Everywhere salsa is danced, other closely related rhythms are also played—rhythms that all salseros should master. With their romantic melodies and seductive rhythms at a comfortable tempo, it is easy to fall in love with bachata and merengue.
In this beginner course, we follow a natural and historical progression. We start with the characteristic movements, steps, and turns of merengue, and then continue with Dominican and modern bachata, with some elements of bachata sensual. The course is suitable for those who have never danced merengue or bachata before, as well as for those who have picked up some along the way and want a better understanding of the fundamentals of the dance.
After the weekend, you will feel confident enough to enjoy these dances on any dance floor. At higher course levels, we delve deeper into the different styles of bachata.
Merenuge
Haitian méringue - 200 years ago
Merengue típica - 100 years ago
Merengue today
Despite their international success today, both merengue and bachata have humble origins as rural music, danced close together at house parties in the Dominican Republic.
The island of Hispaniola is shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, two countries whose history since the time of Columbus has been marked by conflict over the island’s independence. During the Haitian occupation in the early 19th century, Haitian méringue became popular. As today, merengue was a so-called “walking” dance, but at that time the music was performed at a much slower tempo.
After the Dominican Republic gained independence in the mid-19th century, there was a strong desire to distance itself from Haitian méringue, and a distinct local version of the music emerged, played at a much faster tempo. Merengue became especially popular through the artist Ñico Lora, who toward the end of the 19th century replaced the guitar with the accordion as the main instrument and created what became known as merengue típico. This style still forms the foundation of the merengue we dance to today, even though the music has since incorporated additional instruments and influences.
Merengue’s hip movements and its Black, rural origins were long considered to have a corrupting influence, and for a period it was even punishable by law to dance merengue—by up to ten days in prison. This changed under the dictator Trujillo, who in the mid-20th century declared merengue the national music of the Dominican Republic. The patriotic song lyrics have since given way once again to more playful and sensual themes, but Dominicans’ pride in merengue remains strong to this day.
In the 1970s, many Dominicans emigrated to New York, and merengue soon became a global phenomenon, as popular as salsa.
Bachata
Three styles av bachata
The music has its roots in merengue, son, and cha-cha-cha, but over time it developed into its own distinct style and received its name in the 1950s. At that time, more established musicians—often with a condescending tone—began calling it bachata—a word that implied something simple and homemade, created for the common people.
During the 1990s, bachata began gaining popularity outside the Dominican Republic. As a result, both the music and the dance were elevated in status and adapted for a broader international audience. The tempo slowed down, and the acoustic guitar was replaced by the now-characteristic electric guitar. The dance steps also evolved: earlier influences from bolero and cha-cha-cha gave way to the now well-known 1-2-3-tap pattern.
Over the years, bachata has been enriched with new turns, more advanced footwork, styling, and leading techniques, inspired by other dances such as salsa, ballroom, and tango. Today, a distinction is often made between traditional bachata auténtica and the more developed bachata moderna.
In the last 10–15 years, several new expressions and styles have emerged, including bachata sensual, inspired in part by the soft dips and upper-body movements of zouk. At the same time, in the Dominican Republic, the dance has evolved closer to its roots, taking the lively and rhythmic form known as bachata dominicana.
Welcom to the class
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Prerequisits
Everybody is welcome.
Class description
Coming soon / Is handed out in the class
Age limits
From 14 years.
Instructors
Hours
Between 18:00 and 20.00 4 Tuesdays in total 8.0 hours
The course starts: 3/2 Finishes: 10/3
Breaks: No lessons February 10th and 17th.
Location
Sal 1 på Drabanten Dansens Hus. Please see the map.
Participation fee
- Children: 0 kr - Full time students or youth up to 18 years old: 895 kr - Others: 995 kr
A membership fee of 100kr is added. This fee is payed only once per year.
Offers & Discounts
If there are places left you can repeat this course for free!
Many courses? Get our economic Gold card and go to as many courses that you want for free this semester!
Our ambition is to have the same number of men and women in the courses. Therefore we will give priority to those who sign up in couples (This does not apply to solo dances like Street, Flamenco or Jazz).
But it is also alright to sign up alone. During the classes we will change dance partners all the time.
Please fill in all the fields in the form below. Please send a separate form for your partner.
