In 2014, Adam Taub was the first instructor who I heard share the meaning of the word “Bachata” - not the dance style we have come to know and love, but what it meant before that. He said “Bachata” referred to a fiesta del patio, a patio party among friends & neighbors in the countryside. For people who enjoyed playing guitar, dancing, sharing drinks and food with their family and friends, these were great times.
Later, upper class Dominicans would use this name to refer to a specific style of music and dance that had emerged from those bachatas in the countryside, but their meaning wasn’t a polite one. It was meant to signify that the genre was low-class. Eventually, by the 1990s (30 years into the genre’s existence), this term would be reclaimed with pride.
But it wouldn’t be until 2022, in a workshop by Edwin Ferreras (1/2 of the power duo that is Areíto Arts), that I would learn that the word bachata had come out of a West African word - cumbancha, or sometimes cumbachata, which also means a gathering or party.
If we follow the word lineage further back, we find the word cumbé that etymologists speculate may have come from the Kongo language word, kúmba, which means “to make noise.”
Many of our favorite dance styles have similar word lineages, often with their names referring to gatherings in various origin languages. Ricardo Lemvo, renowned world music artist, shared in a discussion at Steel City Kizomba’s Reecontro Weekender this past October that the word mambo comes from the Kikongo language and also means “a gathering.” I’ve heard the same of the word kizomba in Angola as well as other Latin music & dance genre names including rumba. Cool, right? While this word lineage may not affect your Bachata (or other) dancing at all, I personally find it grounding and impactful to reflect on the deep roots of Africa that spread through our favorite dances.
It’s also important to recognize and honor the humble origins of our dance styles - often cultivated by those that their oppressors deemed “low class.” The people who poured their love into the genre were looked down upon for decades before Bachata finally got recognition worldwide. (Did you know it’s been protected by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2019?) Considering the trials Bachata has been through in its 60+ year lifespan just to continue existing, we need to give average Dominicans their flowers.
If you’re an instructor, consider the impact including this mini-history into your lessons could have on your students understanding of, appreciation for, and development in the dance styles you teach.
Resources:
Adam Taub, Bachata Culture & History Workshops 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018
Areíto Arts, Bolero Workshop 2022
“La Bachata: Blues y Bolero entre isla y continente” - Jochy Herrera
“Cumbancha” - Wiktionary
Ricardo Lemvo, discussion at Steel City Kizomba Reencontro Weekender, October 2023
Bachata!: A Social History of Dominican Popular Music - Deborah Pacini Hernandez