August 22 marks the 60th anniversary of the birth of legendary Jamaican dancer, choreographer, artiste, and fashion icon Bogle. True to his words, his legacy is still “runnin’ di place”. Bogle, christened Gerald Levy, was born in 1964.
Hailing from the community of Lincoln Crescent in Arnett Gardens, he rose to prominence through the Black Roses Crew, headed by William August ‘Willie Haggart’ Moore. As Bogle told Entertainment Report , in a 1996 interview: “Roses man dem deh yah bout 20 to 25 years, enuh. When wi a write roses, we a write roses wid chalk.
Dem time deh we usually run the most bandulu phone bout yah.” Still, Bogle rose to local fame in the early 1990s when he created the self-titled dance immortalised by Buju Banton’s 1992 hit, Bogle . In the same year, Jamaica got its first look at the man himself when during Banton’s Reggae Sunsplash set, he brought out Bogle to help him perform the song.
By the end of the year, the song, voted by Power 106 FM as the top Reggae Song for the Year and would further propel Bogle to stardom. By the mid-1990s, Bogle was credited with the dances Urkel and World-a-Dance. The latter became even more mainstream when Beenie Man released World Dance in 1994.
The music video featured Bogle and other members of Black Roses, with the visuals shot at the crew’s home base, Black Roses Corner. This was one of the first visual indications of the friendship between Beenie Man and Bogle as the dancer appeared in several music.