The Merengue is the
national dance of the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
Allegedly the dance was initially created by the
slaves who were chained together and, of necessity,
were forced to drag one leg as they cut sugar to the
beat of drums.
Tempos vary a great deal and the Dominicans enjoy a
sharp quickening in pace towards the latter part of
the dance. The ballroom Merengue is slower and has a
modified hip action. Steps are quite compact with a
Cuban motion hip action throughout. The couples
should focus on one another creating an earthy,
sensual feeling throught use of close, intricate,
rotational movements and at times an almost playful,
teasing interaction with each other.
Ideally suited to the small, crowded dance floors,
it is a very simple dance easy to learn fast. It is
commonly used as a warm up to other latin dances,
such as
salsa,
mambo
or
lambada.
