The Jamaica Star :: Entertainment :: Video 'red' light girls

Tanya Ellis, Star Writer

Dancers Dahlia (left) and Latisha. - File photos

Video light divas, otherwise known as attention seekers, can often be found in the luminous glare of a videoman's camera.

Anyone who is after dancehall popularity will, without a doubt, be in the forefront of such excitement.

Usually this would only be the case for female patrons, but lately even the men have been demonstrating their love of the limelight. Not everyone will have what it takes, and "certainly, not everyone knows the mode of behaviour for being blasé in front of the camera," says Keiva, one of dancehall's hottest dancers.

Before the video light, girls would only go up to the camera to send big-ups, whether to friends or family.

Now, in a competitive bid to outdo each other, girls are taking the dancehall necessity to an all-time low. "The video light is important to the culture of the dancehall," Keiva told The STAR, "It is the source of promotion for both dancers and artistes alike, but there are some very disgusting girls who have taken the concept of video profiling to a downgrading low and are showing too much skin," she says.

"The panty-less exposure that is being encouraged by some videographers violates how the video light thing started," continued a disgruntled Keiva.

Dancer Keiva

"If you are fully clothed they tend to think you are boring, hence feeding the hype of the naked girls. Before, it was just associated with the innocence of dancing, or if the videoman liked your outfit he would feature you several times for the night from head to toe, it has never been about X-rated lewdness," she said.

Another popular dancehall 'video-lighter', 2004 Dancehall Queen Latisha Brown, agrees.

"There is no need for dancers to allow themselves to go to that extreme, no one has to try and outdo the other, there is room for everyone because the video light thing is not a competition," she said.

Dancer Dahlia Martels believes that "the death of the dancehall girl will be the over-hype that some girls bring to the light. But we have it locked," she said.

Keiva says the change towards vulgarity "give the girls who dare to put on underwear before they leave their home a bad name".

Such vulgarity is being endorsed by the younger generation who dancehall entertainer Elephant Man says "is bringing more fire to the limelight".

Dirty rivalry

Elephant Man

"They are braver, much more bold and will not shy away from the camera. Also, they know the power of the video light veterans and feel they must outdo them," he told The STAR.

He added, "They can dance and see nothing wrong with showing a lot of skin." But he says this is irrelevant when showcasing dance moves.

"As long as a girl has the dance moves right, it doan matter what she wear, what is important is for her to do it with some dignity. They can wear a little bit more even if they have beautiful skin and want to show it off."

"For me, the perfect video light girl is the one who can keep her clothes on and respect herself in front of the camera," Ele said.

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