Bachata musicians got inspiration from a variety of music genres. The most influential was the Cuban bolero. Also from Mexican rancheros and corridos, Dominican merengue, Cuban son, guaracha and guajira, Colombian-Ecuadorian vals campesino and pasillo, and Puerto Rican plena and jibaro.
Bachata has been through a series of phases since its evolution. The Bachata style of music was mostly played by rural musicians and this made people relate it with low class; the musicians and the listeners were kind of frowned upon and began to be referred as Bachatero. Bachata's reputation got worse over time. The worsening conditions of the Bachateros further degraded Bachata’s reputation. The tempo of the music accelerated and the lyrics started including drinking and womanizing. Consequently, Bachata became associated with unacceptable social elements like alcohol, violence, sex and the like.
Over the past 40 years the Bachata music as made several changes and has redefined itself. Jose Manuel Calderon has been credited with the recording of the first Bachata single - Borracho de amor. This song is very romantic. After the electric guitar it was much easier to get to Bachata. Bolero remains the most significant influence although the two genres are quite distinguishable. Some of the Bachata phases are listed here:
Bachata Bolero: Alow tempo, emotional style and romantic words.
Cabaret Bachata: This kind of music was essentially rough and performed in cabarets.
Sexual Double Entendre Bachata: During the 80s, the Bachata music began to include songs and lyrics that implied sexual meanings.
Tecno Bachata: Certain liberal middle-class musicians showed interest in Bachata and manipulated it such that their songs reflected more of Bolero than Bachata. Juan Luis Guerra is a musician of this time who became increasingly popular in Latin America as well as the United States and Europe.
Frontier Bachata: Luis Vargas, Anthony Santos and Raulin Rodriguez conquered Bachata in the early 1990s; they included as much Merengue as Bachata in their collection.
Romantic Bachata: Anthony Santos pioneered this form of Bachata where there began to be a transformation into simpler and more romantic Bachata. Joe Veras was another popular Bachatero who increased Bachata’s pace towards romanticism.
Vallenato and Bachata: In the late 1990s, Bachata began to involve more middle-class musicians who attended school and studied other genres formally. Martires de León introduced the strategy of recording Colombian Vallenatos as Bachatas; Luis Vargas followed this style. This made Bachata acceptable to a wider audience.
The New York School: Aventura, a Dominican group, uses sound effects along with R&B influenced vocals which has attracted international audiences far and wide.
Bachata dance consists of certain simple steps that create a back and forth as well as a sideway motion. The dance starts with the right foot and similar steps are repeated with the left foot; Bachata can be distinguished by the distinctive and sensuous body movements. Salsa and Merengue are dance styles that have been known to be similar to Bachata but the three are quite different. Salsa is an informal dance style from the Caribbean which requires a partner. It incorporates different steps, patterns, timings, movement on dance floor, attitude, dress codes, preference of turns and moves etc. Merengue originates from the Dominican Republic in which partners hold each other in a closed position. In perfect Merengue, the hips of the two partners move in the same direction. Circular and sideway motions are possible; and there can be variation in choreography. The dance patterns of Salsa, Merengue and Bachata are alike but there are slight moves and patterns which differentiate the three.
Bachata is now the new craze for many latin dancers. Bachata classes, lessons and even congresses have emerged over the last year. Bachata is a very sexy, sensuous dance and for those that want to give it a try, look for good salsa teachers that have added bachata to their repetoir.
There is a great place in Orange County to check it out. The Bea Hive Dance Center
They are having a special workshop before a fun Masquerade Ball Dance with dinner and show on
March 13th. Check it out.
