- Dominican, which is the Godfather of Bachata and has it distinctive footwork and bodymovement style yet also has many variations and interpretation within itself.

- Italian Style which combined romantic moves with Salsa turn patterns and is the most popular only because it appealed to Salseros and was danced more to the New Bachata music from Aventura, Toke de Keda, Juan Luis Guerra etc etc

- Spanish/Madrid (which is what Juan is choosing to call moderna but really should be called Madrid Style) which combined different crossover steps, footwork and turn patterns.

- Bachatango, which combined tango moves, style and crossover steps also the music has developed to give this style a solid foundation for it to exist.

After these people are just making up names due to the fact that they are using influences from Hip Hop, Zouk, Ballet, Contemporary but in reality they are all being applied to the 4 foundations above.

Once again people let Bachata grow and keep growing but don’t try to erase it’s history, it is the reason why it is popular today, let go of your egos and marketing and be humble enough to show respect to what made it where it is today!

Where is the movements and the fundamental in the bachata that Juan dances there is none, bachata moderna is just some steps that looks like bachata, there is no essence to his dancing.

Even when we dance in Sydney, due to the predominance of salsa and cumbia music, we do not have a great deal of opportunity to dance to genuine bachata music. So we have learned to adapt the dance to beautiful love songs in other genres.

Therefore, like Shalini, we are not rigid about the type of music to which we dance. We have danced bachata in parks and cafes in Bali, and to Indian, Malay and Chinese music, both here and in Malaysia.

In addition, as we spend a lot of time in country NSW, we have recognised many beautiful songs from the 50s, 60s, country music and standard, which flow beautifully to the bachata dance. And the comments from those who watch us dance bachata to these genres are always positive and complimentary… “What is that beautiful dance?”

I, for one, can eat, drink, sleep, breathe, dance bachata all day long. Love the music, ADDICTED to the dance. I’m soooo glad i discovered it, and primarily because of your videos on YouTube I prefer the Standard/Traditional style, but also incorporate some amount of the Modern style.

So, thank you to the Dominicans, and thank you to you and the Bachateros

JAI BACHATA !!! (long live Bachata)

I do agree that even the Dominican Bachata has evolved from what it was, now it has a blend of traditional on it as well.

That’s the beauty of the dance evolution!

But there is one thing that worries me, it is that in order to be a “style”, there has to be a set of fundamentals and techniques that can be broken down into minor details, and fundamentals that can be used and re-used through out the dance.

Some instructors call their bachata a “style” only because they add shoulder shimmies, bum shaking, etc. This is a flavour of bachata, not a style in itself.

I have been to DR too many times and I can tell you that the original isn’t danced as much anymore. The Dominican style you see in youtube nowadays are mostly traditional, and to note, that style is now actually evolved. For example, you’d see stylist such a Troy and Jorjet and others applying turns and spins. Yes, it is evolved from the very traditional side of it, yet, it has maintained its movements and fundamentals.

I do like the “modern” in that it’s actually different from the original or traditional – bachatango, modern Australian style and others