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Four styles: Moderna, Sensual, Dominican, and Fusion—not to oversimplify the dance, but to reduce confusion and misinformation. Categorising helps us communicate more clearly, compare like with like, and understand differences without constantly starting from scratch. These categories reflect shared techniques, musical interpretation, and movement principles, while the Fusion category allows space for experimentation and outliers that don’t fit neatly elsewhere. Like any classification, it’s a practical tool rather than a claim that boundaries are absolute—but it makes learning, teaching, and discussing bachata far more consistent and accurate.
Another reason for my categorisation is that partner dances are inseparable from the music on which they are built. A dance style emerges in response to a musical genre, characterised by its rhythm, phrasing, tempo, and cultural context. Without a corresponding musical genre, a “dance style” has no stable foundation. This is why labels like “bachatango” or “ballroom bachata” are misleading: they describe movement influences or aesthetics, not distinct bachata genres. You can dance bachata steps to tango-influenced or ballroom-styled movement, but unless there is a recognisable musical genre supporting it, it belongs in fusion rather than as a standalone category.
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