The University of Rhode Island’s Multicultural Student Services Center held two bachata lessons this week to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.
On Sept. 24, the Dominican Alliance of URI held “A Taste of Culture” in the MSSC’s Hardge Forum. Henry Rodriguez ’15 and Bryan Solano-Reyes ’14 taught students the basics of bachata. Rodriguez is an instructor and performer with Rhode Island Latin Dance, a dance school and company based in Providence.
Bachata is a Latin dance originating from the Dominican Republic, according to Incognito Dance, as well as a genre of music. The first bachata song was recorded in 1962 by Jose Manuel Calderon.
Bachata was considered “too vulgar, crude and musically rustic” and generally associated with lower-class citizens in the Dominican Republic, according to Incognito Dance. Up until the early 1980s, bachata was not played on the radio or performed for society elites.
Modern bachata is a blend of traditional bachata steps with added flair, inspired by salsa. Rodriguez and Solano-Reyes taught students the “basic” – a simple shuffle to an eight-count beat. From there, the duo taught students how to move forward, backward and turn.
Rodriguez has danced his whole life, starting with family gatherings. He started performing in high school and hasn’t stopped.
“Through [high school performances] I met a lot of people who had a different background, that didn’t necessarily grow up with the dancing that I did,” Rodriguez said. “That kind of evolved into teaching because I realized how many people were interested in it and had not, again, grew up with it as I did.”
While at URI, he performed with and choreographed the eXposure dance team.
“I was in eXposure for pretty much my whole college career,” Rodriguez said. “It was like an easy transition, in a way, because I was already familiar with dancing and with sharing that space with people who, again, didn’t necessarily dance.”
On Thursday, Sept. 25, Martin Rivera Baldera and Inara Smith from ikonik, a dance studio in Providence, joined students in the MSSC. Rivera Baldera and Smith taught a group of students similar moves, as well as some more involved partner work.
Smith started dancing ballet as a child and now teaches a variety of dance styles, including belly dancing. Smith and Rivera Balder started ikonik three years ago.
“We moved studios, and we were trying to create a brand with which to dance under,” Smith said. “We’re trying to create places where people can strive to be bigger and better than they thought they could be.”
The ikonik studio teaches four main dance styles, including bachata, according to its website. The studio hosts the Ms. Leading Performance Team, a women’s-only performance group that teaches all sides of dance, and holds larger lessons as well.
“We teach a variety of things, mostly Latin,” Smith said. “For instance, for Providence Salsa [Bachata] Fest, we will be teaching a cha-cha class.”
Like Rodriguez, Smith and Rivera Baldera believe dance can help connect people.
“When you go to an event like [Central Falls Salsa Night] and you look out over the many heads of people, it’s a huge variety.” Smith said. “It’s fun to watch people of all different backgrounds enjoying learning about the culture.”
The event was hosted in conjunction with the Dominican Alliance of URI, the Gender and Women’s Studies department and the Latinx Student Association. Information for future events hosted in the MSSC can be found on their Instagram @uri_mssc.
