Merengue

History

Both Haiti and the Dominican Republic claim that it was their country that originated the Merengue. The Haitian story is that an early ruler of the country had a lame son who liked to dance. In order that he would not feel embarrassed about his affliction, the entire government took to dancing the Merengue as if they too were lame. The Dominican story differs only slightly. They claim it was born at a dance given for a great hero returning from the wars. He got up to dance and limped on his wounded left leg. All the other men present, rather than embarrass the hero, also favored their left legs as they danced.

Regardless of who claims to have originated the dance, the Merengue continues to enjoy favor with American dancers, who find its music lively and spirited and fun to dance. The lame leg theory, originally introduced to America when the dance was brought here in the early 50's, has slowly disappeared from sight, making the Merengue one of the easiest of the Latin dances, and great fun to dance.

Music and Tempo

The Merengue music is written in 4/4 time and should be played at a tempo of 30 measures per minute for examinations and competitions.

Style

The Merengue is a spot dance not moving along the Line of Dance (LOD). Steps are quite compact, with feet usually no more than 12 inches apart. Latin Hip Movement is used throughout the Merengue, unless otherwise indicated. A more staccato Hip Movement is characteristic of the Merengue. At times, a slight counter Sway is also used with Latin Hip Movement on Chasses??? And some turning figures. These will be noted in the remarks.

Latin Hip Movement

See description in the Rumba.