Learning to dance bachata is all about understanding the side-to-side movements and the pop of the hip to the left and the right. However, describing it is easier than actually doing it! Many dancers spend years learning this dance form and have a hard time dominating the movements, including following the rhythm.
If you love bachata music and wish to learn this dance form, then we recommend you search for a private tutor right here on Superprof. To know which tutor to pick you to have to look at all the information that is given to you in the tutor's profile.
For instance, you'll find information about their background in the subject, their level of experience, their teaching methodologies, rates per hour, whether they offer the first lesson for free, and much more.
Finding the perfect tutor can be tricky, which is why you must define certain things before you start your search. Some of these things are your budget, availability, learning objectives, and so on.
In this article, you are going to learn a little bit about the history of bachata, the places where it is common in the United States, why it gained popularity in America, and much more.
Is Bachata popular in the US?
Bachata, like many other Latino dances, is popular in the United States in cities with large Hispanic populations. Census Bureau population estimate, that 60.5 million Hispanics are living in the United States. This group represents 18.4 percent of the total population of America.
You can search for some of the best dance classes here.
This, however, doesn't mean that bachata is common in every state, city, and town. The Latin American population is concentrated in some states and has a bigger demographic in specific cities.
For instance, New York, Miami, and Los Angeles are cities with a big Latino population. As well as many cities in Texas like Houston, Austin, San Antonio, El Paso, and so on.
If you are searching for teachers and tutors outside these cities we recommend you search for online tutoring lessons right here on Superprof. You could first learn about the different bachata styles, pick the one you'd like to learn, and find a tutor who teaches it.
Bachata tutors and musicians are called bachateros which refers to musicians who know everything about the genre. This is why when you search for a tutor, you need to search for true bachateros.
Dancing lessons tend to be physically demanding, which is why we recommend you start at a beginner level if you've never had classes before, and carry on from there. Keep in mind that there is more than one style you can learn like salsa, merengue, modern dancing, hip hop, sensual dance, romantic, and many other styles.
Why is Bachata common in the US?
Bachata is more common in some cities than in others because of what we mentioned above, it correlates with the Hispanic population of the city.
Keep in mind that living in a city with a large Latin American population (whether that is Cuban, Dominican, Puerto Rican, etc) doesn't guarantee to find great bachata dancing ballrooms.
This style can be somewhat hard to dance (harder than salsa or merengue) and many others prefer learning other genres like cha, hip hop, salsa, or tango.
If you live in New York, LA, or Miami, you'll probably be able to find a nice, modern club where you can practice dancing in any bachata style. You will find places to dance Bachata Moderna, Traditional Bachata, Sensual Bachata, Bacha-tango, and much more.
You have to find clubs that play music by artists like Romeo Santos and Luis Vargas, or bands like Aventura, this way you know you've found a place that is worth the while.
To understand why bachata is common in some places and not in other places, you need to pay attention to Latin American history and the migratory processes that these countries have faced.
The reason why a Venezuelan citizen migrated is different from the Cuban or Dominican citizens. Colombia, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and many other countries have different troublesome backgrounds that forced many of their people to flee.
And when people leave their countries they take with them their cultures, traditions, and musical backgrounds. Over time, all these dances that collided in one place started merging, and sooner or later we ended up with a wide range of different musical genres.
This is why we have different but similar genres and dances like mambo, merengue, salsa, cha, jazz, and much more.
If you're having trouble deciding between learning to dance merengue, bolero, or bachata, continue reading about why learn to dance Bachata.
Cities where it is common
Finding a place to dance to bachata songs can be hard if you don't look in the right places.
If you live in New York you can go to the places your friends recommend or you can do a quick search online and find a nice Latin club where you can find the best music, songs, and lyrics. It is easy to find a place to have a good time.
The best cities in the United States to find Latin American clubs are New York, LA, Chicago, Houston, Miami, San Francisco, and more. These cities represent some of the cities in the country with a bigger Latino demographic.
Below, you will find a list of the cities in America with the largest Hispanic populations:
| City | Total Population | Hispanic Population | Hispanic percentage | |
| 1 | New York City | 8.3 million | 2.27 million | 27.40% |
| 2 | Los Angeles | 3.8 million | 1.8 million | 48.50% |
| 3 | Houston | 2.19 million | 908,000 | 41.40% |
| 4 | San Antonio | 1.32 million | 807,000 | 61.20% |
| 5 | Chicago | 2.8 million | 774,000 | 27.40% |
| 6 | Phoenix | 1.54 million | 643,000 | 41.90% |
| 7 | Dallas | 1.27 million | 537,000 | 42.30% |
| 8 | El Paso | 602,000 | 482,000 | 80% |
| 9 | San Diego | 1.3 million | 354,000 | 27.30% |
| 10 | San Jose | 934,400 | 294,000 | 31.50% |
Keep in mind that if you used to dance bachata, the same club you used to go to might not be open. If you don't even remember what the club was called, then we recommend you find a new place to show off your dance moves and style.
Remember that not because some genres sound similar it means they are the same. Latin America has a wide range of different genres and learning the different dances can be tricky but not impossible. There are differences between salsa, bachata, cumbia, mambo, bolero, and more.
To understand these differences you need to learn the musicality of each genre. You have to learn which are the instruments, the different styles, rhythms, and songs of each genre to be able to recognize what song and lyrics are playing,
You can learn how to dance each of these different genres, and if you want you can start by hiring a private tutor from Superprof. Tutors on our platform commonly offer the first lesson for free to allow students to see if they like the lessons before they commit to a long-term contract.
A brief history of Bachata
Bachata is a Caribbean dance that was born in the countryside of the Dominican Republic. The first bachata song to be recorded was called "Borracho de Amor" (Drunk in love) in 1962 by Jose Manuel Calderon. From then, bachata started to spread out of the countryside and into urban areas, then big cities, and afterward other countries.
Many musicians like Romeo Santos, Luis Vargas, and Aventura, are the ones who made bachata what it is today. However, the one person who is credited for all the hard work and promotion he put into the genre is Jose Manuel Calderon.
In 1962, this artist became popular for producing one hit after another at the Radio Televisión Dominicana studios. He is also credited for innovating the instrumentation in bachata, applying guitar strings, horn sections, and piano, and replacing the maracas with a güira.
Bachata lost popularity the same decade it was created and many experts believe it happened because Calderon moved away from the Dominican Republic to New York in 1967. He went searching for bigger opportunities in the music industry but decided to go back to his country to work with local artists and traditional bachata.
Once he was back in the Dominican Republic, he discovered that bachata musicians had been marginalized, since the genre itself had been associated with poverty and prostitution.
Calderon was then dedicated to creating a Dominican community in Washington Heights and was able to give rise to a bachata scene. After some years, bachata regained popularity and it started to spread in the region like other music.
Today, bachata, like other Latino genres has all kinds of music, lyrics, and genres like romantic, party, and more styles.
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