Careful, you might hurt something SD.

[quoteThe best way I have heard Bachata described is in an article describing latin club dances as..."side, together, side, grind".
So, that "hip-lift thing" at the end is actually supposed to be a bit more involved than a "lift" of the hip. Non-Latin or beginner dancers will tend to do a big lift of their hip after the side-together-side. BUT, that takes away from the rhythmical/tropical feeling of the dance.
As one of the other writers put it, it was born out of the Dominican Republic...now, if you have ever seen a Dominican guy dance Bachata, you'll know EXACTLY what I mean! Phew!

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I've seen a few people do it with a little lift in the hip - but that doesn't seem to be the defining characteristic of the dance. Like any other, your shoulders and head stay level and the hip action depends on flexibility, isolation, and foot placement. Best description I can give is (follower's part): right(weight change), together, right, point with the left (no weight change), left(weight change), together, left , point with the right (again no weight change). There isn't any grind. It just looks a little like that sometimes because you're usually turning your standing side in a little toward your partner when you point. It's when you exaggerate that little turn-in that you get the twisty Montana Two-Step thing happening. In a close hold, you might actually be touching on that side, pretty much shoulder to shoulder but not necessarily hip to hip. If you're dancing to and fro rather than side to side, the following partner leans in a little and the leading partner leans back just a little. Do this all with a partner who dances more Cuban-style, and you hardly move your feet at all. It becomes mostly undulating weight shifts done in place.

Pssst! Egoist - it's only as boring as you choose to make it! It can be ahhhh....pretty interesting, with just the right partner. You just have to blow off all the technical stuff and dance to your partner.

There seem to be two minds about Bachata amongst the salseros around here. The majority use Bachata breaks for a rest and a drink. The rest dance straight through, but will often change partners just for the Bachata sets.
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