A friend of mine from latin america recently found himself taking bachata classes. In his culture, dancing is a part of everyday life, something that is social yet rarely formally learned. This friend always considered that he could dance bachata to some degree, yet was pleasantly surprised to realise that being ‘formally’ taught the counts, techniques, variations and options for movement opened so many doors for him in terms of how, what and with whom he can dance.
I believe it is a matter of respect, not only to the dance but to those with whom we will dance, that we all know those basic subtleties that make a close dance like bachata (or any dance we intend on dancing with others, for that matter) at the very least comfortable. This doesn’t take a huge time or financial commitment. There are so many ways to get basic bachata instruction!
- Try out the (often free) classes that are provided at the start of many events or social nights… while they may not delve into technique, they will set you on the right path!
- Explore classes at a range of dance schools. Every instructor will have a different take on the dance, history, style, and the more you are exposed to, the more of those ‘subtleties’ you will pick up, eventually able to pick and chose what to include in your style.
- Don’t rush your learning… taking 5 classes in a week may not be the most beneficial way to learn, as your body won’t have time to get used to new types of movement.
- Privates! After you’ve been learning for a little while, take a private or two so you can fix those little aspects of the dance that you find challenging, or learn how you can make your own dancing that little bit more elegant/gentle/fun/sexy!
- Perform! Bachata performance teams are popping up everywhere and are an amazing way to learn the subtleties of the dance… but so much more than this, performance teams – from beginners to professionals – open up so many opportunities to form new friendships, to become a more confident and stylish dancer and to travel and explore festivals and events around the country and the world!
For the majority of those who will dance bachata in their lives, it will be to fulfill a socialising, fun-having function. And that is a wonderful reason to dance. But remember that even if just dancing socially, it is respectful to know how to make the dance comfortable and enjoyable for those you dance with. And for those who want to go further with their bachata, there are so many instructors and styles of bachata emerging across the globe that the opportunities for dance development through the style are many, varied and exciting!
We would love to hear how you feel about learning bachata, to hear your stories and opinions about this dance we so 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
As you all know my opinion here it is again, the way you all dance really suck, there is no rythm no flow therefore loosing the essence of the dance.
Bachata is not meant to be dance professionally and some of those so called professionals that try to dance it socially or try to do some moves they can’t really do it so the love that you all claim to have for this dance is just superficial not deep inside like the great Tony Lara said ” YOU HAVE TO FAKE IT TO MAKE” that is why I will never make it cause I refuse to fake it and cheat ignorant people pot of their money.
where does it says “bachata is not mean to be dance professionally”?
Juan I did not said that in your article said that “bachata is not mean to be dance professionally”
I’m saying it cause all the video I see A poor job is always done, I have not seen one video that really has the essence of the dance. Now are Troy and Jorget considered profesional dancer/performer? or do they fall in a different category? I would like to know your answer to that?
Carlos, Troy and Jorget fall into the “Professional” category
Carlos, just because we dance a different style to how you feel bachata, it doesn’t mean we don’t love it just as much. Many of us dedicate huge amounts of time, energy and passion to bachata. Most of us have started dancing ‘traditional’ styles. But we are evolving it to make it accessible to more and more people, relevant to how they see dance and what they want to learn when they take a class. Why put others down who are spreading the love of bachata? Even better, other instructors are not copying or teaching ‘your’ style so that means, with so many instructors loving and teaching different styles, all those who want to learn get to choose what style suits them, what they feel passion for. Those who feel what you feel will learn from you. Those who learn from myself, Juan or Tony also all feel the dance differently, and love our styles and instruction. We all teach differently, learnt differently, come from different cultural and dance backgrounds. But one thing i know for sure… we all love bachata.
Juan:
but they don’t have a performace video how can they fall in to profesional? to me they are just like me “SOCIAL DANCER” and that is why they are good at what they do.
Kari:
you said “Many of us dedicate huge amounts of time, energy and passion to bachata.”
all that time, energy and passion you claim they have does not really show on their videos. I haven’t seen any of you dancing in rhythm and definitely no flow. I’m not saying that every one should dance traditional style but at least have the essence of the dance with any style you choose.
So if you just want to dance for fun you must learn all the styles, cause I think that each style is dance with an specific song, right?
for example you can not dance bachata moderna to Anthony Santos or Teodoro Reyes right?
With bachata Dominican style you can dance any song.
Carlos,
Can you do Dominican Style Bachata to a song from 4Ever, Jimmy Bauer, Prince Royce? Bachata Moderna fits the beat and the music perfectly, just like Dominican Bachata fits perfectly on songs by Anthony Santon and T. Reyes.
I think you have a bigger fight than just going after Bachata Instructors. WORLWIDE, Aventura, Xtreme, Prince Royce, etc, are classified as Bachata, not as Bolero as you said.
Juan:
I look up this song by prince Roy:
Corazon Sin Cara, Stand By Me, Tu y Yo,Rechazame.
They can be dance dominican style, the idea that you have of domincan bachata as you called is the way that troy dances, troy does not represent the way all dominican dance. And I bet you if he wants to he can dance to any song by anyone and still do it well, why? cause he got rythm and flow and dancing skills. Unlike you all we don’t have many styles we only have one and is call “BACHATA” we all dance it different but only one name, I feel I have this conversation with you before.
Read this please:
****THE PROBLEM WITH YOU ALL IS THAT YOU HAVE NO RYTHM, NO FLOW***
****YOU JUST DO STEPS AS YOU PLEASE WITHOU TAKING IN CONSIDERATION****
****THE RYTHM OF THE MUSIC, AND THE WAY IT SHOULD BE DANCED*****
We have had this conversation many times, Carlos.
You can do Bachata to any of the Bachata songs out there, same as you can do Bachata Dominican to any of the songs out there, HOWEVER, some styles fits better than the other, so the dancer can choose which style to dance depending on the song.
We are discussing something completely different as to the what article is about. In the article we talk about why is important to take Bachata classes – regardless of the instructor or style.
juan and karin love bachata just as much as you carlos. love for a dance, for a music, for anything is just as different as the love we have for different things. all children love their mother, each differently – does it mean one loves more than the other? all christians intend to follow the path of christ, each differently – does it mean one is more christian than the other?
carlos, i see that you just don’t appreciate the way karen, juan, etc. dance to bachata. you shouldn’t put them down and say they have no rythm, no beat, etc. why don’t you give them tips on how you think they can improve their rythm, beat, etc. now, that’s progressive and constructive.
have a good day,
A
Hi Guys,
Carlos, I was always taught that you don’t build your own argument by tearing down someone else. If you want respect, make your comments constructive please!
As an amateur bachata dancer and lover of many different styles of dance, I appreciate the efforts others go to in expressing what dance means for them, irrespective of the style. And if I keep an open mind, I find I actually learn from people who do things differently from me.
I’ve had the good fortune to have learned a little from Juan and to have watched Kari dance. My dance has been enriched by you two as well as my Bachata teacher also.
As far as I’m concerned, I appreciate people who have a purist approach to bachata, or any other dance style for that matter, as much as I appreciate those who explore variations and interpretation.
My partner and I love the fusion of tango with bachata as it suits our temperament, chemistry and desire to express ourselves. Dominican doesn’t do that for us…. But I’d nevr put it down as it’s great to watch others who love or prefer that style.
With respect to prefessionalism, Juan would have to be a gift to Australian bachata and Kari is a gifted dancer, professional in every sense of the word.
And Carlos, I’d like to hear what you have to contribute constructively to a dance many of us love, without drawing distictions or being prejudical.
Regards
R
Dear Carlos.
Why Juan’s style is wrong and Troy’s is right? Is it because dominican bachata is older?
I totally agree with Juan: it depends of the song. However, I don’t think that dancing in a different way is wrong!
To clarify, even Troy inserts other dances in his bachata (for example West Coast Swing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-C1z8SUkyg 1:48).
Finally, Troy and Jorjet are professionals because they can live without any other work than dancing.
This is my opinion.
By the way, I’m waiting for Kari and Juan here in Italy, so I can improve my bachata (and my English too… 🙂 ). I think that a class with them will be very fruitful for me…
Juan bachata suck for many reason:
1- that bachata moderna crap is for people that can dance
2- always out of tune
3- It seems he is afraid of really touching the floor, is like he is walking
on blass.
4- Dance like he has something stuck in his rear and afraid to let it drop.
5- always picking lame songs with no motivation.
just a few
Correction:
1- that bachata moderna crap is for people that can’t dance.
is can’t not can.
haha, Carlos, thanks for your positive feedback… too bad you are only one sided individual, if not your feedback will be welcomed