Get familiar with 2 most popular dance styles of Latin America at our Dance Academy “Academia de Baile ‘Ritmo Cubano’”, and immerse yourself in the world of Caribbean rhythm.

Merengue is a lively Latin-American type of dance and music, which emerged from Dominican Republic, Haiti and Puerto Rico.

Bachata, a joyful and popular couples’ dance, originally budding from the Cuban Bolero, is nowadays most sought after dance style at dance schools.

What is Merengue?  

Merengue, as a Latin-American type of dance and music, originated in the 18th century, but it took many long years for it to finally become accepted and nourished as Dominicans’  national treasure, in 1960. Hence, a great Merengue-festival takes place every year and not only in Dominican Republic, but also all the neighbouring countries like Puerto Rico, Haiti, Miami and Venezuela.

Traditional Merengue instruments are congas, guiros and the accordion, while every 2/4 beat is accentuated in order to keep the lively rhythm of music going. Nowadays, Merengue instruments feature modern and contemporary music instruments, and

Merengue songs often include topics on unrequited love, yearning and passion, but also depict everyday life and socio-political themes.

Merengue is a Couple's dance– every beat is to be danced consistently with a step forward, backward or to the side. One of the recognisable characteristics of this type of a dance style, is an eye-catching hip move, matching every dance-step. In general, we can say that Merengue is a ‘body-aware’ type of a dance, where all the steps express the movement of the whole body.

What is Bachata?  

Just like Merengue, Bachata dance emerged in the early ‘60s as a form of the Cuban Bolero. In the early beginnings, Bachata was a romantic Latin-American guitar music played in Trios to entertain amorous couples, but with time passing, it developed into Latin-American dance music, and its musical rhythm increased in speed.

It consists of a 4/4 beat and has characteristically high sound of guitars. The songs are usually about unrequited love and are sung by male singers.

In the ‘70s and ‘80s, Bachata was frowned upon and was seen as an obscene dance style and because of this, it was associated with lower classes of population including poverty, crime and prostitution. In contrast to Merengue and Salsa, Bachata music and dance got its true meaning and significance back in 1990s. Its popularity has increased dramatically over the last few years.

The dance is a combination of a leg movement and singular hip moves, however, many forms of Bachata exist today and normally, it is danced very closely together with your dance partner, with accentuated hip movements.

You will have the Chance of taking part in a leisure programme. Our team in Cuba will gladly inform you about the different activities that you will be able to choose from.

For example trips to the closest beaches, cultural visits or visits to the surroundings.

As an accommodation option, we recommend the Aparthotel Montehabana in Havana, which is located close to our dance academy.

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