Dominican Republic Dances…

Our main dance is merengue and bachata, you will always listen to merengue and bachata when you are near a Dominican person. It’s no exaggeration to say that there is no life without twirling your body to music coming from either deafeningly loud speakers or from a live band. If you are Dominican you HAVE to know how to dance merengue and bachata. Beyond the party aspect, merengue and bachata have a deeper significance culturally. Lyrics reflect social aspects of life and can talk about love, sex, politics, humor, and everyday struggles. Romance tops it all, though, as Dominicans are as poetic as it gets.

Merengue is the national music and dance of the Dominican Republic and has become a word and worldwide genre that is synonymous with the country itself. Merengue is the essence of being Dominican:its instruments reflect the mixed heritage of the country: an accordion (European), a two-sided drum (African) placed on one’s lap, and a güira (Taíno), a sort of metal cylinder with holes, with a brush that is run up and down across its surface. The accordion was brought over by the Spanish, but it was later retuned to play merengue notes.

Bachata grows more popular as the days go by and recently declared the national patrimony of the Dominican Republic. Bachata is a more sensual, slow genre that was made popular among the working class for the longest time before it received fuller recognition.Bachata was influenced by the Cuban bolero, but originated in D.R. which makes it unique to this country.