This audio was recorded by Danny Kalman, the Director of Movers and Shakers Salsa and Bachata Dance Academy. The following text is an unedited transcript of his audio.
Transcript of Audio (edited for clarity):
The Dominican Origins of Bachata
"Bachata is originally from the Dominican Republic, which is half of a small island in the Caribbean.
These days, though, bachata has spread all over the globe, and it has evolved a lot - both the music and the dance. So, the answer now is a little more complicated because these different styles and feelings of bachata are from different places around the globe.
Global Evolution: How Bachata Transformed Abroad
Modern Urban Bachata: The Influence of the United States
The person credited with bringing bachata from the Dominican Republic overseas is Juan Luis Guerra. When it started to spread, these modern urban bachata musical artists emerged, like Prince Royce, Romeo Santos, and Aventura, just as some examples.
These new artists brought a different feeling to the music. It's more urban, and with that different feeling, the dance also started to evolve. Then, the dance started being taught in studios, and whenever you take a street dance to a studio, it will inevitably evolve. More techniques started being taught with bachata - more sophisticated, intricate, complicated movements and patterns. So, at that point, you could say, "Okay, well, modern urban bachata evolved a lot in the United States." I call this the second evolution of bachata.
The origin of bachata is the roots in the Dominican Republic.
The second evolution is this modern urban bachata in the United States and around the world.
Then came what I call the third evolution of bachata.
The Third Stage of Bachata: Remixes and Sensual Bachata
DJs then started remixing Top 40, R&B, rap, and other mega-popular genres and tracks that were already some of the most popular tracks in the world.
They started layering bachata rhythms on top of these songs that everybody already loved.
A lot of the music developed a smooth, flowing feeling, and the dance style evolved even more.
Out of Spain, bachata dancers brought a new feeling and style that came to be known as "sensual bachata," or in Spanish, "bachata sensual."
Sensual bachata has a lot of body waves, undulations, and isolations. Instead of being hip-centric like it was in the Dominican Republic, it started to include a lot more movement in the upper body and became flowing and smooth.
The Continuing Evolution of Bachata
Although bachata originally came from the Dominican Republic, the different feelings and styles of bachata these days come from different parts of the world. The United States had a big impact on the dance and music, and Spain certainly has had a significant impact on it.
Still, bachata continues to evolve. All it takes is one or two artists from a particular country to evolve bachata dancing around the globe. Suppose these artists bring interesting styles, feelings, or movements. People see it on YouTube or Instagram, copy it, and that feeling and style is suddenly fused into bachata dancing around the world and those artists become part of the evolution of bachata.
Bachata will continue to evolve from different places around the world. "
Bachata Classes in Los Angeles
This audio was created by Danny Kalman, the creator and director of Moves and Shakers Salsa and Bachata Dance Academy in Los Angeles, California. If you are in Los Angeles, reach out to us for bachata classes. We'll teach you everything from the top with proper structure to get rock solid foundations.
Come learn about the Movers and Shakers bachata programs, performance team, parties, amazing community, and so much more.
