Category Archives: Dance History

Merengue and bachata are forms of popular music and dance in the Dominican Republic. Merengue has been, until recently, the staple music and dance during the entire last century in the Dominican Republic. On the other hand, for much of its history, bachata has been considered crude and low class, the music of poor rural country people and migrants to cities living in shantytowns. In this early form bachata was simple music played by acoustic guitar with percussion on bongo drums and maracas. Bachata music was influenced by the spread of Cuban bolero throughout Mexico and Latin America and also by Cuban son. Bachata emerged in the early 1960s with some poor quality recordings being sold on the streets. Continue reading →