BachataCrazy Blog

Bachata dancing is not for the shy or nervous! Bachata dancing involves being quite close to your partner and moving together, with as much harmony as possible. Bachata is a partnered dance, and while you can learn most of the basics on your own, your partner should be someone that you know fairly well and don’t mind getting close to!

In terms of lively modern dance, it would be hard to find one that would be more dynamic than the bachata. From its humble roots in the Domincan Republic, bachata dancing has grown into an international sensation, and it is easy to see why!

Bachata music itself comes from an older style of love music known as the bolero, though it quickly evolved and changed. Bolero songs celebrated innocent, pure love and lovers who were unendingly faithful. Bachata music, on the other hand, took root in the poor and urban places where it was most often heard, and because of that, the songs became a good deal more sensual and significantly raunchier. The music itself is played in 4/4 time and it is the instrumentation that distinguishes it from so many other types of Latin music. Bachata music uses an amplified guitar, whether acoustic or electric, and in many of the more modern songs, you can hear a distinct reverb or echo. Bongo drums offer a solid percussive beat, while maracas are often used to keep the time.

If you have any interest in Latin music at all, you have an interest in bachata dancing! Bachata dancing is the form of dance that accompanies bachata music, and it, like the music itself are finding a vast international audience that can’t get enough of the strong beats.

In terms of dance, there were several influences on what is now known as bachata dancing. Bachata dancing, both in form and attitude, takes a lot from the meringue, but can easily be identified by the more sensual accents as well as the faster pace. The basic figure for bachata dancing is a sideways series of steps that is accented by a movement of some sort. This is a very dry and factual recounting of what is an incredibly fluid and dynamic process.

When you are thinking of learning bachata dancing, one of the best ways to start is to get a few of the musical CDs. Identify the beat and get very familiar with some of the songs. Before you even try to incorporate the actual steps into it, try moving your body to the music. What gestures seem natural and where do they go? Bachata dancing is highly dependent on using the music to affect the motion of the dance, so let the music guide you.
In bachata dancing, the best way to get started is to count the beats in your head. Once you can identiy the beat, divide them up motion. The first three beats are steps and the fourth beat is punctuated with a hip motion. One way to count this out while you are practicing is to think of it as step-together-step, touch, with the touch being the motion that you’ve incorporated. Like so many other dances, the key to looking good during bachata dancing is through getting the timing right. Once you have the timing down, you can learn the steps, and if you happen to falter during one of the steps, recovery will be a great deal easier once you’ve learned when they happen.

There are lots of ways to learn bachata dancing; all you need to do is find the one that suits you best. Most people agree that one on one private lessons are the best, but that may not be possible for a variety of reasons. One way to learn bachata dancing, after all, is to make sure that you watch plenty of it. Whether this means that you go to clubs or competitions or just that you spend a lot of time downloading videos off of the internet, you need to see how its done. While the basic steps and timing of the bachata dancing are relatively simple, keep in mind that this is a dance form that is all about style and flourishes.