Dance and Music

Created in the Dominican Republic during the 1950s.

The term first referred to a fiesta de patio (backyard and spontaneous party) in the countryside and is derived from the older Spanish word cumbancha. Some etymologists speculate the term to have African origins: cumbé (Equatorial Guinea) or kúmba (Democratic Republic of Congo and other Central African nations). 

A genre of music with African, European (mainly Spanish), and Taino (indigenous group of Hispaniola) influences. It has been compared to Blues given its lyrical nature and blends elements from other genres including bolero, cha-cha-cha, merengue, and son. The main instruments involved are lead and rhythm guitars, bass guitar, bongos, and güira. 

Initially Bachata was played in bars and brothels and was still considered a variant of bolero. Due to its origins among poor and working-class people in the countryside, bachata was heavily stigmatized and censored by the Trujillo dictatorship during the 1950s. Trujillo's assassination in 1961 ended his dictatorship and allowed people from the countryside to migrate to Santo Domingo; they brought Bachata music with them. Pioneer artists include José Manuel Calderón, who is recognized as recording the first bachata songs and having them play on radio (1962, Condena), and Mélida Rodriguez, recognized as the first female bachata recording artist (1962, La Sufrida). Rodriguez also famously composed and wrote her songs. Despite the growth of Bachata, and parallel growth of the Dominican music industry, it remained stigmatized as vulgar and remained equated with poverty and lower social status throughout the 1960s.

Unofficial censorship continued into the 1970s, where only one radio station (Radio Guarachita) consistently played Bachata music or la musica del amargue (bitter music) as it was known. Bachata continued to increase in popularity in 70s and by the 1980s more radio stations began to give it airtime and artists began to perform on television. Some musicians began to replace acoustic guitars with electric ones. The 1980s saw Dominicans become the largest migrant group in New York City; they brought Bachata with them. 

Bachata music evolved and grew tremendously internationally during the 1990s. Important artists during this decade include Juan Luis Guerra, Raulin Rodriguez, Anthony Santos, y Luis Vargas as they helped modernize the genre and bring it into the mainstream.

Three main recognized styles of dance: Sensual, Tradicional, and Urban. In 2019, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared Bachata to be an Intangible Cultural Heritage of humanity.