ORIGINS of BACHATA
ORIGINS of BACHATA
INFLUCENCES
BOLERO, SON & MERENGUE
BACHATA WAS ORIGINALLY A MIX OF MERENGUE, CUBAN SON & BOLERO.
MERENGUE MUSIC WAS BORN IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. THE GENRE IS POPULAR FOR PARTIES & GATHERINGS BECAUSE OF ITS FAST, FUN & UPBEAT SPIRIT. MERENGUE MUSIC HAS SIMILARITIES WITH BACHATA MUSIC.
SON CUBANO ROUGHLY TRANSLATES AS THE “CUBAN SOUND” & THE GEOGRAPHICAL CLOSENESS OF THE TWO CARIBBEAN ISLANDS MEANS THAT CROSS INFLUENCES BENEFIT THE CULTURAL RICHNESS OF BOTH.
THE BACHATA BASIC STEP WAS DERIVED FROM THE BOLERO SQUARE-LIKE DANCE STEP.
ROOTS OF BACHATA
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC IN 1960s
BACHATA ORIGINATED IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, AN ISLAND IN THE CARIBBEAN NEIGHBOURING HAITA.
IT’S BIRTH CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE EARLY 1960s
DARK YEARS OF 1970s
INITIALLY BACHATA MUSIC WAS NOT ACCEPTED BY THE COUNTRIES RICH & ELITE CLASS AS IT WAS CONSIDERED TO BE UNSOPHISTICATED & CRUDE AND POTENTIALLY LINKED TO CRIME IN RURAL AREAS.
AS A CONSEQUENCE, IT WAS SELDOM PLAYED ON THE RADIO AND RARELY MENTIONED ON TELEVISION OR IN NEWSPAPERS & MAGAZINE PUBLICATIONS.
ACCORDINGLY, THE 1970s WERE VERY DARK YEARS FOR BACHATA MUSIC.
BACHATA MUSICIANS WERE BANNED FROM PERFORMING IN HIGH SOCIETY VENUES AND SO GIGS TOOK PLACE IN BARS & ENTERTAINMENT VENUES LOCATED IN POORER NEIGHBOURHOODS.
AS SUCH THE ESSENCE OF BACHATA WAS CEMENTED AS A STREET DANCE.
MID 1980s
HOWEVER, BY THE MID 1980s THE CHARM OF BACHATA BROKE THROUGH AND THE EARLY PREJUDICE GAVE WAY TO ACCEPTANCE ALLOWING ITS POPULARITY TO SOAR AND SOAR.
1990s
DURING THE 1990s BACHATA WAS POPULARISED IN U.S.A. WHICH GAVE IT THE PLATFORM TO GROW EXPONENTIALLY.
2000 & BEYOND
BY THE YEAR 2,000 BACHATA HAD ACHIEVED WIDESPREAD ACCLAIM THROUGHOUT MAINSTREAM SOCIETY IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AND IT INCREASINGLY BEGAN TO APPEAR ON THE INTERNATIONAL LATIN DANCE CIRCUIT THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
