The late popular Jamaican dancer and choreographer, Gerald “Mr Bogle” Levy once said, “Everybody can dance, but a nuh everybody a dancer”.

The man known to millions as ‘Mr Wacky’ inspired a generation of dancers who are now showing off his moves remixed with their own creations on TikTok and Instagram for the world to see.

Bogle, a true icon of dancehall culture,  is credited as creating more dancehall choreographed moves than any other figure, and continuously redefining the dynamic dancehall art form with his unique flair, brash slangs and charismatic game-changing performances.

Bogle’s slangs like ‘back to basics’, ‘all fruits ripe, shake the grape tree’, ‘blazay blazay, ‘all now we no answer we phone’, ‘a girl don’t need a toy friend for a boyfriend’, ‘keeping it jiggy’, ‘weddy weddy’ and ‘pelpa’ all made it into the local vernacular.

He even caused a fashion craze by wearing his jeans with back pockets at the front, a fashion statement popularised by Kris Kross later in hip hop circles.

“Mi live fi see Bogle dead and him dance dem still ah run the whole grung. Everybody ah shave off Bogle dance dem pon Tik Tok, Instagram, and inna the dance, dem a remix Bogle’s dances and ah call it new names and ah bun up the street like speedometer,” Quick Cook, who is known for the dance song, Active, said.

“Big up Boyzie who ah teach the people from all over the world who come to Jamaica to learn Bogle’s dances. Ding Dong’s latest song, ‘Zip it Up’, is all about Mr Wacky dance. Years after him gone, him still Out n Bad, Mr Wacky ah the teacha. One of the premier events every week is Weddy Weddy that Bogle created with Elephant Man, and it is still going on strong, Bogle spirit still a roam,” Quick Cook, who is also a slang master himself, added.

Best known for creating the Bogle dance which is named after him, he has truly revolutionised the art form in ways that are permanently extraordinary. He would have celebrated his 60th birthday on August 22, and we would look back to celebrate his contributions. Draw inspiration from his journey – and then go dance.

1. Bogle Dance

The dance involves a winding gyration from the shoulders to the hips and down to the ground while bouncing on the balls of your feet.  The great Buju Banton recorded a song called Bogle Dance which was inspired by Bogle while Ninjaman contributed Gun Bogle. The dance has continued to show up in pop culture with R&B singer Rihanna breaking out the video in her music video Rude Boy.

2. Willie Bounce

This dance involves a hand motion that involves moving your hands in an elbowing motion while pivoting your hips to mimic a walking motion, before speeding up the hands, held close together, in a crossing motion in front of your chest.  The dance was named after Bogle’s friend and Black Roses Crew member Willie Haggart, and became a huge sensation in the wake of Bogle’s death.

3. Wacky Dip

This is a simple move of dipping after performing a series of dance moves before. Bogle often did ‘his famous stand-up’, freezing everything bringing the dance to a stop before executing the dip to get the festivities started again. In 2005, the trio VoiceMail had the hit single Wacky Dip on the Junkanoo Riddim, which included lyrics that have proven to be true thus far: “Mr- Wacky is gone, but his dancing lives on”. Masicka resurrected the Wacky Dip to score a dancehall hit in 2023, showing the enduring significance of this move.

4. Zip It Up

This dance involves multiple moves. First, open your palms and hold your hands down parallel to your body, or you can keep your hands in front of your body and then move forward 1-2-3-4 while jiggling your fingers, then move back using the balls of your feet and put your hands behind your back, while swaying your hips. Then raise and extend your hands aloft, while moving your feet and toes to the right and then the left while swaying your hips. Tap, tap and double-tap. Zip it Up.

5. WORLD DANCE

“Roses find a new stem”: The fluid simplicity of the World Dance made it a sensation when it just came out. Boosted by Beenie Man’s hit song of the same name, this dance move was a staple of the dancehall for years. The dance involved a swaying motion of the hips complimented by swinging arm movements where the dancer steps two times in one direction before switching  immediately in the opposite direction

6. Urkle Dance

The Urkle dance involves a move where you lift your hands in the air and flick your wrist while simultaneously stepping once in that direction with and repeating that movement with the opposite hand.

7. Pelpa

Everybody remembers Delly Ranx’s song with the refrain ‘rude bwoy ah pelpa, man anno helper’. The song came out of a rift between Willie and Bogle. Bogle said ‘Pelpa’ while Willie espoused ‘Helpa’ causing a rift in the Black Roses camp. They later resolved their differences. The dance involved a slight hip movement with a slide, before lowering oneself to the ground and extending one foot, and then walking with this motion using the grounded foot, all done while close to the ground. It is a sight to behold!

8. LOY/Jerry Springer

In 1999, Levy demonstrated that he was still streetwise when he introduced the Jerry Springer dance, also referred to as (LOY) Lords Of Yard. The dance involved a stepping move combined with an extravagant sweeping hand motion and bouncy hip movements.

9. Back to Basics

This dance involves making a sweeping motion with the hands at the same time kicking out the feet with a hop. Rinse and repeat with the other hand. Bogle originated the slang and built the dance as a way to bring dancing back to its roots and show the utter mastery of his craft.

10. Row di Boat

This move involved moving your hands in a rowing motion while simulating motion by dancing forward.

Beenie Man helped to popularise the song with his hit song, Row Like a Boat, “Seh Mr Bogle have di brand new style/Come get di style, come get di style.”

Other dances included the ‘Out and Bad’, ‘Walk Wid the Bounce’, ‘Sesame Street’ and the ‘Wave’, the latter of which was a favourite of Bounty Killer.