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Merengue

            Merengue is a type of dance that is most strongly identified with the Dominican Republic. It has spread by the large numbers of Dominicans immigrating to the United States, bringing the merengue with them. There are many theories regarding the origin of merengue, which will be discussed in this report. One of them being that the black slaves saw the ballroom dances in the Big Houses and when they had their own festivities started mimicking the "masters' dances". However, the Europeans dances were not very exciting, so over time, the slaves added the use of the drums to make the dance more upbeat. .
             Even though it was very popular among the masses, high-class people did not accept merengue for a long time, because it was related to African music. It was considered by some to be the music of the under-class; therefore it was of bad taste to even listen to it. Another reason why it was rejected was the strong content lyrics, generating rejection and attacks against merengue. Even today some songs are still banned from Dominican radio stations due to the poor lyrics.
             The acceptance of merengue by all classes was due to two key events. The first was its role in maintaining Dominican cultural identity from the time when the United States took over the running of the Dominican Republic's customs house in 1905, which had great repercussions on national sentiment. The second was the adoption of the merengue as a national symbol by the dictator Rafael Trujillo who was a peasant that came from the lowest class in Dominican Republic. These factors are largely responsible for the dominant portrayal of the Dominican Republic as the home of the merengue.
            


Essays Related to Merengue

1. Ethnography of Merengue Dance

... the Republic but it also became popular through the Caribbean and South America, and became one of the standard dances in Latin America. The Merengue was then introduced into the United States in the New York area, but didn't become popular until several years later. Dance has always ... a mechanism for escape from emotional stress and one way to restore the emotional and physical well-being of the individual and the community." Merengue was not originally danced by couples, but was a circle dance where each woman and man faced each other and held hands at arm's length ... and uncertaint...

  • Word Count: 1112
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Latin Music

... In the late 1700s men of the Dominican Families would hunt parrots for dinner. After many successful hunts the families would celebrate and dance to Merengue. Accompanying the dancing there were groups of people who would play the instruments. The instruments usually included the Tres (three string guitar), guira, ... "maracas", tambora (two headed drum), the marimba (similar to a vibraphone). (Singer) Merengue has two distinctive rhythms played on the tambora, influenced either by African or Spanish decent. The reason for the two different types are in Cibao version ... Other bands wer...

  • Word Count: 893
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

3. Dominican Republic

... by the natives. The Dominican Republic is influence by Africa in the music. 1.Music The main form of music in the Dominican Republic is merengue. Merengue is a popular form of music and ballroom dance that originated in the island. The merengue is the national dance of the Dominican Republic and originated in that country around 1844. Traditional merengues consist of two parts: the ... merengue proper, with vocal lines sung over variable chord patterns, and the jaleo, a faster section featuring call-and-response vocal and instrumental patterns sung over various oscillating harmonies. An...

  • Word Count: 1745
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Latin Dances

... Dances Dancing through the night in a Latin country, a person may encounter a variety of different dances, especially from those of the United States. Some dances a person may encounter are the Salsa, Merengue, and the Mambo. Salsa, the dance, is basically a reinvention of the Mambo, which came from Rumba. Salsa is a pattern of six steps danced over eight counts of music. The basic ... to a variety of different music, from several countries of Hispanic influence. With this kind of variety, Salsa can very from location to location. The Merengue, the simplest dance to learn, is the nation...

  • Word Count: 556
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

5. The Dancing Waters of Las Vegas

... , yellow, red and many more, the fountains shoots water so high that we could also feel the little droplets of water falling on us, after this four minutes of magnificent merengue the fountains ended their show with a huge shot of water, which made me feel like the water is trying to kiss the huge sky which was looking perfect over the ... ...

  • Word Count: 1841
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: High School

6. The Dominican Republic

... females. Out of all of the births, usually an estimated 35% of the babies die. Music and dance is at the heart of Dominican culture. The most popular form is merengue, which will be blasted, full volume, almost anywhere you go in the country. Salsa probably makes the third favorite musical type in the Dominican Republic, though you'll find plenty ... ...

  • Word Count: 1000
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Analyzing Music

... music is used for many events. For example, in Caporiera, a brazialian self-defense/dance a live band is used to energize the room. A club usually plays techno or even salsa and merengue to liven up the crowd. The purpose is to motivate the individual to become energetic and to forget about the effects of fatigue and to just engulf in the up ... ...

  • Word Count: 1632
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Chano Pozo and Dizzy Gillespie

... a craze that swept the nation, and is really and truly, the only Jazz style that is still enormously popular today. Nationwide, club-goers seek out venues where Salsa, Bossa Nova, Merengue, Calypso, and other African, Caribbean, and Latin influenced dance styles can be enjoyed along with the music that accompanies them, but very few of these club-goers are actually aware ... ...

  • Word Count: 3210
  • Approx Pages: 13
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Salsa

... kind of music, there are people who specialize on the classic style of salsa, and others, such as groups like Proyecto Uno, create new sounds like salsa rap or techno merengue. Salsa is a highly stylized and sophisticated couple dance. The basic foot and hip pattern is fairly standardized, but skillful dancers combine it with such varied, dazzling, high-speed turns, twists ... ...

  • Word Count: 609
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

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