Merengue is the Spanish word for meringue, and there are theories that the dance got its name because of the circular, rapid motion of dancers around the dance floor, that resembles an eggbeater making its rounds in a bowl of egg white. Other speculations include the myth that a famous war hero invited to a dance was forced to step this way because of his war injuries, and other dancers followed his example either out of politeness, or because they thought this was the "new" way to dance. Merengue is the national dance of the Dominican Republic, where merengue tipico (typical merengue) is often called perico ripiao, which literally means: ripped parrot, and it is believed that this style, with its often highly sexualized movements originated in a bordello, by the same name. Why would a bordello be called the Ripped Parrot, I don't know, and don't dare to even contemplate.
If Marijuana is the gateway to hard drug addictions, Merengue is the "Weed" of Latin Dances: Most of us who were not born in Latin America were introduced to and got addicted to Latin Dancing by learning Merengue first, perhaps because its simplified version, "one-two, one-two, left-right, left-right" is easy to learn. In fact, I always tell to students, and heard other instructors do the same, that "if you can walk, you can dance merengue". Students eventually learn to twist and turn each other into quite intricate patterns and pretzel like contractions, but for a lot of dancers even at the more advanced level, the foot work and rhythm remains rather uncomplicated.
Like most dances of Latin America, the styles of Merengue danced from region to region, from bario to bario, from one family to the next are diverse, unique and highly personal. There are many "subtipes", either origins or derivatives of Merengue: from the Dominican bottle dance to Merengue Parease, (Parean Merengue) danced in Brazil, to Merengue Ripiao, which is very closely related to Punta and Reggeaton dances. Merengue is very popular in both Latin, Central and North America, in fact, at times Merengue is even more popular than Salsa on the airways.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with sticking to the basics, but for the more adventurous, here is a sample of different merengue music and dance styles:
Haitian Merengue:
Merengue Paerese (Parean Merengue from Brazil)
This video is a tribute to Merengue: Viva El Merengue featuring the best, most well known singers of the genre:
Michael Jackson's Billie Jean Merengue Remix
And Carrie, the Merengue dancing dog!
Here is Dominican Merengue dancing on a bottle:
And here is Perico Ripiao as it is played and danced on a balcony somewhere in the Dominican Republic
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