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Merengue
The Merengue is the national dance of the Dominican Republic and also, to some extents, parts of Haiti, the other half of the islands of Hispaniola.
Many stories have been told regarding the origin of Merengue. One story claims the dance originated in the early nineteenth century revolution between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Allegedly, the first Merengue song was composed after the Dominicans, celebrating victory over the Haitians, mocked one of their soldiers who had abandoned his post during a critical battle. This story is believed to have been fabricated to hide the fact that the national music of the Dominican Republic was probably a derivative of a musical form called Mereng, with a very similar rhythmic structure, which had existed in Haiti since the eighteenth century.
By the middle of the nineteenth century, Merengue was very popular in the Domincan Republic. Not only is it used on every dancing occasion in the Republic but it is also very popular throughout the Caribbean and South America, and is one of the standard Latin American dances.
There is a lot of variety in Merengue music. Tempos vary a great deal involving a sharp quickening in pace towards the latter part of the dance.. The most favoured routine at the clubs and restaurants that run dance floor is a slow bolero, breaking into Merengue , which become akin to a bright, fast jive in its closing stages. The ballroom Merengue is slower and has a modified hip action.
The instrumentation was originally acoustic - an accordion leading, with backing from a box bass, a guayo (metal scraper) and a two-ended rambora drum. The music can still be heard in this form but these days the accordion is no longer at the core of the music, replaced instead by a strong brass section featuring saxophones, trumpets and the occasional trombone. Congas slap out a series of African beats and the piano underlines the harmony with arpeggios and syncopated chord movement.
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