The Merengue
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Dance Summary
Type: Latin American Rhythm Character: Sideward movement, strong hip motion Music: Traditional Latin (even paced, 4/4) In Short: Merengue is another very simple dance, allowing for maximum creativity. It is an excellent teaching tool for other latin dances |
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Beginner's Rating
Simple:  Instructional: Creative: Slow-Paced: Practical: Overall Score: |
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Notes on Frame Maintain a concentrated round frame, keeping elbows up and level from one side to the next and maintaining a forward posture towards your partner. Keep shoulders slightly forward of the torso, and maintain a solid but not rigid connection with your partner. The man's left hand should be at or just above the lady's eye level and his right centered on her shoulder blade. The lady's left hand should oppose the man's right shoulder. Partner's heads should be directed towards one another. Do not arch your back or look at your feet when dancing. |
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Notes on Footwork All steps should be taken on the inside edge of the balls of the feet in order to facilitate a stop-and-go sort of motion as well as cuban hip motion, no more than shoulder width when stepping to the side and heel to toe when stepping forwards and backwards. Latin dances employ sudden quicks and lingering slows to produce stocatto movement around the floor. Feet should always be in contact with the floor. |
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Notes on Movement Generally Latin dances such at this will be contained and circular, aside from a few patterns which allow for more travel. Higher level dancers will travel more than beginning dancers. There are no rules for travel in this dance. Simply be considerate of others on the floor, being careful to allow adequate space for any patterns performed. |
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Practice Points
Turn on the music, and listen for the first beat. After identifying the first beat, count through the music a number of times until able to anticipate the point at which the music repeats. Begin stepping on the first beat of an eight count, counting out loud if necessary to stay on beat. Experiment with arm positions as desired, but always check to make sure that both partners are on the correct timing. If not, begin again until steps coordinate with the music.
Recommendations
Merengue is an especially good dance for beginners to begin with in order to gain a familiarity with music. Music typically repeats itself after each eight count (or six count for 3/4 music) and dancers need to be able to identify when it repeats in order to reference their steps to the music. The simplicity of Merengue, which is nothing more than walking to even timing, allows beginners to focus more on the music and stepping on beat. Merengue is also a good teaching tool for various arm positions. As long as dancers keep the beat of the music, they can be as creative as they like with arm positions, experimenting with new ones or reviewing those learned in other dances.
This dance would be well suited for any of the following occasions:
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