Bachata Revolution in Malaysia
7 – 9 August 2009

By Jaxen Tan

“A sizzling combination of old and new, of both Traditional and Modern style bachata”

Mention the word bachata and you’ll probably get stares from the general public as to what foreign language you’re speaking. Foreign it is, but not so foreign to the large community of latin social dancers here in Malaysia.

Bachata is a dance, originating from the Dominican Republic, a dance well known for its sensuality as well as cheekiness and fun. It has set its roots here in Malaysia for well over ten years and the movement is growing stronger every year. Even globally, bachata is growing at a rate not seen in years since it was first danced in the latin clubs. International bachata festivals and congresses are popping up everywhere since the first of such an event was launched in Sydney in the year 2008.

If you've lost your love, you listen to bachata in a bar until the tears flow. If you're with your love, you dance bachata until your hips ache. It is called musica del amargue, which means 'music of bitterness' - the Dominican blues - touchingly used by those who can't read or write to communicate their feelings or sentimientos. It is the music of the heart and of the soul, the music of the poor and disadvantaged, sung usually by men in a nasal voice (voz anonada - meaning 'spoiled/ruined voice'), accompanied by a powerful tenor and baritone harmony-duo chorus.

Juan with assistant, Cecilia, conducting workshop

The Malaysian Latin social dance community mainly comprise of salsa dancers.  In the clubs where salsa is the mainstream, you will always get to hear the melodious tunes of the bachata being played alongside the salsa songs.

Bachata in Malaysia is mainly danced in the traditional way, comprising of a series of simple steps to produce a back and forth or sideways motion. The character of the dance is achieved through sensual hip and body movement.

In recent years, bachata is seeing a modernization in the way it is danced and in Malaysia, one dance school has taken it as a mission to promote this new and fun way of dancing the bachata. Bachata is now no longer about simple movements from side to side; it has started incorporating new steps which include crossing of the feet , changes in the lead and styles of movement that makes bachata even more interesting to dance to. Elements of other dances are incorporated seamlessly into it; dances such as zouk, kizomba, tango.

Rhythm Identity became the first dance school in Malaysia to start the Bachata Moderna style; a form of the bachata dance which is becoming very popular in Australia as well as Europe. And for this, one of the pioneers of the Bachata Moderna was brought to Malaysia for a full weekend of workshops, parties and performances to introduce the Malaysian dance community to this evolution of bachata dance.

Juan Ruiz is the director of Bachateros in Australia and also one of the organizers of the Sydney International Bachata Festival; the first of its kind in the world. He is a world renowned bachata instructor who is said to be the “father” of both Australia and New Zealand bachata. He has made the transition from the traditional style bachata to the modern style bachata and is now one of the leading experts in this field of dance.

Juan was in Malaysia for the Bachata Revolution organized by Rhythm Identity; it was an event which started on 7 August 2009 and ended on 9 August 2009

7^th August, Friday saw a full house at Paradisso the Lodge (at Jalan Raja Chulan) where many had arrived from all over Malaysia to attend Juan’s first bachata workshop. The night started with some cheeky bachata moves, masterfully taught by Juan who is from Ecuador. Throughout the night, salsa and bachata music dominated the dance floor as everyone started trying out the new moves they had learnt.

 Juan with assistant, Evelyn conducting workshop

The main event was on 8^th August, Saturday where Juan spent six hours teaching Malaysia both Bachata Traditional and Bachata Moderna. The early part of the day saw a two-hour Beginners Bootcamp where beginners were taught the techniques as well as some finer points on dancing bachata. By the end of the two hours, everyone was dancing the bachata!

The afternoon saw another two hours of workshop, this time introducing Bachata Moderna to the Malaysian community. It was an eye-opener to the Malaysian bachateros (meaning bachata dancers); many found it to be extremely exciting as well as new to them as the dance taught them to break away from the usual way that they have always danced. Bachata Moderna was the real ‘revolution’ to the whole event, changing the way bachata is danced and perceived yet maintaining its origins and traits of sensuality, cheekiness and fun.

The evening saw another two hours of workshop, this time on the traditional style. Workshop participants were taught to shine on the dance floor as well as immerse themselves in some very sexy bachata moves. It was indeed a very hot workshop.

Rhythm Id Bachata Project Performance

The night continued with more partying with the DJ playing salsa, bachata as well as some zouk music. Juan wowed the crowd with a bachata performance dancing with two ladies at the same time! It was an impromptu performance but with the right skill, technique, flair and sabor (latin for flavor), the performance was unforgettable. Rhythm Identity Bachata Project did a group bachata performance with five couples who showed the fun, exciting and cheeky parts of bachata. This group had earlier debuted at the prestigious Malaysian Salsa Festival not more than two weeks ago.

To top up the party, a Jack & Jill style bachata competition saw the bachateros competing with each other, displaying their bachata dance skill from modern to traditional moves, from dips to sways, and with each couple oozing with cheeky fun and sensuality at the same time. The winners of the night were Chau and Chris Yee; both veteran salsa dancers in the Malaysian scene. Their dance and partnerwork captured not only Juan (who was the judge) but the crowd’s approval that night. They were presented with sponsored gifts from Bachateros Australia, Rhythm Identity Malaysia, Sieui Active Dancewear Collection and also from Paradisso the Lodge.

 Juan and Bootcamp participants

With the full weekend of bachata workshops now over, Malaysian bachata scene will hopefully see a change with the infusion of modern and new techniques for the dance itself. With Juan’s departure from Malaysia, Rhythm Identity is set to continue on the motion to spread the knowledge of modern style bachata to the Malaysian dance community with a synchronized syllabus, thus building a bridge between Malaysian and Australian bachateros to the bachateros of the world.

Sunday saw a closure to the Bachata Revolution in Malaysia with another two hours of workshop. The workshop participants were taught in depth about body movements and isolation in the bachata dance. In the afternoon, the Malaysians were given a break from bachata with a final workshop on salsa. It was tactfully named as a salsa-kizom-chata workshop where Juan mixed salsa with kizomba (a dance originating from Angola) and bachata. The result was a fun filled workshop with sexiness to boot!