Dances

Merengue                                    

Merengue is a type of lively, joyful music and also a dance that comes from the Dominican Republic. Of all the dances available to us, Merengue is by far the easiest to learn!

Today, Merengue is the national dance of the Dominican Republic, and also to some extent, of Haiti, the neighbor sharing the island.

It is possible the dance took its name from the confection made of sugar and egg whites because of the light and frothy character of the dance or because of its short, precise rhythms. Merengue is a fun dance in which the steps and moves are simpler than in salsa but just as much fun.

By the middle of the nineteenth century, the Merengue was very popular in the Dominican Republic. Nowdays it spread its popularity throughout the Caribbean and South America, and is one of the standard Latin American dances. 

There is a lot of variety in Merengue music: tempos and themes vary a great deal. The sawing and groaning, pretty fast tempo is created by drum, guiro, acordeon and singing combination.

Tipico is faster, acoustic type of Merengue.  It feels good to dance to Tipico's upbeat tempo. Ideally suited to the small, crowded dance floors, it is a dance that is easy to learn and essentially a "fun" dance.

Bachata                           

Bachata is a music genre and also a dance style. As Merengue, Bacahata is  also originated in the countryside and the rural neighborhoods of Dominican Republic. Bachata music is romantic with full of passion and tragic lyrics. 

The special character of Bachata music is owning ot the electric steel string. Bachata music and lyrics is full romantce and sensuality; especially relevant subjects are tales of love, loss, heartbreak, deception and sadness.  Its melancholy mood is very similar to traditional Finnish social dancing music.

Bachata dancing focuses on the chemistry between woman and man.  Bachat is danced in close position (very close almost tight), softly and usually applying small number of turn patterns. It is a slow paced dance, in which important elements are closeness and feeling. When you see it, you will definitely say "beautifull, interesting, sensual, romantic, sexy and if only I could do the same".

Bachata dance steps are easy to learn. Its steps based on a four-step beat. This means marching using Cuban hip motion, and a unique “pop” or "bump".

Bachata was up to the end of eigties the music for the low class people, mainly played in the brothels and poor pubs. It was not allowed to be played in the radio or in the high class places. Today bachata is as popular as Salsa and Merengue in Latin American dance halls. 

Probably the best know Bachata hit worldwide is "Obsesión" by Dominican group Aventura, it gained huge popularity even among people not familiar with bachata. (check it out in the sample song). 

Other famous Bachateros: Raulin Rodriguez, Antony Santos, Luis Vargas, Yoskar Sarante, El Chaval, Zacharias Ferreira, Jose Manuel, El Gringo, Joe Veras and Frank Reyes.

Reggaetón                     

Reggaeton is a night club dances that has gained extremely great popularity in Latin America as well as among Latino community living in North America. Reggaeton is using very explicit hip movements which creates a very hot and spicy ambiance. Reggaeton dancing is performed in couple but movements are executed in solo. 

Salsa                  

Salsa is a mixture of several Latin rhythms. Salsa also means Sauce, in particular a spicy, Mexican tomato-based sauce. So you could say that Salsa is “saucy and spicy”.The term Salsa was used in the 1960’s to describe modernized Latin American Big Band dance music, and the dance performed to this music. Salsa soon became a catchy term to market all Latin dance music. Even though the foundations of Salsa are Cuban, the capital of modern Salsa is considered to be New York.

The dance has inherited its rhythm and style from the famous Son Cubano, which has its origin in the East of Cuba, in the province of Oriente, at the end of the 19th century. In the 1920's son conquered Havana, and later on the entire world. To its present form salsa developed in New York, where several musicians started to create something new with a strong feeling of the old afro-Caribbean rhythms. Salsa is a cheerful and enjoyable dance and it is suitable for everybody. Due to its vivid movements it will also serve as a form of body conditioning.

sources: Wikipedia, Salsa Pasion website, Latinodance website, bachata.fi