You finally made the choice to learn to dance, but now you need to choose a dance to learn! In this post I will show you why Bachata is the PERFECT first dance to learn for anyone.
It's easy
Before experienced Bachata dancers click slaughter me in the comments - hear me out. STARTING to learn Bachata is easy. It is just 4 steps in each direction on the beat of the song. Everything that comes afterwards are just an embellishment of this movement - the basic step - the easiest step to start with and the hardest step to master. Other dances have basic steps that require you to listen for a specific instrument and syncopated counts, but if you can clap along to a song on the radio you can start your bachata basic step.
It's pop music
I can't over-emphasize how important it is that Bachata music is pop music in Latin America. Why does this matter? It means that new songs are constantly coming out. Some other dances depend on older songs, or rely on a small subset of niche creators to create new music, but some of the biggest names in Latin music are Bachata artists. You can always dance to new songs - and they may even come on in a party you are at! Once you start dancing bachata you will start hearing it everywhere.
Check out this song with Romeo Santos (probably the biggest bachata artist, and Usher).
Another benefit of the music being so big is Bachata remixes. Some of your favorite songs may have a Bachata version, in any language. So even if you don't speak Spanish you can still dance Bachata and enjoy the music.
It was designed to be fun
Bachata originated in the bars of the Dominican Republic, originally regarded as a "low-class" dance. It was an outlet for the working class people to be able to go out and have fun dancing. Over time the public perception of Bachata improved, as did it's formality and structure as a dance, but it never lost it's signature spirit of enjoyment. It was made for you to have fun, and you can feel that in the rhythms of the music - even though they are mostly about heartbreak.
It's evolving - worldwide!
Though Bachata started in the bars of a small island in the Caribbean, it is now a worldwide phenomenon, and the dance style is constantly changing, incorporating elements of many classical and modern dances. While some may see this as an appropriation of Bachata, I think that the dance must evolve alongside the music and the times, as long as we remember where it came from and the original Bachata spirit. You can find Bachata social dances almost everywhere in the world - Moscow, Barcelona, Seoul, and more. Many people are now dancing "Bachata Sensual", a variant formalized in Spain by Korke and Judith, and the type of Bachata that we teach in Orlando. This just means you can go just about anywhere in the world and make new friends. Even though Bachata is easy to begin learning, there is tons of room for your dance to grow through Bachata.
Ready to learn Bachta?
Bachata is the perfect place to start your dance journey, we hope to see you out on the dance floor! Learn Bachata Sensual alongside us in our Orlando dance classes, or any event that we are attending in the U.S.A. See you out there.