How to Merengue

Dance the merengue, the official dance of the Dominican Republic. Learn to dance the merengue, the moves and steps, in this ballroom dancing video.

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Feet hip length apart
Bend one knee at a time (Cuban motion)
Keep core strong
Partners mirror each other
Turning patterns can be used next

About this Author

For fun, Jules Helm started gymnastics as a child. It wasn't until he was fourteen that he connected with dance, after receiving a scholarship to a dance studio. Jules was eight when he had his first professional acting job and seventeen when he had his professional dance job, a cabaret show in Japan. He also teaches at Stepping Out Studios. Talia Castro-Pozo is the Co-Director of Stepping Out Studios (SO) in New York City. Tal�a has made SO her home since 2001. Because of Tal�a's diverse background as a performer and business woman, she brings a hip, savvy approach to the dance studio business. She has creatively guided studios throughout the New York area to success for over 10 years.

JULES HELM: Hello, my name is Jules Helm. TALIA CASTRO-POZO: Hi, my name is Talia Castro-Pozo. .JULES HELM: And we are both instructors here at Stepping Out Studios in New York City. TALIA CASTRO-POZO: In this clip, we are going to learn how to merengue. Merengue is an original dance from the Dominican Republic. And it is a fun dance. It is one of the fastest dances. It has a lot of rhythm, very playful and very popular also in the club scene. Let me show you how the merengue works. We are going to start with the feet, hips slightly width apart. And we are going to start just by bending one knee at a time, which we are doing is creating Cuban motion. Then we are going to switch, keeping our feet flat on the ground. Good. One knee at a time. We are creating what we call Cuban motion. Cuban motion is the hip action that comes from your knees. As we do this wonderful exercise also for our legs, we are keeping our torso and our center, our core very strong. We are using our back muscles. We are engaging the top so that when we dance with a partner, we are nice and strong. And we mirror each other. One, two, one, two. And it is one of the easiest dances because we are really just creating two steps. One, two, one, two, one, two, one, two. And we then are going to turning patterns, continue with the basic. One, two, one, two, one, two, one, two.

How to Merengue Video

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