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Merengue (, ) is a style of Dominican music and dance. Merengue is the national dance of the Dominican Republic and is also important to national identity in the country. It is a type of danced walk and is accessible to a large variety of people with or without dance experience. The music of merengue draws influence from European and Afro-Cuban styles and mainly uses instruments like guitars, drums, and a charrasca or metal scraper. The dance originated as a rural dance and later became a ballroom dance. Merengue has three distinct sections: the paseo, the merengue proper, and the closing jaleo which includes improvisation. Partners hold each other in a
closed position In partner dancing, closed position is a category of positions in which partners hold each other while facing at least approximately toward each other. Closed positions employ either body contact or body support, that is, holding each other is ...
. The leader holds the follower's waist with their right hand and the follower's right hand with their left hand at the follower's eye level. Partners bend their knees slightly left and right, thus making the hips move left and right. The hips of the leader and follower move in the same direction throughout the song. The rhythm of these steps often accentuates either the right or left step. This pattern is often known as a ‘danced walk’. During this dance, a dancer will mostly put their weight on the same foot. Partners may walk sideways or circle each other, in small steps. They can switch to an
open position In partner dancing, open position refers to positions in which partners are connected primarily at the hands as opposed to closer body contact, as in closed position. The connection is through the hands, wrists, and fingers, and relies heavily ...
and do separate turns without letting go of each other's hands or by releasing one hand. During these turns, they may twist their handhold into intricate pretzels. Other choreographies are also possible. Although the tempo of the music may be frenetic, the upper body is kept steady and turns are slow, typically four beats/steps per complete turn. In the social dancing of the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
the "empalizada" style is replaced by exaggerated Cuban motion, taught in chain ballroom studios for dances of Latin American origin ( cha-cha-cha,
rumba The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, "rumba" was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba. ...
,
mambo Mambo most often refers to: *Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form *Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music Mambo may also refer to: Music * Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particula ...
,
salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: A ...
).


History

Merengue music and dance rose to popularity in the
Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...
during the
Haitian occupation of Santo Domingo The Haitian occupation of Santo Domingo ( es, Ocupación haitiana de Santo Domingo; french: Occupation haïtienne de Saint-Domingue; ht, Okipasyon ayisyen nan Sen Domeng) was the annexation and merger of then-independent Republic of Spanish Hait ...
from 1822 to 1844. After the occupation ended, Dominican merengue was changed to distance its origins from Haiti. The tempo of Dominican merengue was increased to differentiate it from Haitian Méringue along with other musical changes. Both still share the danced walk as their basic step. The relatively easy steps of merengue allowed it to be easily learned and popularized. In terms of dance, Dominican merengue is often done with less space between partners and different hip movements as compared to the Haitian version. Many of these changes were fueled by anti-Haitian and anti-black sentiments during this time. Around this time Puerto Rico's governor, Juan de la Pezuela y Cevallos, banned merengue in Puerto Rico for its "corrupting influence" including a ten day prison sentence for dancing it. Also around this time, merengue began being written and spoken about disapprovingly by elites in Dominican society. They argued that the dance, which contained hip movements, was too scandalous for ballrooms. Merengue then became mostly danced by rural peoples who embraced the dance and it's African heritage. According to Ramiro Burr, merengue was originally performed with acoustic groups. During the 20th century, merengue's original lead instrument was the
guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...
. By the 1940s and 1950s it was performed with
accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a ree ...
s.Hutchinson, Sydney. (2006). Merengue Típico in Santiago and New York: Transnational Regionalism in a Neo-Traditional Dominican Music. Ethnomusicology, Vol. 50, No. 1 (Winter, 2006), pp. 37–72. Retrieved fro
JSTOR
/ref> This form known as '' Merengue típico'' originated in the rural Northern
Cibao The Cibao, usually referred as "El Cibao", is a region of the Dominican Republic located at the northern part of the country. As of 2009 the Cibao has a population of 5,622,378 making it the most populous region in the country. The region constit ...
region around the city of Santiago, resulting in the name ''merengue cibaeño''. ''Merengue típico'' emphasizes traditional songs dating back as far as the nineteenth century. This style of merengue was popularized by former dictator
Rafael Trujillo Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina ( , ; 24 October 189130 May 1961), nicknamed ''El Jefe'' (, "The Chief" or "The Boss"), was a Dominican dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic from February 1930 until his assassination in May 1961. He ser ...
, who was from the Cibao region. Trujillo and his brother, Jose Arismendy Trujillo, turned merengue into the cultural symbol that it is today by investing in merengue bands and controlling many aspects of the music industry. They used merengue as a form of propaganda and national pride. Previously merengue had often been as a social commentary and under Trujillo it morphed to songs that praised him and the government. Because of Trujillo's influence ''Merengue típico'' is now the main form of merengue in the Dominican Republic.


See also

*
Music of the Dominican Republic The music of the Dominican Republic is primarily influenced by West African, European, and native Taino influences. The Dominican Republic is mainly known for its merengue and bachata music, both of which are the most popular forms of music i ...
*
Culture of the Dominican Republic The culture of the Dominican Republic is a diverse mixture of different influences from around the world. The Dominican people and their customs have origins consisting predominantly in a European cultural basis, with native Taíno and African ...
*
Latin American music The music of Latin America refers to music originating from Latin America, namely the Romance-speaking regions of the Americas south of the United States. Latin American music also incorporates African music from enslaved African people who wer ...
* Méringue (Haitian version) * Cuarteto (Argentine version) *
Merengue Music Merengue is a type of music and dance originating in the Dominican Republic, which has become a very popular genre throughout Latin America, and also in several major cities in the United States with Latino communities. Merengue was inscribed ...


References


Further reading

*Díaz Díaz, Edgardo. 2008. "Danza antillana, conjuntos militares, nacionalismo musical e identidad dominicana: retomando los pasos perdidos del merengue". Latin American Music Review 29(2): 229–259. {{DEFAULTSORT:Merengue (Dance) Latin dances Latin American folk dances Ballroom dance Partner dance Merengue music Dominican Republic culture Dance in the Dominican Republic