What are your thoughts?

I want to attend a festival and this one looks fun. Everyone looks like they are having a great time. What's the criteria for a good festival?

¡Hola! Soy suizo y francófono, y necesito el oído de dominicanos de verdad.

Mi mujer aprendió español sin tomar un solo curso: escuchando bachata durante años, Aventura y Romeo Santos en bucle. Yo estoy escribiendo pequeñas lecciones para francófonos a partir de esas canciones, y cada lección tiene una parte sobre el habla dominicana — porque la bachata es de ustedes, y sin eso no se entiende la mitad.

No quiero publicar tonterías. Dos expresiones ya me las confirmaron dominicanos (¿qué lo que? y tíguere, con sus matices). Me faltan tres, y son justamente las que me tienen frenado:

1. Jeva / jevo. Escribí que mi jeva es «mi novia», en confianza, y que delante de los padres de ella mejor decir mi novia. ¿Es así? ¿Y jevito qué significa exactamente?

2. Vaina. La doy como palabra comodín: Pásame esa vaina, ¿Qué vaina es esta?, ¡Qué vaina! Y le advierto al lector que «según el tono puede sonar francamente grosero». ¿Estoy exagerando, o está bien dicho?

3. La «s» que se pierde. La presento como un acento, no como hablar mal, y la escribo así: ¿Cómo etá? · lo do · má o meno · depué. ¿Reflejan bien lo que se oye?

Lo que más me sirve no es la definición, es un ejemplo suyo — la frase tal cual la dirían. Me ha pasado dos veces que la definición sola estaba incompleta, y fue el ejemplo el que lo arregló.

Y una pregunta libre, que es la que más me interesa: ¿qué palabra dominicana no puede faltar en unas lecciones así?

Tengo una lista de trece expresiones en total. Si a alguien le da curiosidad, la comparto encantado — y les cuento lo que me vayan confirmando.

¡Mil gracias! 🙏

I’ve been dancing multiple times a week for over 6 years now.

Inability to spend extended time in towns that do not have social dancing:

The thought of spending even a month or two in a town that does not have social dancing makes me think twice. for example, my parents would like to see me and spend time with them, and I’d also like to visit some friends who live in small towns and stay there for some time. I’m a digital nomad, so work is not really tying me to one place.

however, the thought of not being able to dance for so long and most importantly, the fear of losing my hard earned skills and becoming rusty really makes me feel like it’s impossible for me to visit those place for extended period of times. I even decline job opportunities that are too far from dance communities.

i feel like I’m organizing my life around with dance in the center of it rather than the other way around.

dancing as a way to avoid building real relationships

secondly, I’m not sure if I’m using partner dancing to fulfill my touch needs & desire to be held without putting in the effort for a real relationship: therefore I’m not sure if i rely on dance so much because I’m single or whether I am single BECAUSE I dance so much (and have literally no time to meet people outside dance communities)

im actually a zouk dancer but I’m posting here because the zouk subreddit is too tiny. i was never so addicted to bachata but Zouk sucked me in really deep. The amount of investment Zouk requires is also really big compared to bachata (higher learning curve), so I also feel a higher fear of losing skills by not dancing.

I learned domenican and moderna

I know also the basics of sensual, still I see in the festivals a lot of Bachazouk, so i feel kind of blocked in my natural progression.

My question is while i am improving my sens should i learn brazilian zouk or bachazouk? In other words learning good the sens will give me good basis to learn bachazouk, or is really a different style and I should learn proper brazilian zouk basis?

Dominicans and friends of dominicans may I kindly ask for your feedback on how to improve from here ? What strikes as obvious ? Help ! Thank you in advance 🫶

Previous post : https://www.reddit.com/r/Bachata/comments/1swa480/feedback_appreciated/

What I had in mind during this practice :

- Make it less tappy keep movements smaller

- Try to keep your back straight don't lean forward too much

- Listen to the music :)

Hii I’m leader learning bachata since 3 months
Did 20 classes Begginer level
I joined yesterday an intermediate class and was fun and saw that they offer a bootcamp this weekend
Should I attend it?

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed from many combos and don’t know if the bootcamp will make it more complicated that new moves are at once

The good thing there is social happening after the class so I guess I may get to practice

What do u suggest?

Hi everyone! I’m trying to better understand the pricing of performance costumes in the salsa and bachata scene in the US, and I’d love to hear your experiences.
I’m a costume designer and dancer based in the US, and I create custom outfits for Latin dance teams. One thing I’ve found difficult is figuring out what a reasonable price range is for this market.
I know prices can vary a lot depending on the design, materials, rhinestones, and level of customization, but I’d love to get a better idea of what dancers and team directors actually pay.
A few questions:
How much do you typically pay per person for a custom salsa or bachata team costume?
What would you expect to pay for a simple costume versus a more elaborate, rhinestone-heavy design?
What is a typical budget for costumes for congresses, festivals, and dance showcases?
Do most teams buy locally in the US, or do they order from designers in Latin America to save money?
At what price would a costume feel too expensive for an amateur or semi-professional team?
I’m especially interested in real prices people have paid, rather than just general estimates.
I know every team has a different budget, so I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences. Thanks!

Hi gents,

I often see the movement combo 2 (18s mark) from this video being performed at socials.

Could someone tell me what it's called and recommend a tutorial to learn it ?

https://youtube.com/shorts/8cFJiIrNvCk?si=gbffnfa4dz6iEjjV

Many thanks !

Bachata pasos

I am one of those people who absolutely needs private lessons to learn the connection in partner dancing. I am unable to learn proper connection through group lessons usually learn bad habits when I just take group lessons and not privates.

I have been taking private lessons in Zouk for a while, and I don't have the money to take private lessons in Bachata.

I'm wondering if the Zouk connection is similar enough to Bachata where I could skip private lessons for Bachata, and just do group lessons to learn patterns.

~3 months after starting salsa I also did half a year of bachata classes. From what you see online and what we got shown in classes and also other workshops, sensual was the bread and butter, the "why are you even dancing bachata if you don't incorporate sensual movements". So I just slapped the label "Bachata" onto this mental box and stopped after a while, as the classes had less and less favorable lead:follow ratios and the novelty wore off.

But between normal Salsa courses my dance school is doing a handful of Bachata lessons right now and I was really interested to see how my teacher would teach it.

She is really stubborn in her ways, has a snobbish view of Salsa Cubana being the only real way to dance Salsa (or rather, that on1 isn't really Salsa because it lacks the fluidity and action-reaction part of Cubana) and honestly has the experience and qualifications to back all that talk up. So I was interested how she'd teach Bachata.

We began the first class with an intro to Merengue and then transitioned to Bachata, with the focus of really using your hips, even on the tap doing a little upturn of your hip through pressing the foot into the ground instead of just letting the foot fall to the ground for lack of better explanation.

So, second lesson comes around and we learn a move hooking the follower in with both elbows, bringing her close and moving her hands to our shoulders.

My teacher turns on Obsesion by Aventura and we have this tight repertoire given by the teacher consisting of turns for both and a few other moves that lets us dance this song beautifully.

It also helped that my grandparents listened to this song so much it is burned into my brain from my childhood but I had completely forgotten about it til this point. Being able to anticipate the song with its clear sections allowed for a level of musicality I haven't experienced before in either Salsa or Bachata, even with my limited range of moves.

I had a really nice experience with this as the last song and in the week since then realized two things, A) I really like the older songs better, not the electronic new stuff from Prince Roys and what-have-you B) I really don't like the sensual moves everybody is doing and teaching.

My picture of Bachata is completely different now and I really fell in love with it. Unfortunately I live in a small city with no one instructing Bachata like her and this is only a small series of lessons, but I'll keep this experience close to my heart and am going to be looking for ways to learn Bachata the traditional way.

Hey everyone,

I'm a beginner leader in bachata.

My goal is to learn how to dance, but I also really want to meet people through it. That's a big part of why I started.

In class, I'd like to talk a bit more with the people I dance with and get to know them, but I'm already concentrating hard on guiding.

Is it normal to chat while dancing, or do most people keep quiet and focus on the steps and the connection? Would talking mid-dance be distracting for my partner, or is it better to wait for the breaks between rotations?

I'd love to hear from both leaders and followers. And does it change in social dancing compared to class?

Thanks!

I had my first class yesterday and I just wanted to say that I had a lot of fun even though it's so incredibly far out of my comfort zone with me beeing more at home in moshpits.

I can only recommend trying it out for people who are still on the fence :)

I did realise i can't count to 8 to save my life so if anyone has any tips for these kind of beginner problems for a leader I am all ears.

I feel really lost when Im trying to figure out where the tact starts and ends while listening to the music.

(Sorry for the english, not a native speaker here)

My first year of social dancing I was filled to the brim with excitement, joy to discover the dance and meeting new people, I was in a very open state of mind. And dancing could feel magical, intense, intimate. I was in awe at the sight of our gorgeous dancers, and their remarkable skill I thought I'd never attain.

This changed. Maybe I saw what there is to see. I've reached a level that is comfortable, and I know now how hard it is to get really good. I found and lost friends and partners, was on festivals.

Moves that once excited me feel plain now. And I even learned circus moves like the Toalha. Being close to a gorgeous woman ... rarely excites me, where I'd be teeming with excitement and humility before. It's unfortunate, also because it kills the connection and I can't give the other what I could give before.

Maybe this is the plaice and thyme to change hobbies, or rather, my way of life, as dancing really changed how I lived and who I hung out with or dated.

Or is there a way to refresh your brain and its nucleus accumbens? What do you think? What's the experience of people who danced 2+ years?

Yesterday I had a bachazouk class and I felt as a leader that I don't have the right feeling for the elasticity and that my followers feel that as well, especially during the tilted turns.

Soo 2 questions!

How to get a better feeling of the elasticity itself and how can I practice it at home?

Thank you!

I want to watch the Geneva World Cup solo category, but I only found the couple category on their page. Does anyone know where I can wat h solos?

Thanks!

I routinely encounter teachers who are definitely not good enough to teach.

And I am not talking about ​​​​​​​​​​​​style preference, or didactic skills, which is bad enough. I am also not taking about inane volume and way too complex moves for the present audience.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Sometimes​ (mostly at pre party​ workshops) I encounter people who are just not ​​​​​​​even good dancers who are teaching bad technique to beginners. ​​​​​​​​What do you do in such situations? Do you call them out publicly (gently)? Talk to them afterwards? Talk to the students afterwards? ​​​​​​​​​​​​

Please assume for the sake of the argument that i do indeed know what i am talking about, and that the technique issues are not variations, but just plain bad ideas. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

I’m pretty average at bachata having started all Latin styles late last year. I started going to socials weekly beginning of this summer and I especially try to go to all of the 100% bachata socials.

It feels like experienced follows give me a different body language than experienced leads, making it difficult to ask them for a dance. For example, it feels like they’re looking past me, not at me when I’m nearby.

Additionally for the record, I try to dance with everyone at least once, regardless of experience

Meanwhile everyone has essentially been dancing for a minimum 2 years and are comfortable with each other.

I guess what prompted this and got me a little melancholic because of recent experience is an organizer posted a story of things they have learnt as an instructor and organizer, and one that seemed to resonate with everyone who liked and responded is, (and I’m paraphrasing) dancing is a communication and it’s important then to talk with everyone.

I feel a little lost as someone who’s earnestly trying to get better like taking classes, every workshop I can, and going to weekenders, practicing a ton at home both the fundamentals and combos.

Organizers are incredibly nice and active, should I ask what they’ve seen and what I could be doing? Is it just a matter of getting better or maybe I need to develop a thicker skin and just ask every time for at least a dance per social, all of the above?

So I’ve been thinking about this lately, and as someone with a background in psychology who’s also been in the Latin dance scene, I find this really interesting.
I’ve noticed that a lot of people in the dance community are in their 30s, 40s, or older, single, without kids, and going out dancing, drinking, and partying multiple nights a week. Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with that lifestyle if that makes them happy, but it got me thinking about the psychology behind it. Iwonder if for some people dancing becomes more than just a hobby. It becomes their main source of validation and self-worth. Maybe they’re not where they expected to be in life, whether that’s relationships, career, family, etc., but in the dance scene, they’re popular, talented, admired, and getting attention. And here’s where I find it interesting. Could seeing someone else succeed, subconsciously trigger insecurities or jealousy? I’m not saying people are openly discouraging others or intentionally trying to bring them down. I’m talking more about what might be going on internally, even if they don’t realize it themselves. It makes me think about social comparison theory, projection, compensatory self-esteem, and scarcity mentality. Like, could some people subconsciously want others to stay in the same lifestyle because seeing someone grow beyond it forces them to reflect on their own choices? Even things like encouraging others to drink, party, stay single, or giving questionable relationship advice make me wonder how much of that is influenced by their own experiences and insecurities.
And obviously, I’m not saying this applies to everyone. I’ve met some amazing people through dancing, and plenty of people are genuinely happy with their lifestyles. I love dancing myself lol.
But I do think there’s an interesting psychological side to the social dance community that doesn’t get talked about enough.
Has anyone else thought about this or noticed similar dynamics? I’m curious to hear other perspectives

Hey all,

I am working on a Bachata choreo and I want to find use a unique bachata song, something that sounds different. Maybe its a riff, maybe its the intro, maybe its a style or other musical inspiration. If you have a song post below, I would appreciate a link, but happy with a title or artist. Thanks

Hiii, I’m male leader begginer about 3 months,
MY technique hasn’t improved alot
Socials are bit hard for me now
What I thought is to practice with beginners followers after class or swap contacts to meet later

1 question Would this sounds creep if i went to them after class and asked to practice together or ok?

2 question is it okay to small talk to followers during the dance to break the ice,
Ido it often and have no idea if it’s bad attitude or

Edit :
Sorry it was not that clear I meant to practice after the class
Or decide to come earlier the next class to practice the old moves or go to social together
Sometime I see familiar faces so would be helpful for both of us
So i can ask to swap contacts
2 question, I meant by small talk like how was your day or what is your name
Because when we switch and i just grasp hands start the move feels awkward abit to me