Passa Passa
Encyclopedia
Passa Passa is a weekly street party originating in Kingston, Jamaica
. It is reported to have begun on Ash Wednesday
in 2003, with the name being coined by Carl Shelley. It is performed to dancehall
music. It has spread throughout the Caribbean
and started in Colon City in Panama
, but has since spread to the capital and surrounding areas. It is most similarly related to a block party
. The Passa Passa usually gets started around 1am and has been known to continue straight through until 8am.
Artists, selectors
, and dancers who usually attend and have done a great deal to build the dance for what it is to day include: Bogle
, Ding Dong, Marvin, Kartoon, Aneika Headtop, Ravers Clavers, Black Blingaz, Timeless Crew, Shelly Belly, Spikes, John Hype, Sample 6, Sherika Future, Jermaine Squad, Sadiki
, Swatch, Maestro, Beenie Man
and Future Girls.
Furthermore, Passa Passa has drawn many professional and amateur dancers into the media spotlight as the event is typically videotaped for mass DVD distribution. Many of the popular Jamaican dancers, such as the late Bogle and Ding Dong, have made appearances on these videos. The spread of dancehall popularity, particularly in Japan and Europe, attracts many international dancehall fans along with the hundreds of Jamaicans who attend weekly.
Grenada's
Education Minister, Claris Charles, called for a ban of the dance in that country in 2006. In 2007, the Grenada Government has asked to meet the so called passa passa queens, a group of girls accused of lewd behaviour in public. Some say that these passa passa queens go from party to party and commit lewd acts to gain acceptance from the males in attendance, while others argue that women's sexuality is unfairly subjugated in Caribbean cultures.
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...
. It is reported to have begun on Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday, in the calendar of Western Christianity, is the first day of Lent and occurs 46 days before Easter. It is a moveable fast, falling on a different date each year because it is dependent on the date of Easter...
in 2003, with the name being coined by Carl Shelley. It is performed to dancehall
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably,...
music. It has spread throughout the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
and started in Colon City in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, but has since spread to the capital and surrounding areas. It is most similarly related to a block party
Block party
A block party is a large public party in which many members of a single neighbourhood congregate, either to observe an event of some importance or simply for mutual enjoyment. The name comes from the form of the party, which often involves closing an entire city block to vehicle traffic...
. The Passa Passa usually gets started around 1am and has been known to continue straight through until 8am.
Artists, selectors
Selector (disc jockey)
Selector is the term originally used for a reggae/dancehall disc jockey ....
, and dancers who usually attend and have done a great deal to build the dance for what it is to day include: Bogle
Bogle (dancer)
Bogle , born Gerald Levy, and also known as Bogle Dancer, Mr. Bogle, Father Bogle, and Mr. Wacky, was a Jamaican dancehall star. His stage name was a reference to Jamaican National Hero Paul Bogle.Bogle was called the "Dancehall Master" and was best known for his dancing...
, Ding Dong, Marvin, Kartoon, Aneika Headtop, Ravers Clavers, Black Blingaz, Timeless Crew, Shelly Belly, Spikes, John Hype, Sample 6, Sherika Future, Jermaine Squad, Sadiki
Sadiki
Henry Buckley, Jr. aka Sadiki previously known as Pancho Kryztal , is a Jamaican-American singer, songwriter and producer.-Early life:He was born Henry Buckley Jr., in Rollington Town, Kingston, Jamaica...
, Swatch, Maestro, Beenie Man
Beenie Man
Anthony Moses Davis , better known by his stage name Beenie Man, is a Grammy award winning Jamaican reggae artist. He is the self-proclaimed "King of the Dancehall".-Biography:...
and Future Girls.
Furthermore, Passa Passa has drawn many professional and amateur dancers into the media spotlight as the event is typically videotaped for mass DVD distribution. Many of the popular Jamaican dancers, such as the late Bogle and Ding Dong, have made appearances on these videos. The spread of dancehall popularity, particularly in Japan and Europe, attracts many international dancehall fans along with the hundreds of Jamaicans who attend weekly.
Grenada's
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
Education Minister, Claris Charles, called for a ban of the dance in that country in 2006. In 2007, the Grenada Government has asked to meet the so called passa passa queens, a group of girls accused of lewd behaviour in public. Some say that these passa passa queens go from party to party and commit lewd acts to gain acceptance from the males in attendance, while others argue that women's sexuality is unfairly subjugated in Caribbean cultures.
External links
- Balford Henry: "The 'Passa Passa' phenomenon" The Jamaica ObserverThe Jamaica ObserverThe Jamaica Observer is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica. The paper is owned by Butch Stewart, who chartered the paper in January 1993 as a competitor to Jamaica's oldest daily paper, The Gleaner. It's founding editor is Desmond Allen who is currently its executive editor -...
, November 21, 2003 (copy at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
) - J.A.Wallace: "PASSA PASSA is destroying our moral values" article from Grenadian Connection web site, March 11, 2006
- "Dancing Against the Beat" article from Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....