Amazing video! I would like to add a few more reasons. For me, Bachata is the "perfect dance" in many ways: I have been a competitive Latin ballroom dancer for 10 years now, learning Salsa, Bachata, West Coast Swing and many other dances. Although my heart belongs to Salsa and other dances, for me Bachata (as a fusion of many sub styles of bachata) is really the best dance for the global pop culture of dancing at the moment: 1. It is very beginner friendly. It is slow enough for anyone to learn. Age does not restrict you from dancing, as it does in Salsa as a slot dance or in ballroom dancing. 2. Combinations are designed to fit perfectly into the music. Highlights are always predictable in the music and combinations adapt to them. So even beginners can feel what the feeling of "flow" can be like. It basically forces you into simple musicality. Salsa does not have this. To be musical in Salsa (on line) requires hundreds of hours of highly complex training. 3. Bachata is more inclusive. Getting started in Bachata is much easier than in other dances. This makes it much easier to join the community. 4. All the subgenres of Bachata work really well together. People coming from other genres understand each other. It is not like a war of opinions like in Salsa (On2 vs. On1 vs. Salsa Cubana vs. "real" Guaguancó vs. you name it...) 5. Bachata Sensual contains show combinations that we have only seen in Hollywood choreographies. It makes these combinations accessible from early training on, not just on special occasions. How fun is that?! :)
Interesting points but I would have written exactly the opposite about traditional bachata being easier and more inclusive and adaptable. I found the sensual music to be very unpredictable and difficult to lead with the frequent sudden stops and changes that tend not to happen in Dominican. turn patterns do not fit sensual like in Dominican music at different tempos. Perhaps we are defining what is sensual differently in our own heads.
I dance salsa and bachata, but bachata is more alive. Every month there are new songs, and new trending moves. You go to parties and notice that suddenly everybody started doing some particular trick. Every month they're new dancers excited about learning, etc. With salsa it's a completely the opposite: you dance the songs that are being played for over 30 years, and you feel that everything was already done before, so all you can do is to study, and there will be never enough time to learn all of it. You go to a party and it's a like group of old good friends dancing together for over a decade. I totally get why bachata "is taking over". That said, sensual bachata slowly becomes as technical as salsa, and eventually will become "the dance of the previous generation" as well.
Thanks for the video Rasa :) . I hope soon traditional bachata will start to become more popular in Europe. Eg., in my country there are little to none traditional teachers and I don't there's a huge gap that can be filled :)
The biggest reason is Sensual Bachata is more recent. New York styled bachata is easier to learn, more relatable, and more club/DJ friendly. I love them both and I incorporate Dominican style when I’m dancing sensual. I totally agree with you though.
We also asked the question as to what is bachata moderna? Does it really exist? Originally from Ataca & Alemana perhaps? They mixed in Dominican steps, apparently.
I can see many people frustrated because they prefer a different kind of dance or even because the music has changed. Sensual bachata gets a lot more hate than any other style I know, which probably contributes as well to its popularity. I agree that the dance is so different to traditional that it might as well be called just sensual (without the bachata part). But typically sensual emerges from moderna, most moves can be simplified to turns and basic steps if you don't want to do all the wavy bits. And that is why we use labels such as dominican, moderna, sensual... most songs actually have a bit of each. As long as teachers explain the roots and people understand the evolution I don't see any disrespect, just people enjoying a dance they love.
You can say sensual bachata is taking over boldly. There are so many sensual bachata festivals. Not as many Dominican bachata festivals. It’s obvious from a business perspective which is dominant right now.
after reading below comments I get the sense that people are confusing moderna vs sensual which is actually just a brand created and marketed by a specific couple in Europe who use Zouk based fundamentals. Moderna is what I consider the most diverse and normal way people are learning. Sensual is advanced and something to learn after many months of dancing moderna/traditional. Moderna to me fuses traditional steps and body movement with salsa like turn patterns everyone can learn. The Sensual music sucks for the most part and is unfortunately and grotesquely the most played in bachata rooms at big events. It is disrespectful to the people of the DR who created the music and dance. Pop music culture is take trying to ride the wave and draw attention to their boring music by putting in bachata beats.
I'll answer before watching the video. It's because for many men it's their only chance to get close to a girl while the barrier to entry is learning 1-2-3-tap. Simple as that!
There are a lot of points in the video and comments I wouldn’t necessarily agree with or highlight. Firstly, bachata sensual is more than a trend now - it started over 15 years ago in Cadiz. Yes, it did take a lot from zouk. The remix background might just be relevant for the UK. In Spain, bachata sensual is danced to commercial bachata like Romeo Santos and more edgy bachata but no remixes (or very little). All ages dance it (people adapt and take what they want from the classes). In the comments, someone said it is beginner friendly but I think bachata sensual is one of the more complicated dances to dance reasonably well. There needs to be a good appreciation of weight transfer, balance and good coordination for the combos to work well. Someone mentioned about male leads being quite static in bachata sensual and I agree with this - I’d like to see more focus on the man moving and actually dancing. This is where Dominican bachata could be useful to mix in..
Thanks, really nice topic. I love dominican bachata and a bit sad not to hear more of it in socials. From my experience I think there are some songs, which is purely good for sensual, but most of songs require skill of modern and dominican bachata to make things more fun. These songs, even are not traditional bachata, could be fast or at least mambo part could be this. Certainly, some super professionals could be doing sensual tricks during those fast parts, but I think for normal people in socials knowledge of dominican is much better. Anyway, sensual or dominican I am really happy that there is bachata craze now, because I just love this music. Not the English remixes, those I odio mucho, but the real latin stuff. I don't know what it is in this music, just makes me want to dance and makes me happy. When it comes to salsa some songs are great (especially with reggaeton touch), but often it is just random noise (from too many instruments) for me and many songs are just too long. So if I could say why bachata is more popular with me, would say that I enjoyed it from the first time I heard on a dance floor.
It's a pity when "traditional" (or parent) dances are put on a back burner almost to the point that their fire is extinguished. I recall talking to a xbody salsa dancer - with maybe two years' experience - who hadn't heard of Son. (I suspect quite a few who dance Cuban salsa haven't heard of Son either to be fair.) It's not so much that I would expect them to know how to dance it, it's just a shame he'd never heard of it. Maybe next time you're teaching a bachata moderna or sensual class, you could ask how many have heard of Dominican?... And how many have tried it?...
Thank you! They keep saying “Dominican bachata” as if it’s its own category. Bachata is Dominican period! Your version is just a fusion you created so young people and white people would enjoy it more. It’s really that simple!
Salsa leads will ask respectfully Are you on 1 or 2? Cuban or crossbody? Why don't bachata dancers ask what we do or can do today?🤔 I love bachata and the music but I assess the room before entering. My experience is usually at congresses you find later in the evening you get more multi talented bachata individuals left in the bachata room? Ones who can adapt to the follower and more space! It is lovely when you find the lead can do bachata footwork and has musicality.😊
I think the key is the music. I compare Sensual Bachata to the dance West Coast Swing. WCS is decades old and once during a class the instructor explained to us that it maintains its popularity because it can be danced to modern pop music. I don't think Sensual Bachata is a fad. Traditional Bachata will continue so long as the Dominican Republic exists and the people continue to uphold their traditions, and Sensual Bachata will continue so long as DJs keep remixing Western pop and Latin pop in to bachata-ish music. There will be endless generations of young people that will take up this partner dance.
I would say the choreography is very elegant, smooth sexy which appeals to many people. This allows for greater physical and emotional connection with your partner
IMO it looks silly and because there's so many hand movements, twists and body rolls to the point that it takes the soul away from authentic bachata dancing. I agree with a Dominican commenter and I'm happy she agrees, this style of dancing should be called something else even "Baile Sensual" is fine honestly.
To each their own...but I find the difficulty finding hard core salsa nights now frustrating as a result. I'm a one or two bachata a night kind of chap, mostly as a rest track between faster salsas. For me bachata is a gateway drug. It's simpler which let's beginners feel they're 'good' at something but the likes of salsa are the hard core drugs..and it gets that you need that for a proper dancing hit. I actively avoid clubs that are more than about 10% bachata (and expecially SBK). Unless it is a separate room so i can just not go in there. That certainly reduces the number of clubs out there. Sensual Bachata is just mass market its popular in the way ceroc/le roc was popular - they're often using popular Western songs as you say and it is simple. I always feel dancing has a continuum with very easy mass dances that are less fun but require less skill on one end and more complicated requiring lots more rules and technique and skill on the other. If you go too far in the skill direction then social scenes become tiny - think West Coast Swing amazing dance. Brilliant. Great opportunity for musicality...but really only some pros mostly you need to travel to congresses. If you dumb it down only a little - such that there aren't two different timings etc and tweak not all that much making it simpler you end up on cross body salsa - which is a related dance. IMHO this is the optimum in terms of not being so difficult nobody attends but being technical enough to give variety and spice. I should say that I don't dislike bachata, it's OK for a while with the right partner...but annoyingly what should be a fesh pipeline of talent is being distracted by easy bachata. Not that there isn't stuff you can learn on the musicality front from dancing simpler dances....end of rant. Hoping the salsa scene goes back to being a salsa scene with the odd other dance for variety soon!
bachata sensual solo es popular entre otras culturas no entre los dominicanos. Para nosotros es mas un insulto a nuestra musica. Eso es como tener sexo pero bailando. O una mujer teniendo un exorsismo con todo ese movimientos tan raro.
There is no such thing as “Dominican bachata” bachata is Dominican!! You don’t say Mexican tequila or Japanese sushi ! Sensual “bachata” is just taking our dance and adding sex to it to make it more mainstream and euro digestible. You people always take things away from cultures, chop it up and dismiss the original. Respect the culture and OUR dance! You guys have the nerve to say it’s “evolving” and down play the way we dance.
I appreciate your comment very much , and even though my words let you down, I try to communicate it to people who don't know bachata in a way they would understand and learn more 😉
Same thing happens to every popular "cultural export". People first learn it, then adapt to their taste. The way I make bolognese pasta would make Italians fill with rage but call it what you want to me it's still too similar to original bolognese so I call it bolognese and it's hard to make up a new word and to spread it around so others can understand me. Same thing happened to a tie you wear on your suit but longer time ago. It originated in Croatia, country I'm from, but modern tie doesn't look anything like the original tie. Instead of being mad at things changing, celebrate how your people influenced other cultures because this happens all the time, cultures interact, they mix, they reject some influences, they embrace other influences, in the end you end up with a whole different thing, even bachata didn't came out of nowhere, it came into existence trough whole lot of other cultural influences.
I think you can compare it with fashion. Traditional bachata is like a suite. It will remain popular for a very long time but nobody will put it on every day. Sensual is something casual that is currently on trend.
Amazing video! I would like to add a few more reasons. For me, Bachata is the "perfect dance" in many ways:
I have been a competitive Latin ballroom dancer for 10 years now, learning Salsa, Bachata, West Coast Swing and many other dances.
Although my heart belongs to Salsa and other dances, for me Bachata (as a fusion of many sub styles of bachata) is really the best dance for the global pop culture of dancing at the moment:
1. It is very beginner friendly. It is slow enough for anyone to learn. Age does not restrict you from dancing, as it does in Salsa as a slot dance or in ballroom dancing.
2. Combinations are designed to fit perfectly into the music. Highlights are always predictable in the music and combinations adapt to them. So even beginners can feel what the feeling of "flow" can be like. It basically forces you into simple musicality. Salsa does not have this. To be musical in Salsa (on line) requires hundreds of hours of highly complex training.
3. Bachata is more inclusive. Getting started in Bachata is much easier than in other dances. This makes it much easier to join the community.
4. All the subgenres of Bachata work really well together. People coming from other genres understand each other. It is not like a war of opinions like in Salsa (On2 vs. On1 vs. Salsa Cubana vs. "real" Guaguancó vs. you name it...)
5. Bachata Sensual contains show combinations that we have only seen in Hollywood choreographies. It makes these combinations accessible from early training on, not just on special occasions. How fun is that?! :)
Those are very good points indeed. Thank you so much for sharing 😀.
Nice summary!
Right. I started salsa and bachata at the same time and was able to dance bachata earlier for many of the reasons you summarized.
Interesting points but I would have written exactly the opposite about traditional bachata being easier and more inclusive and adaptable. I found the sensual music to be very unpredictable and difficult to lead with the frequent sudden stops and changes that tend not to happen in Dominican. turn patterns do not fit sensual like in Dominican music at different tempos. Perhaps we are defining what is sensual differently in our own heads.
I dance salsa and bachata, but bachata is more alive. Every month there are new songs, and new trending moves. You go to parties and notice that suddenly everybody started doing some particular trick. Every month they're new dancers excited about learning, etc. With salsa it's a completely the opposite: you dance the songs that are being played for over 30 years, and you feel that everything was already done before, so all you can do is to study, and there will be never enough time to learn all of it. You go to a party and it's a like group of old good friends dancing together for over a decade. I totally get why bachata "is taking over".
That said, sensual bachata slowly becomes as technical as salsa, and eventually will become "the dance of the previous generation" as well.
Thank you for your input with your comment 😉.
And which dance will be the next bachata? Zouk, east coast swing, Kizomba?
I am obsessed with Dominican Bachata both the music & the dance. It seems hard to find in the midlands UK. Must visit London more often.
Yes, come here, we have some variety 😇.
💯
@@georgek5186 👍
Thanks for the video Rasa :) . I hope soon traditional bachata will start to become more popular in Europe. Eg., in my country there are little to none traditional teachers and I don't there's a huge gap that can be filled :)
Absolutely, let's keep asking teachers to show some steps and show that there is demand for it 😉.
The biggest reason is Sensual Bachata is more recent. New York styled bachata is easier to learn, more relatable, and more club/DJ friendly. I love them both and I incorporate Dominican style when I’m dancing sensual. I totally agree with you though.
I also love to mix styles 😍
WTH is New York styled bachata? Do you mean REGULAR bachata?? My God 🙄
@@Ocho9857 Travel and google. That's all I'm going to say. Good Luck!
Thanku you for the information rasa.
You're most welcome😉
We also asked the question as to what is bachata moderna? Does it really exist? Originally from Ataca & Alemana perhaps? They mixed in Dominican steps, apparently.
I can see many people frustrated because they prefer a different kind of dance or even because the music has changed. Sensual bachata gets a lot more hate than any other style I know, which probably contributes as well to its popularity. I agree that the dance is so different to traditional that it might as well be called just sensual (without the bachata part). But typically sensual emerges from moderna, most moves can be simplified to turns and basic steps if you don't want to do all the wavy bits. And that is why we use labels such as dominican, moderna, sensual... most songs actually have a bit of each. As long as teachers explain the roots and people understand the evolution I don't see any disrespect, just people enjoying a dance they love.
I clearly enjoy it, but because bachata for a lot of people is a cultural thing, I understand how they can feel differently 😉.
If you’re not Dominican you can’t possibly understand the cultural connection to it.
@@Ocho9857 agreed 👍
You can say sensual bachata is taking over boldly. There are so many sensual bachata festivals. Not as many Dominican bachata festivals. It’s obvious from a business perspective which is dominant right now.
Yes I believe that is true 😉.
after reading below comments I get the sense that people are confusing moderna vs sensual which is actually just a brand created and marketed by a specific couple in Europe who use Zouk based fundamentals. Moderna is what I consider the most diverse and normal way people are learning. Sensual is advanced and something to learn after many months of dancing moderna/traditional. Moderna to me fuses traditional steps and body movement with salsa like turn patterns everyone can learn. The Sensual music sucks for the most part and is unfortunately and grotesquely the most played in bachata rooms at big events. It is disrespectful to the people of the DR who created the music and dance. Pop music culture is take trying to ride the wave and draw attention to their boring music by putting in bachata beats.
Thank you for such an in-depth comment 😉.
Totally agree. Some songs I can't even call bachata.
I'll answer before watching the video.
It's because for many men it's their only chance to get close to a girl while the barrier to entry is learning 1-2-3-tap.
Simple as that!
I'm sure there's quite a bit of that 😉.
Come to Spain and your world may be shaken.. level is often high in big cities and more than a tap is required.
This was my answer for the kizomba too.
There are a lot of points in the video and comments I wouldn’t necessarily agree with or highlight. Firstly, bachata sensual is more than a trend now - it started over 15 years ago in Cadiz. Yes, it did take a lot from zouk. The remix background might just be relevant for the UK. In Spain, bachata sensual is danced to commercial bachata like Romeo Santos and more edgy bachata but no remixes (or very little). All ages dance it (people adapt and take what they want from the classes). In the comments, someone said it is beginner friendly but I think bachata sensual is one of the more complicated dances to dance reasonably well. There needs to be a good appreciation of weight transfer, balance and good coordination for the combos to work well. Someone mentioned about male leads being quite static in bachata sensual and I agree with this - I’d like to see more focus on the man moving and actually dancing. This is where Dominican bachata could be useful to mix in..
Thats amazing to hear from you , giving a different prospective, thank you so much 💓
Thanks, really nice topic. I love dominican bachata and a bit sad not to hear more of it in socials. From my experience I think there are some songs, which is purely good for sensual, but most of songs require skill of modern and dominican bachata to make things more fun. These songs, even are not traditional bachata, could be fast or at least mambo part could be this. Certainly, some super professionals could be doing sensual tricks during those fast parts, but I think for normal people in socials knowledge of dominican is much better. Anyway, sensual or dominican I am really happy that there is bachata craze now, because I just love this music. Not the English remixes, those I odio mucho, but the real latin stuff. I don't know what it is in this music, just makes me want to dance and makes me happy. When it comes to salsa some songs are great (especially with reggaeton touch), but often it is just random noise (from too many instruments) for me and many songs are just too long. So if I could say why bachata is more popular with me, would say that I enjoyed it from the first time I heard on a dance floor.
Very nice comment. Thank you so much for your input 😇.
It's a pity when "traditional" (or parent) dances are put on a back burner almost to the point that their fire is extinguished. I recall talking to a xbody salsa dancer - with maybe two years' experience - who hadn't heard of Son. (I suspect quite a few who dance Cuban salsa haven't heard of Son either to be fair.) It's not so much that I would expect them to know how to dance it, it's just a shame he'd never heard of it.
Maybe next time you're teaching a bachata moderna or sensual class, you could ask how many have heard of Dominican?... And how many have tried it?...
All of my students have 😅 they have been given all the information about Bachata possible 😁
Thank you! They keep saying “Dominican bachata” as if it’s its own category. Bachata is Dominican period! Your version is just a fusion you created so young people and white people would enjoy it more. It’s really that simple!
Salsa leads will ask respectfully Are you on 1 or 2?
Cuban or crossbody?
Why don't bachata dancers ask what we do or can do today?🤔
I love bachata and the music but I assess the room before entering. My experience is usually at congresses you find later in the evening you get more multi talented bachata individuals left in the bachata room? Ones who can adapt to the follower and more space!
It is lovely when you find the lead can do bachata footwork and has musicality.😊
Bachata was already taught from the start as a mix. Salsa cuban and xbody has been separate for a while, so different habits created 😉.
I think the key is the music. I compare Sensual Bachata to the dance West Coast Swing. WCS is decades old and once during a class the instructor explained to us that it maintains its popularity because it can be danced to modern pop music.
I don't think Sensual Bachata is a fad. Traditional Bachata will continue so long as the Dominican Republic exists and the people continue to uphold their traditions, and Sensual Bachata will continue so long as DJs keep remixing Western pop and Latin pop in to bachata-ish music. There will be endless generations of young people that will take up this partner dance.
There's a lot of truth in that 😉.
I would say the choreography is very elegant, smooth sexy which appeals to many people. This allows for greater physical and emotional connection with your partner
Great point 👉
IMO it looks silly and because there's so many hand movements, twists and body rolls to the point that it takes the soul away from authentic bachata dancing. I agree with a Dominican commenter and I'm happy she agrees, this style of dancing should be called something else even "Baile Sensual" is fine honestly.
I completely agree , names is the problem !
To each their own...but I find the difficulty finding hard core salsa nights now frustrating as a result. I'm a one or two bachata a night kind of chap, mostly as a rest track between faster salsas. For me bachata is a gateway drug. It's simpler which let's beginners feel they're 'good' at something but the likes of salsa are the hard core drugs..and it gets that you need that for a proper dancing hit.
I actively avoid clubs that are more than about 10% bachata (and expecially SBK). Unless it is a separate room so i can just not go in there. That certainly reduces the number of clubs out there.
Sensual Bachata is just mass market its popular in the way ceroc/le roc was popular - they're often using popular Western songs as you say and it is simple.
I always feel dancing has a continuum with very easy mass dances that are less fun but require less skill on one end and more complicated requiring lots more rules and technique and skill on the other. If you go too far in the skill direction then social scenes become tiny - think West Coast Swing amazing dance. Brilliant. Great opportunity for musicality...but really only some pros mostly you need to travel to congresses. If you dumb it down only a little - such that there aren't two different timings etc and tweak not all that much making it simpler you end up on cross body salsa - which is a related dance. IMHO this is the optimum in terms of not being so difficult nobody attends but being technical enough to give variety and spice.
I should say that I don't dislike bachata, it's OK for a while with the right partner...but annoyingly what should be a fesh pipeline of talent is being distracted by easy bachata. Not that there isn't stuff you can learn on the musicality front from dancing simpler dances....end of rant.
Hoping the salsa scene goes back to being a salsa scene with the odd other dance for variety soon!
Never stop ranting, so important to let other like-minded people feel they are not on their own 😉.
Nice thoughts. Maybe bachata is like pickleball, much easier to get started than tennis, but progressively harder to become a pro, just like tennis.
The thing js what people call sensual Bachata it is not Bachata
So true 👍
Rasa, two months in a year
😏😏
bachata sensual solo es popular entre otras culturas no entre los dominicanos. Para nosotros es mas un insulto a nuestra musica. Eso es como tener sexo pero bailando. O una mujer teniendo un exorsismo con todo ese movimientos tan raro.
Lo entiendo completamente, creo que la bachata sensual debería tener un nombre completamente diferente para que la gente realmente vea la diferencia.
Tienes razon! Yo siempre digo eso mismo. Ese baile no deberia llamarse bachata! Es un insulto a la verdadera bachata y a la Republica dominicana.
@@sarasadventuresuk 👍
@@sarasadventuresuk 👏👏
Sensual bachata’s popularity spread globally, thanks to workshops, festivals, and social media exposure.
👍👍👍
There is no such thing as “Dominican bachata” bachata is Dominican!! You don’t say Mexican tequila or Japanese sushi ! Sensual “bachata” is just taking our dance and adding sex to it to make it more mainstream and euro digestible. You people always take things away from cultures, chop it up and dismiss the original. Respect the culture and OUR dance! You guys have the nerve to say it’s “evolving” and down play the way we dance.
I appreciate your comment very much , and even though my words let you down, I try to communicate it to people who don't know bachata in a way they would understand and learn more 😉
Same thing happens to every popular "cultural export". People first learn it, then adapt to their taste. The way I make bolognese pasta would make Italians fill with rage but call it what you want to me it's still too similar to original bolognese so I call it bolognese and it's hard to make up a new word and to spread it around so others can understand me. Same thing happened to a tie you wear on your suit but longer time ago. It originated in Croatia, country I'm from, but modern tie doesn't look anything like the original tie. Instead of being mad at things changing, celebrate how your people influenced other cultures because this happens all the time, cultures interact, they mix, they reject some influences, they embrace other influences, in the end you end up with a whole different thing, even bachata didn't came out of nowhere, it came into existence trough whole lot of other cultural influences.
To me sensual is so popular is because it is more sexual and everybody loves that. I do too, but still I am a Salsero for life ❤
Thank you for sharing 💓
I think you can compare it with fashion. Traditional bachata is like a suite. It will remain popular for a very long time but nobody will put it on every day. Sensual is something casual that is currently on trend.
Interesting. I never thought about it this way 😉.