The bachata? Signs point to yes!

I've decided this week that I need to learn bachata.

I don't know about you, but I can totally hear Adam West's voice saying this. Now, if I were a superstitious person...ahem...I might think the universe was pointing me that way. The first "sign" was this funny little Batman & Robin meme.

The second was this poster advertising a nightclub that my half-brother had up on his Facebook page; he works there. I saw this and left the comment: "This looks like a lot of fun." Free salsa and bachata lessons? Bonus! That would have been great. I'm telling you, when I go visit my family in Quebec, I am going to get my half-brother and half-sister to take me to this place...at which point I will cross my fingers and hope that my gringa-self doesn't completely embarrass them. Heh.

So things come in three's right?

Here's the song "Wrecking Ball" performed by Katanah as a bachata. She sings it (mostly) in Spanish. I'll be really honest, I didn't like this song until I heard this version. I have it pinned to one of my Pinterest boards for safekeeping. Pinterest is where I originally stumbled across it. I would -love- to buy this as an MP3 to have permanently, but it seems Amazon.com doesn't sell it. Who knows when they will... Blarg Amazon! Blarg I say...

So, bachata. What is it? I really had no idea. Debbie the trainer didn't cover bachata at my B1 certification. So what's the Zumbamommy to do? Why search the internet of course. I started with YouTube, figuring that maybe someone out there had done choreography to Katanah's version of "Wrecking Ball". Sure enough. From watching what was available, I can understand why Robin might mistake Batman's bachata dancing for a (much slower) merengue. My next stop was Wikipedia because I really didn't want make Robin's mistake. You can look up the search results for "bachata" on Wiki yourself easily, so I won't make this an in-depth history kind of post. Some highlights though!

10 Fast Facts About Bachata (source: Wikipedia Bachata (Music))
1) Bachata originated in the Dominican Republic
2) Bachata artists are called "bachateros"
3) The subjects of bachata songs are similar to American blues songs - romance, heartbreak, etc.
4) It's not that old, it's only been around since the early part of the 20th century
5) It is a fusion of African style dance with Latin American bolero dance
6) The basic bachata dance is three steps with a Cuban hip motion followed by a tap step on the fourth beat
7) Bachata music is typically played with five instruments (three guitars and two percussion)
8) Between the 60's and the 80's it was considered "vulgar and crude" and "associated with rural backwardness and delinquency"
9) Bachata became more accepted and popular in the early 90's thanks in large part to Juan Luis Guerra and his hit song Bachata Rose (it won a Grammy)
10) Today, one of the best known bachateros is Prince Royce

Between what's out there on the internet and what I get from being a ZIN, I think I'll have enough resources to learn bachata. I know it's early, but I am officially making "learn bachata" my New Year's resolution.

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Photo Credit: Inspiring Love Life Wise Quotes