We have all seen them or been them. Often been them yet not realised until we took a class…
My ever ‘hilarious’ dance partner Johan has developed 3 little demos for how you do not want to (but how many people in fact do) dance bachata – including the electricuted hip look, the tapper and the marcher (need i say more…). All styles are easy to adopt… simply learn bachata on the dancefloor! (Watch video on Facebook)
Much of the beauty of bachata is in its simplicity. It is perfectly enthralling to watch, or better yet to dance a bachata where two people are hardly travelling, moving subtly together, where turns patterns are minimal and spins not present. Many of my favourite social bachatas have been as such.
When we start teaching our bachata students we tell them the steps are indeed easy to pick up. Three steps and a tap. Voila! But we then explain how the steps do not constitute the dance. They are but a foundation upon which the body movement that makes bachata ‘bachata’ is built.
There are so many reasons people don’t learn bachata. I have been assured it is the same with all dances, though I feel there is a particular attitude around bachata, which is seen as ‘the slow dance’, slow meaning ‘easy and do-able without classes’. Or if people do take classes, often they take just enough to be able to ‘do’ it socially. How many classes is enough? Is ‘doing bachata’ without the body movement really dancing bachata?
People feel pride in learning without instruction, in being able to say they ‘just picked it up’. Women who can follow can quickly pick up the steps, and with a good lead even follow the body movement. However such a culture of ‘learning on the dancefloor’ sees guys with bad technique leading girls into bad technique, fostering a culture of bachata marchers and tilting teapots.
There is also the ‘sleeze’ factor, with women uncomfortable to dance with numerous men in such a close hold. I wonder from where this discomfort stemmed – possibly from dancing bachata socially with guys with bad technique and posture, grinding unnecessarily.
The devaluing of bachata as a dance is embedded in its very history. However it is no longer considered a dance of the ‘lower classes’, but perhaps more a ‘lower class dance’ in the social heirarchy of latin dance styles, not afforded the time or energy given to learning other latin dances.
A friend so eloquently described her take on bachata: “I have seen bachata with tango, ballet, or moderna… it is like the shy younger cousin waiting to bloom for her time in the spotlight, mysterious, elusive and yet …naively sensual. Well that’s how I feel when I dance bachata anyway”. There are bachateros around the world evolving the ‘simple’ dance they know and love, adding new styling, redefining the boundaries of the constant left to right. As all other dance forms, bachata is an expression of personality, emotion, culture, tradition and globalisation. Those who do decide to take a class are usually incredibly and pleasantly surprised by how much there is to learn and play with beyond the 1,2,3,tap.
Why is it that you do or do not take (or have or have not taken) bachata classes? We invite you to share your opinions (in a constructive manner) and open up a friendly dialogue about the dance we love.
Written By Kari Bowling. Kari is a latin dance instructor at Latin Dance Nation, in Adelaide, South Australia. Kari is an avid and passionated Bachatera. You can find Kari at the studio, night clubs in Adelaide and Latin events in Australia
Photographs by Tim Bates, Adelaide
I totally agree! Some people think they know how to dance BAchata, but they only grind on the dance floor, which doesn’t look nice. OR some other people only do the basics which makes the dance look boring!
I took Bachata classes and my Bachata technique improved a lot! I wish everybody would take classes, but I guess you have to respect their egos
I think people don’t take classes cause maybe they are opening their eyes and realizing that what you are teaching is just crap, or that is not worth it to pay you for something that they can learn on their own. Let’s talk about you Juan, you really bad at that thing you call bachata Moderna it is so lame is not interesting, you can only dance that crap with slow lames song, why you don’t pick a song by a real bachatero and really show that you are the man. I think you are loosing ground and that is why you are writing this column, get a real job.
Not everybody wants to be a performer they just want to have fun, and that is why bachata was created to have fun, I think that is why there are just a few Dominicans teaching it because is hard for most latinos and non lationos to really get it.
Welcome back, Carlos. Your “positive” comments are always welcome
First of all, I didn’t write this article. This article was written by a friend of mine that teaches Bachata.
Second of all, if it wasn’t for all us instructors teaching Bachata (regardless of the style of Bachata), Bachata wouldn’t be popular as it is now.
Lets talk about you, Carlos – the one that doesn’t want Bachata to grow – you are promoting on YouTube on all the Bachata videos that people should learn and take classes from you. You are not a performer (its obvious, lol!), but you see the need for people to learn your style of Bachata properly. The more people are exposed to Bachata, the bigger Bachata will become. Classes is a good way to expose people to the dance.
I don’t have a problem with bachata being spread, and I’m not promoting my style cause unlike you I have not invented or claim to have invented something that is already created. what I want to point out is that the way they dance don’t have the feeling they claim to have specially if they are not latinos.
Bachata has a rythm and a flow that all of you seen to ignore therefore loosing the essence of the dance. And when I comment on your videos you all block me like little “nenas” how profesional is that?
Carlos – I don’t want to get into a personal discussion here, as I don’t want negative comments and energy in the Bachateros community – you are promoting your style! on every comment you make on youtube, you promote your style! you even say that your style is better and the only one! But you know that is not true. Dominican Style Bachata is a beautiful style, indeed! but there are many styles of Bachata our there.
Tell me, what do you consider Aventura, Xtreme, Prince Royce, Monchy y Alexandra, sing? Is that Bachata?
I have heard similar discussions and had similar ‘philosophical debates’, shall we call them, on numerous occasions. It scares me that people are so defensive and insecure that they need to put other instructors and performers down. Anybody teaching and promoting bachata is spreading the love of the dance, which is why we are all doing it – love (at least I hope). It doesn’t matter what style, where or how.
Bachata, like all latin dances, is evolving differently in every country, city and school. That doesn’t make one style wrong, right, or ‘the only’. I have myself lived in the Dominican Republic, in a small town in the north of the country, and in that town, the ‘Dominican’ style was not danced, but instead a gorgeous, sexy, hippy version, almost all basic steps, close hold… and always by the beach 🙂 So for me, to hear that ‘Dominican’ style is the real bachata is somewhat a fallacy. It is another style that is evolving in one area, just like Moderna evolved from Inaki’s style in Spain and is now being taught all around the world.
I hope people can put their egos aside and realise it doesn’t help students to grow and the scene to thrive when ‘professionals’ are so petty. There are billions of people on this planet… the more bachata instructors and dancers (and styles for that matter)there are, the more we can spread the passion further and wider. In fact, if it wasn’t for non-Dominican musicians, the dance may still be considered ‘lower class’. Globalisation has allowed it to spread and evolve, and for that we should all be grateful.
Juan:
Monchi and Alexandra music is way better Aventura, Xtreme, Prince Royce
M & A music has flavor feeling and it motivate you to dance to your max.
Aventura, Xtreme, Prince Royce are music for listening pleasure, they are boleros. if you are with your wife/girlfriends is the music you want to listen to cause is romantic, you all selling it as sexual to ignorant people and perverts.
Keri:
“In fact, if it wasn’t for non-Dominican musicians, the dance may still be considered ‘lower class’. Globalisation has allowed it to spread and evolve, and for that we should all be grateful.”
As lower clas as it was we love it, Haven’t you notice that everything we dominican love is low class,lol. Is what makes us happy.
Like I told Juan before I bachata was not spread like it is it will not have make a different to us cause we would still have bachata.
When something evolve is goo but only if its evolve for the best, not for the worst.
eg: there eas 8-track – then – tape then -cd then dvd
what about if it was 8-track -to tape to- cd then back to tape will that be good?
Carlos, I think you have a bigger fight than just going after the Bachata Instructors. WORLWIDE, Aventura, Xtreme, Prince Royce, etc, are classified as Bachata, not as Bolero as you said.
Juan:
“Carlos, I think you have a bigger fight than just going after the Bachata Instructors. WORLWIDE, Aventura, Xtreme, Prince Royce, etc, are classified as Bachata, not as Bolero as you said.:”
THAT IS THE REASON WHY YOUR (ALL OF YOU) ARE BAD AT IT CASUSE YOU ARE CONFUSE ABOUT THE MUSIC, THOSE ARTIST MUSIC IS FOR THE LISTENING PLEASURE THEY ARE “BOLEROS”. I HAVE DANCED AVENTURA’S SONG BUT ONLY WHEN THE DJ PLAYS IT RIGHT AFTER A SONG BY A REAL BACHATERO AND YOU KNOW WHO THEY ARE.
SO STOP CONFUSING ROMANCE WITH SENSUAL, ASK YOU WIFE SHE WILL TELL YOU.
I disagree with you, Carlos. The music that you so-call Boleros, which are in fact Bachata, are meant to dance. If they have dance videos where people are dancing, then what do you expect people to do? All music is meant to dance. Who said that you should only listen to music?
i thought “wow, this sounds like carlos” when i stumbled upon the first negative comment and by golly… it was carlos. carlos cintas? from youtube?
i love how juan ruiz dances and teaches. he is a shining star. you know how you can tell someone is a great teacher? when every woman who dances with him dances stunningly and gracefully. juan ruiz can lead so well.
you dance very well too, carlos, if you are who i think you are. both are very different styles. both are beautiful. i haven’t seen too many of your vids, but i’ll sure take a look at more of them so i can comment you more too.
ps. i don’t blame anyone for blocking you from commenting, you express yourself in an extremely insulting way. positivity, carlos.
hey! thanks for the positive comment.
The Carlos in this discussion is NOT “Carlos Cinta”. Carlos Cinta is a great dancer and great person. This is another Carlos, Carlos Rufino from NY – a social dancer
i see, thank you, juan ruiz. i’m very glad it is not who i thought it was, i was scared to beleive it. but, wow, you are responding to me… WOW. i cannot wait to tell everyone about this! =D my husband and i think you are a GREAT DANCER and TEACHER!!!!
That’s the beauty of the basic bachata steps, Candak! you can do it to any kind of music! Keep dancing Bachata!
Dancing and music is a form of art and beauty, and as the saying goes – “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” so to say one type of dance or music which people love is stupid or other negative remark about it, really shows what a small mind that person has, and also how disrespectful they are of other peoples opinions.
I guess we just have to feel sorry for Carlos!
BTW, after a Bachata workshop recently in Sydney myself and some friends went out to a disco, where we danced Bachata to about 75% of the tunes, even a dance remix of Kings of Leon “Sex on fire”. We had a bloody great time, and wont apologize for it;-)
Thanks Juan for making clear that I’m not carlos cinta, wow when I read that I almost had a heart attack, thanks.
I love bachata!!! I can’t wait to take a class with Kari. I took one class but haven’t gone back due to time issues/constraints. I would love to see clubs playing more bachata, but not before I take some more classes! It’s weird, I feel I can dance bachata in my bedroom but when I’m invited to dance a bachata on the dance floor, I feel so unco(ordinated). Maybe I just need to be more confident with it.
I can’t wait to take more bachata classes. I sort of think that if they played it more at clubs, that might entice me to learn it more. Because for example, I’ve been learning salsa on and off for 3 years, and at least I can practice it on the dancefloor.
Anyway, dancing rules! 🙂
I am not a good dance.. But i love to dance “Bachata” and i want someone to teach me.. The song of Prince Royce make me want to learn it.. And i love the way Bachata move.. I am not trying to race, but i am Asian from “Burma” and i don’t know anything about Bachata will one of you guys teach me??
Hi Vung,
if you like Prince Royce, check the video with this song 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTZO53SLwDA
As for learning Bachata, I hope there are Bachata instructors in Burma. Otherwise, there are a lot of Bachata instructional videos on YOUTUBE, or you can get the BACHATA MODERNA DVDs.
If not, check my youtube channel, I have lots of Bachata material there
http://www.youtube.com/user/jiruiz78