The fight between Bachata and Sensual

Let’s get some things straight here:

Bachata comes from the Dominican Republic.

Sensual
- some of you call it Sensual “Bachata” -
comes from Spain,
officially invented by Korke & Judith.

Moderna
- some of you call it “Bachata” Moderna -
comes from Europe and the US,
spread and marketed by Ataca y Alemana.

This is fact.

Hence, Moderna and Sensual are
NOT an evolution of Bachata,
but an INVENTION outside the Dominican Republic. An invention is an INTENTIONAL MANIPULATION with the intention to make
it mainstream, and make money,
completely detached from its culture.

When Bolero campesino could no longer be called Bolero anymore because the sound changed and eventually it became Bachata - that was evolution.

When Homo Sapiens turned
into modern human beings
because the environment changed -
that was evolution.

But selling choreography
dancing as social dancing,
that is manipulation, not evolution.

Some people say all types of Bachata
should be respected -
which makes sense within the frame
of a commercialised, mainstream, dance=fitness sort of mindset and system.
In this case it is not about Bachata, though,
it is about the dance as a skillset.

The ones who do fight against this are not against Sensual as a dance, we are against the false labelling, as many people drop the word “sensual” because it’s more convenient
and easy to just call it Bachata.
Which is the cause of why so many people think Sensual is the normal Bachata and Dominican is a style.

This is why so many people are CONFUSED.
And confusion is never a good sign.

If you have a holistic view on dancing
and the world, comprehend
the cultural differences, are aware of
the systems we live in
(which are built on capitalism,
white privilege, and partriarchy)
and value authenticity and embodiment,
you will quickly realise,
that these Sensual and Moderna are
completely foreign to Bachata.

If you don’t believe this, that’s your choice.

Don’t believe me.

Do your own research, travel to those countries,
observe the people from all social classes and regions and then you tell me it’s wrong.

But tell me just one thing :

how does it FEEL to you when you dance
these three different dances -
given you get lucky enough to experience
really the authentic one ?

It’s not about which dance is better or not.
It’s an entirely different dance experience.
Full stop.

Spread the truth. Label it correctly.