Bachata

Bachata is a style of dance that accompanies the music of the same name. It has its origins in the Dominican Republic, but is danced widely in Latin America, parts of Europe and areas in the United States with substantial Hispanic populations.
The dance is a four-step beat achieved with a walking Cuban hip motion, and a unique “pop”. The dance is performed both in open and closed positions depending on the setting and mood of the partners. Similar to Merengue, dips are not original to the dance and turns are done infrequently. The male leads the female with subtle communication using pushing and pulling on the hands to guide the direction in which to move, or to hint of upcoming turns. The female may also provide communication using her left hand to indicate whether she is comfortable or not dancing in a closed position.

The Traditional, Modern and Bachatango styles of Bachata, which developed in Europe and the USA, is a basic dance sequence of a full 8 count in a side-to-side motion. The Dominican style basic dance sequence is a full 8 count moving within a square. Counts 1 through 3 and 5 through 7, when taken, generate a natural hip motion. Counts 4 and 8 consist of a “pop” movement. The “pop” depending on a person’s style, is executed lifting or tapping a foot, or using stylish footwork while popping the hip to the side opposite of the natural Cuban hip motion. Bachata music has a slight accent in rhythm at every fourth count, indicating when the “pop” should happen. Note: The
“pop” will always be done in the opposite direction of the last step, while the next step will be taken in the same direction of the pop. The dance direction will interchange on every 4th count.

Ballroom Style Bachata or BachaBallroom: A style developed for competition only, with very extreme movements and a lot of Ballroom Dance styling. This style of Bachata is generally not used for social purposes.

Music Examples:

1. Cuando Volveras by Aventura
2. Lamento Boliviano by Toke D Keda
3. Decidi by Daniel Moncion