Bachata (Dominican dance); Vitamin R (rum)

Mon Feb 28 06:57:08 UTC 2005

According to the book, "Voodoo Fire In Haiti" by Richard Loederer
(1935), the merengue, which he spells as "merinqué," is the national
dance of Haiti. Although I've known both Dominicans and Haitians, it's
never occurred to me to ask about the merengue WRT Haiti. But the
Dominicans definitely claim the merengue as their national dance. If
you have cable, it's easy to find Dominican TV shows devoted to the
merengue. As is so often the case in such situations, I find the
merengue as I first heard it in 1957 to be superior to the merengue of
today.

-Wilson Gray

On Feb 28, 2005, at 12:24 AM, Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Bapopik at AOL.COM
> Subject:      Bachata (Dominican dance); Vitamin R (rum)
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> Greetings from New York City. I rushed back to witness Monday's =20
> storm..."Mama juana" is also "mamajuana," of course. "To/too" was
> copied and=
>  not  typed by=20
> me.
> ...
> OT: My autistic nephew received a stem cell shot down there. It
> appears to =20
> have been worthless. Autism is on the cover of Newsweek and was on the
> front=
>  =20
> page of Saturday's New York Times.
> ...
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----=
> --
> --------------------------------------------------------
> VITAMIN R
> ...
> I posted that "rum" was "Vitamin A." It's also "Vitamin R," according
> to =20
> another tour guide.
> ...
> ...
> (GOOGLE)
> ...
> _Sunworld Holidays - Irish Tour Operator providing holidays online
> ..._=20
> (http://www.sunworld.ie/destinations/dominican_republic.htm)=20
> ... English is spoken in most  tourist areas. Currency: Dominican
> Peso. ...=20
> Drink:
> The most  popular drink is 'Vitamin R' - rum to the visitor.  ...=20
> www.sunworld.ie/destinations/dominican_republic.htm - 28k - _Cached_=20
> (http://64.233.161.104/search?q=3Dcache:bYn2GvH5u4cJ:www.sunworld.ie/
> destina=
> tions/dominic
> an_republic.htm+"vitamin+r"+rum+dominican&hl=3Den&lr=3Dlang_en&ie=3DUTF
> -8) =20=
> -=20
> _Similar pages_=20
> (http://www.google.com/search?hl=3Den&lr=3Dlang_en&ie=3DUTF
> -8&q=3Drelated:ww=
> w.sunworld.ie/destinations/dominican_republic.htm) =20
> ...
> _One Click From Sanity: January 2004 Archives_=20
> (http://www.worldwidesam.net/oneclickfromsanity/archives/
> 2004_01.html)=20
> ... for the delay in my continuing story of the Dominican  Republic.
> ...=20
> That's how the tour
> guide, Osvaldo, pronounced  Vitamin R, and he was referring to rum.
> ... =20
> www.worldwidesam.net/  oneclickfromsanity/archives/2004_01.html - 77k
> -=20
> _Cached_=20
> (http://64.233.161.104/search?q=3Dcache:yNb2VoPZbSsJ:
> www.worldwidesam.net/on=
> eclickfromsanity/archives/
> 2004_01.html+"vitamin+r"+rum+dominican&hl=3Den&lr=
> =3Dlang_
> en&ie=3DUTF-8)  - _Similar pages_=20
> (http://www.google.com/search?hl=3Den&lr=3Dlang_en&ie=3DUTF
> -8&q=3Drelated:ww=
> w.worldwidesam.net/oneclickfromsanity/archives/2004_01.h
> tml) =20
> ...
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----=
> --
> --------------------------------------------------------
> BACHATA
> ...
> OED has no entry for "bachata" and only one citation. Along with
> meringue =20
> and salsa, "bachata" is a national dance in the Dominican Republic.
> It's got=
> ta =20
> be in the dictionary.
> ...
> ...
> (OED)
>     2.  fig. Vigorous, powerful; very intense; cf. _OCTANE_=20
> (http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/crossref?
> query_type=3Dfulltext&queryword=3Dba=
> chata&first=3D1&max_to_sho
> w=3D10&search_spec=3Dfulltext&sort_type=3Dalpha&search_id=3DzTNu-
> IrkJQS-9628=
> &control_n
> o=3D00335164&result_place=3D1&xrefword=3Doctane&ps=3Dn.)  n. 3.=20
>
> 1944 N.Y.  Times 19 Mar. II. 3/6  High octane ballyhoo..has..smartly
> reverse=
> d=20
> the usual procedure  of opus first and publicity, advertising and=20
> exploitation afterward. 1974 _E.  BOWEN_=20
> (http://dictionary.oed.com/help/bib/oed2-b3.html#e-bowen)  Henry &
> Other Her=
> oes iv. 77 Mother and Uncle Harry, whose bodies=20
> and brains happened to be  huge, paired engines that ran on
> high-octane=20
> ambition. 1995 Wire Jan. 57/2 His high-octane  Latino product decants
> ska, s=
> alsa,=20
> hi-life, mambo and just about anything and  everything else South
> American i=
> nto a=20
> peculiarly Dominican form of merengue  called bachata.
> ...
> ...
> ...
> (GOOGLE)
> ...
> _Merengue &  Bachata from the Dominican Republic_=20
> (http://home-3.tiscali.nl/~pjetax/)  - [ _Translate this page_=20
> (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=3Den&sl=3Des&u=3Dhttp://
> home-3.tis=
> cali.nl/~pjetax/&prev=3D/search?q=3Dbachata&hl=3Den&lr=3D&i
> e=3DUTF-8)  ]=20
>     Music from and information about the Dominican  Republic,
> Merengue,=20
> Bachata and Perico Ripiao, a lot of music  examples and pictures of
> the coun=
> try.=20
> ...=20
> home-3.tiscali.nl/~pjetax/ - 12k - _Cached_=20
> (http://64.233.161.104/search?q=3Dcache:wCArm0E9W3EJ:home
> -3.tiscali.nl/~pjet=
> ax/+bachata&hl=3Den&ie=3DUTF-8)  -=20
> _Similar pages_=20
> (http://www.google.com/search?hl=3Den&lr=3D&ie=3DUTF-8&q=3Drelated:
> home-3.ti=
> scali.nl/~pjetax/)=20
> ...
> _History of bachata_=20
> (http://home-3.tiscali.nl/~pjetax/historias/history_bachata.html)
> Music=
>  and information from the Dominican  Republic, Merengue,=20
> Bachata and Perico Ripiao, a lot of examples of  the music and
> pictures of t=
> he=20
> country. ...=20
> home-3.tiscali.nl/~pjetax/  historias/history_bachata.html - 15k -
> _Cached_=20
> (http://64.233.161.104/search?q=3Dcache:EBFlXrAMg5UJ:home
> -3.tiscali.nl/~pjet=
> ax/his
> torias/history_bachata.html+bachata&hl=3Den&ie=3DUTF-8)  - _Similar
> pages_=20
> (http://www.google.com/search?hl=3Den&lr=3D&ie=3DUTF-8&q=3Drelated:
> home-3.ti=
> scali.nl/~pjetax/
> historias/history_bachata.html)=20
>
> ...=20
> ...
> _http://home-3.tiscali.nl/~pjetax/historias/history_bachata.html_
> (http://ho=
> m
> e-3.tiscali.nl/~pjetax/historias/history_bachata.html)=20
> =20
> This text was taken from the book "Bachata, A social history of a
> Dominican=20=
> =20
> popular music", published by Temple University Press in 1995, written
> by=20
> Deborah  Pacini Hernandez.
> Defining Bachata
> The music that today is  called bachata emerged from and belongs to
> a=20
> long-standin Pan-Latin American  tradition of guitar music, m=FAsica
> de guit=
> arra, which=20
> was typically played  by trios or quartets comprised of one or two
> guitars=20
> (or other related stringed  instrument such as the smaller requito),
> with=20
> percussion provided by  maracas and/or other instruments such as
> claves (har=
> dwood=20
> sticks used for  percussion), bongo drums, or a gourd g=FCiro scraper.
> Somet=
> imes a=20
> large thumb bass  called marimba or marimbula was included as well.
> When=20
> bachata emerged in the  early 1960s, it was part of an important
> subcategory=
>  of=20
> guitar music, romantic  guitar music -as distinguished from guitar
> music=20
> intended primarily for dancing  such as th Cuban son or guaracha-
> although i=
> n later=20
> decades, as  musicians began speeding up the rhythm and dancers
> developed a=20=
> new=20
> dance step,  bachata began to be considered dance music as well. The
> most=20
> popular and  widespread genre of romantic guitar music in this
> century, and=20=
> the=20
> most  influential for the development of bachata, was the Cuban bolero
> (not=20=
> to=20
> be  confused with the unrelated Spanish bolero). Bachata musicians,
> however,=
> =20
> also  drew upon other genres of m=FAsica de guitarra that accomplished
> guita=
> rists=20
> would  be familiar with, including Mexican rancheros and corridos,
> Cuban =20
> son, guaracha and guajira, Puerto Rican plena and  jibaro music, and
> the=20
> Colombian-Ecuadorian vals campesino and  pasillo- as well as the
> Dominican m=
> erengue,=20
> which was originally  guitar-based.
> Before the development of a Dominican  redording industry and the
> spread of=20
> the mass media, guitar-based trios and  quartets were almost
> indispensable f=
> or=20
> a variety of informal recreational events  such as Sunday afternoon
> parties=20
> known as pasad=EDas and spontaneous  gatherings that took place in
> back yard=
> s,=20
> living rooms, or in the street that  were known as bachatas.
> Dictionaries of=
> =20
> Latin American Spanish define the  term bachata as juerga, jolgorio,
> or parr=
> anda,=20
> all of which  denote fun, merriment, a good time, or a spree, but in
> the=20
> Dominican Republic,  in addition to the emotional quality of fun and
> enjoyme=
> nt=20
> suggested by the  dictionary definition, it referred specifically to
> get-tog=
> ethers=20
> that included  music, drink, and food. The musicians who played at
> bachatas=20
> were usually local,  friends an neighbors of the host, although
> sometimes=20
> reputed musicians from  farther away might be brought in for a special
> occac=
> ion.=20
> Musicians were normally  recompensed only with food and drink, but a
> little=20
> money might be given as well.  Parties were usually held on Saturday
> night a=
> nd=20
> would go on until dawn, at which  time a traditional soup, the
> sancocho, was=
> =20
> served to the remaining  guests. Because the music played at htese
> gathering=
> s was=20
> so often played on  guitars (although accordio-based ensembles were
> also=20
> common), the guitar-based  music recorded in the 1960s and 1970s by
> musician=
> s of=20
> rural origins came to be  known as bachata.
> The word bachata also had  certain associations, upper-class parties
> would=20
> never be called bachatas. In his  book Al amor del boh=EDo (1927),
> Ram=F3n E=
> milio=20
> Jim=E9nez, a distinguished  Dominican "man of leters" and "writer of
> manners=
> ,"=20
> described a bachata in terms  that reflect how such gatherings were
> associat=
> ed by=20
> the elite with low-class  debauchery and dissipation:
>
> The "bachata" is a center of attraction for  all the men, where the
> social=20
> classes ao those who attend them are leveled and  where the coarsest
> and=20
> libertarian forms of democracy predominate. The most  elegant figures
> of the=
>  barrio=20
> are there, daring and audacious. The setting of  these dissolute
> pleasures i=
> s a=20
> small living room impregnated by odors that seem  conjured to
> challenge=20
> decency....In an adjoining room a guitarist plucks and  unleashes into
> the=20
> contaminated air of the house (a) blazing street-level  couplet, to
> which a=20=
> singer=20
> with a well-established reputation as a "second"  makes a duo,
> provisioned w=
> ith a=20
> pair of spoons which he strikes to accompany the  melody.
>