Bachata dancing FROM the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

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Permalink Reply by Sharolyn on November 30, 2009 at 11:39am

everyone raises a valid point. there is more than one way to dance bachata. the skys the limit. Theres is nothing wrong with having a preference as long as we remeber its our own opinion or preference. often, that even changes.

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Permalink Reply by Rodchata on December 26, 2009 at 4:07pm

Juan,

been wanting to response to Peter about his article on facebook but i have been extremely busy to give it some thought. Peter is on the right track yet i disagree with his terminologies and style titles. There's no bachata standard. The way he defined dominican is entirely inaccurate since there are several dominican styles that exist. Most viewers think that Troy's style of bachata is the only DR style, that is incorrect. There are many in DR and actually the style that Dominicans (trained dancers) in USA are different than of the Dominican living in DR. There is original, tradicional and modern bachata, none else. Yes, i am Aware of bachatango, that is considered modern as well.

as far as carlos, i wont even respond to him since i doubt he's legit, if he can prove he is (pics, clip of him dancing, etc), i am up for a healthy debate, as i very much extensively did research on the subject

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Permalink Reply by Rodchata on December 26, 2009 at 8:22pm

i actually agree with some of your points... "that every individual dance their own way"

but you have to define everything, and everything has a definition. Just like you said we all need a basic dictionary, don't contradict yourself.

Sorry, there is style and it exist, like it or not, bachata is a style in the first place. It's a style that got developed in time in DR.

OK now, let's get into specifics...

you said crap, define crap, be specific and let me be specific by asking as you as well, what is bachata to you? How do you dance it? Where did you see it and learned it. What are the core basic to it? what makes it so different from modern?

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Permalink Reply by Rodchata on December 27, 2009 at 2:36am

ok this is a good discussion...

so i finally know what you look like (i think that's you and I respect that).

as far as the basic steps you showed, i have no problems with them, in fact, it's on my first DVD cornerstone, and this is what i teach when i do dominican style workshops. The man in the video, whether that's you or not, has no flavor. Is he dominican? cuz it's robotic with no gracefulness. But as you said, not all dominicans dance it well and not all dominicans are "dancers". I can say the same thing about every chinese not knowing kung fu. Now this is not to say that the fundamentals you demonstrated are wrong. It is, in fact, one of the very basic tradicional steps and not necessarily original steps. (btw, let me ask you, what is the original steps?)

You talked about "the essence of bachata being lost" - really, what is the essence of bachata?

I didn't see the so-called essence in the basic video, though, i saw the essence in the kid dancing the very basic ( which is by the way, different from the "basic" video you linked. the kid was doing side to side basic and tapping on the outside (not side tapping, but front tapping). Essence and flavor, for me, are the same meaning.

As far the basic video( whether it's you or not), that is another basic mainly practiced in the east coast by the dominicans (where I learned bachata) - and it's tapping on the inside - were you aware that there are two kinds of tapping? It's also what I teach when I do estilo dominicano workshops.

and I do stand corrected, you're right, bachata is a dance, not a style, it's only become a style when it is interpreted and danced by an individual.

You mentioned that you didn't learned bachata, it's in you. That is crap :-), you did learn it, you learned by watching. It's purely psychological, if you watch a dvd 1000 times without practicing, eventually, you are able to do the moves without even knowing it. It's the same way listening to bachata music countless times, you eventually memorize the lyrics and able to sing it.

Now do i prefer estilo dominicano when i dance bachata? it depends on the music. I have a hard time dancing DR with grupo extreme, aventura or 4ever, and i do dance modern to their beats - yet, I love dancing dominican with fast tunes of kiko rodriguez, frank reyes, joe veras or Tonio santos.

it also depends on who i'm dancing with, i cant force my dominican lead to a modernized dancers. As a dancer, I can easily adjust to what my partner is capable of "following"

You prefer one style of dancing bachata, no problem, everyone has their preferences, i prefer dancing everything because every music is different, just like i dance many styles salsa, because, i can dance cuban style to timba and mambo on2 to swing salsa dura, etc. But i also refuse to dance he basic "kicking" on 1, 2, 3, and tapping on 4th in bachata... Ill tap on 4th but kicking isn't my cup of tea, I just dont like who it looks, yet i've done them for years, but i dont prefer them.

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Permalink Reply by Hector Leon on December 27, 2009 at 10:01am

Carlos, you said.."you can't really learn to dance from dvd that is why there are so many people dancing crap out there, you can copy something you see but a dvd can't really teach you, lol"

If you really feel that way, then why are you posting tutorials on youtube (if that is really you) trying to show someone what you think is the basic steps in bachata? You are now contradicting yourself. You are putting what you think is the "Only" way to dance bachata out there and calling everyone elses crap...come on seriously?!?!

Rodney, Juan...and everyone else out there who has done nothing but good things for Bachata and helped evolved this beautiful dance to where it is today, keep doing what you are doing because it is obviously working.

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Permalink Reply by Rodchata on December 27, 2009 at 10:22am

LMAO, he's just hurt, cuz now we have to tell him, he looks like a robot..

no offense carlos, the video looks awful, of course that is my opinion as you have yours (you have been putting down everyone)

no matter, good luck on the hate - we love you , i think we all now do ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Rodchata on December 27, 2009 at 10:54am

omg, carlos stop posting videos of yourself, i'm gonna go Simon Cowell on you, bro, that is a crappy bachata, i'm sorry, it's painful to watch - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TncJbDiZ2as&feature=sdig&et=...

Permalink Reply by Hector Leon on December 27, 2009 at 11:12am

Simply put Carlos, Its working for EVERYONE ELSE in the community besides you. Its been proven by the huge attendance of all the Bachata festivals, workshops & the many people who genuinely love the dance worldwide. You are the only one who has a problem with the evolution of Bachata.

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