s the infusion of freedom in Jamaican music and dance that Cuba doesn’t have?

Whatever it is, it is special, it is hot, and I am totally and utterly hooked on it.

The female  dance crews certainly have their acrobatic tricks and rump shaking down, and were super hot, talented and sexy.

It was the male dance crew members who really did it for me though.  Not because they were also super hot and sexy. Because stylistically they were so much more diverse and varied in their moves than the women.

That was at the official MoBay Nite Out Party.  Those dancers continued battling on in the street into the wee hours of the morning . Crowds of people, the dancers amongst them, lined each side of the street facing one another.  The dancers battled one another from their respective side of the road as the cars passed through on the road between them.  It rocked my world again like no dance ever has before.

 Check out these dodgy videos of the tamer stuff here…

My Jamaican mission was always music, but the dance is such an amazing part of this culture too. I must find more.