When the
people of the Dominican Republic want to unwind or celebrate, the dance of
choice is Merengue!
The official dance
Merengue is
the Dominican Republic’s official dance form. Because of Haiti’s proximity to
the country since they share the same island, Merengue has also reached its
shores and the Haitians have created their own version of the dance. In Haiti,
the dance is called Meringué.
Haitian and French influence
The Haitian
Meringué or Mereng is said to have evolved from African slave music, especially
chica and calenda and injected with the French influence of the Minuet ballroom
dance sometime in the 18th and 19th centuries.
It is
believed that the black slaves witnessed how the French performed the Minuet in
the colonial homes and from there created their own version of what they saw
when they had their own celebrations.
Unlike the
rather staid and boring European dance, the slaves decided to incorporate their
own steps and made the dance more upbeat by dancing it to the thump of drums
and creating a faster rhythm for the dance. This transformed the French minuet
into something more joyful, which is often characteristic of African dances.
