Comments on: Bachata, straight from the Dominican Republic

By: EXCLUSIVE Interview with the Australian Bachata Champions 09 : Bachateros Online Magazine

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:25:27 +0000

[...] you realize you like the music & it’s rhythms but truly fell in love on our first tour to Dominican Republic. It’s contagious once you are there. The music spreads in your blood, your soul, ending up on [...]

By: Lilly

Lilly — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 02:13:14 +0000

Hola everyone,
I too have been to the Dom Rep and going back again in March,
where do I start? First of all,our friend and dance teacher insisted on going where the REAL bachata was…away from the resorts and among the locals,so we all decided after a long talk to go to Boca Chica,only a few Kl from the capital Santo Domingo…the place was beautiful and of course there was a lot of music,especially at the week-end on the beach,thousands of Dominican families with lots of gorgeous mulattoes children and teenagers…all dancing the tunes of merengue and reggaeton,,yes and also Bachata…which was NOTHING like the way we were taught here.(here is like dancing LA salsa but with bachata music)..and all this was during the day time,at night the place filled up with hundreds of”working girls” which was even better because of their skills in dancing,especially the Reggaeton!)It is also true that Dominicans start dancing in their mother`s tummy…yes,little kids are adorable,we watched them doing it on the beach,encouraged by their families,so we felt really disappointed and a little embarrassed when we danced with the locals…it is true,it can quickly become a little SENSUAL,but what the heck,we were on holidays! After a few days,lots of Mama Juana and some lessons we got the vibe and enjoyed the experience…I personally found that the men with all their little complicated steps (which remind me of Colombian salsa dancing) are the real protagonists in the dance….and yes..they hardly turn you..in a couple of places we had to retreat quickly because the locals didn`t appreciate how we “interpreted”THEIR way of dancing Bachata.In March we will be going to Puerto Plata,at the northen part of the island,I have mixed feelings about it…in a way I loved the families on the beach in Boca Chica,we spent hours there dancing on the sand mainly salsa wich they loved so much we were been applauded(contrary to popular opinion salsa is not so danced in the island)..everybody joined in children,grandmothers,teenagers,I will be missing the “working girls”and their antics with mainly elderly Italians (there are thousands of Italians living in Boca Chica!) but I will also feel a little safer in Puerto Plata,surrounded by resorts and luxury ..(in some places in Santo Domingo and Boca Chica you can read a sign saying”LEAVE YOUR GUN OUTSIDE BEFORE ENTERING THESE PREMISES!”and it is normal to see guards with automatic guns outside shops and clubs)
One word of advice,if you are visiting Dom Rep,don`t try to dance Reggaeton…wow wow wow!!!(you`ll know what I mean when you`ll see it!)
Besos…Lilly

By: Tammy

Tammy — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:07:38 +0000

Hi Kim
I loved your article
I found it both understanding and passionate
I too have been to the DR not once but twice on my way to Cuba both times

and dance is truely a way of life for the latinos (lucky ducks)
I guess for a foreigner and for someone who only spent 9 days there you had the ability to understand the essence of the people and their love for the Bachata

when i went there I had no idea what Bachata was and I kept asking the bands to play salsa for me…they ignored me off course lol
well I think its now time fo me to go back again…

especially now that I can dance it

see you on the dance floor

Tammy

By: Kim Balmanno

Kim Balmanno — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:28:17 +0000

Well, I might just have to take you up on your offer. Kim.

By: Planner

Planner — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:07:50 +0000

I live and work in the Dominican Republic. I understand many of your comments but others just do not ring true.

After 5 years here, as a foreigner who dances, some things are not as they first appear.

First they are not immersed in bachata and salsa, they are immersed in bachata and merengue! Salsa is not commonly danced by most locals and when it is, they dance it backwards.

Dominicans dance with a passion for dance. It is ingrained before birth and is as much part of the culture as eating rice and platanos. They dance with no set of rules as to what is right or wrong – they just move as the music tells them to. Their freedom leads to some absolutely amazing dancing that is very hard to copy or emulate unless you FEEL it.

Your friend “Juana” gave you a view of things warped by her religious beliefs. That is not correct and not followed by most people here. There is nothing at all wrong here with going out dancing with a variety of partners UNLESS you are out with a date/spouse etc.

There is an unwritten code which foreigners won’t know about at first. There are expectations here – in some ways dancing is foreplay! It can be easy to give a partner the wrong impression.

But lets get back to the dancing – you will always be disappointed when you return home – if it is not to another latino culture! Latino cultures dance with a natural ability, style and abandon that is so hard to match elsewhere. In my experience nothing else quite stacks up.

Dominicans never need to show off – they share their love of dance just by being on the dance floor and doing what comes naturally to them.

Unfortunately – often – tourists only get the experience of clubs near the resorts or on the resorts – and these are often only a small slice of what it is like here. Often it is a very “tourist specific” opportunistic set of locals who are attending.

Next time come on back and I will take you out and show you around!!!!

It sounds like you enjoyed your visit and the dance experience! Imagine I get that 52 weeks a year!