Bachata is a music genre and dance that originated in the Dominican Republic. The lyrics usually deal with heartbreak, bitterness, sadness and the like. It was once suppressed by Trujillo, the dictator at the time, who hated the music, and then culturally repressed by the elite after the regime’s downfall, but has grown to become one of the most popular dances in the world. Usually heard in salsa clubs, it has since become popular enough to have entire dance socials devoted to it.
There are multiple styles of dancing bachata that can be divided into the original traditional Dominican bachata, modern style, and sensual style, each of which reflect the style of bachata music being played. Traditional Dominican bachata is characterized by its fancy footwork and more general playfulness in its partnerwork. Modern style adapted more contemporary styles of dance. Sensual bachata is characterized by a lot of close-proximity dancing, body isolations, and more intimacy.