Dance choreographer Baby Ice is far from pleased with how dance

enthusiasts have regarded late dancer Ice’s legacy. It is for this reason that

he has spent the past two weeks orchestrating a workshop that will pay homage

to the ‘Gully Creepa’ creator, come January 15 at Belleh 23 in Kingston.

“Ice is one of the dancers who gave a lot to the dancehall

community, and it is sad that a lot of people don’t know anything else about

him except the fact that he made Gully Creepa,” Baby Ice told BUZZ.

“There isn’t even a real biography for Ice. I am the first person to write

one for him detailing his journey and even things like his date of birth which

people who were close to him don’t even know.

Ice’s repertoire

He continued: “Through this workshop I want to get his legacy out

there, highlighting some of the moves he created inspired by the disco genre

like ‘Rubba Bounce’, ‘Cobra’, ‘Gully Creepa’ and ‘Twista’. I also want to show

how he influenced my life and my style of dancing, cause my hit dance, ‘Wallaballa’,

stems from Gully Creepa.”

The two-hour workshop, dubbed ‘The Legacy Lives On’, will include a video

presentation, lecture, Ice’s repertoire and culminate with moves from 3rd

Dimension, Baby Ice’s eight-member dance group.

“I know no other dancer has presented a thorough workshop like what

I have lined up. It’s gonna be memorable, and I want to do as much workshops in

Jamaica and who knows, Europe next.”

Black Roses Crew

David Alexander Smith, popularly known as Ice, formed part of the Lincoln

Crescent, Black Roses Crew, which included community leader William ‘Wille

Haggart’ Moore and Gerald ‘Bogle’ Levy. Moore was murdered in 2001 and Levy

shared a similar fate in 2005. Ice also fell victim to gun violence three years

later, leaving member Boysie to carry on the Roses’ name.

Baby Ice, whose given name is Stephan Ledgister, said his workshop will

not “sugarcoat the life Ice led”, but give credit where it is due.

“Ice was a troublemaker, but him do his fair share inna dancehall,

and persons nah look at di fact seh he was one of the neatest and fiercest

dancers,” he said. “If mi seh who is Gerald Levy everybody can seh

Bogle, Mr Wacky and give his whole dance catalogue. Bogle did a lot and I have

to show him respect, but so did Ice and other dancers who are teaching

dancehall culture worldwide like Boysie and Orville Hall.”

Second exchange

The 25-year-old recalled first meeting Ice at an event in his Waterhouse community. The exchange led to the late dancer naming him Little Ice, and a second exchange, while he was doing ‘Gully Creepa’ at RETV’s high school tour, birthed his current performance name, Baby Ice.

A graduate of Jamaica College, he was torn between a father who wanted him to pursue athletics and a mother who wanted him to earn a college degree. Financial constraints after an injury paved the way for Baby Ice to pursue his dancing dream, which he has been doing full-time since August.

“I did nine-to-five for six years. I have a child and told my baby mom to give me six months to do dancing to see how far I can reach. I told her a nuh all the time the money a go come in, and if it doesn’t work, I’ll get a job. From I quit Sutherland last year, dancing has been working, I’ve been doing a lot of roadshows for different companies like Digicel, Romeich Entertainment, Coca Cola, KFC and Pizza Hut, while having a few classes here and there.”

He hopes to have more workshops as the year progresses, with two already

in the works for February and April.