OUT to Dance offers group dance classes in West Roxbury
and private lessons in Roslindale. Join us!
About Merengue Dance
The ballroom version of merengue (merengue de salón), in its easiest form looks as follows.
With a thumping 1-2-3-4 bass drum beat, all steps are on one beat and have a characteristic limping appearance. Sometimes this step is called “paso de la empalizada” (pole-fence step). There are also legends about a limping war hero (or El Presidente of a banana republic himself, in some versions) who had to step in this way while dancing because of wounds, and polite (or clueless) public imitated him.
Partners learning the merengue hold each other in closed position and do walks sideways or circle each other, in small steps. They can further switch to a double handhold position and do separate turns never letting go each other’s hands. During these turns they may twist and tie their handhold into intricate pretzels. Other choreography is possible.
Although the tempo of the merengue music may be frantic, the upper body is kept majestic and turns are slow, typically four beats/steps per complete turn.
In the social dancing of the USA the “empalizada” merengue style is replaced by exaggerated Cuban motion, taught in chain ballroom studios for dancing the merengue of Latin American origin (Cha-cha-cha, Rumba, Mambo, Salsa).
When joining our Merengue Dance and other dance classes, note that our OUT to Dance studio locations, West Roxbury and Roslindale, MA, are within twenty minutes of downtown Boston, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Hyde Park, Brighton, Allston, Brookline, Newton, Chestnut Hill, Dedham, Norwood, Needham, Westwood, Milton and Quincy; and within 25 to 35 minutes of Cambridge, Somerville, Arlington, Wellesley, Natick, Waltham, Braintree, Brockton, Stoughton, Canton, Foxboro, Weymouth and surrounding towns. We are also less than an hour from Providence, Rhode Island and New Hampshire.
