Bachata: The dance that’s booming in Berlin

Nothing makes me quite so nervous than when I try a new partner dance – there’s no hiding how bad I am and my lack of skills negatively impacts my poor dance partner. But, as I approach Havanna Club in West Berlin on this dark Wednesday evening, I tell myself all I can do is try my best. 

Havanna is more like a rabbit warren than a nightclub. To enter I walk down some steep steps into a huge tiki-themed room with a spot-lit dance floor. This room leads to another, and another, and another. I walk up some palm tree-lined stairs into another, smaller room with a baroque mirror at the back and a giant disco ball hanging from the ceiling. This is where I’ll be learning Bachata.

Every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday night Havanna transforms from a pumping pop nightclub to a social dance extravaganza. Many of Berlin’s dance communities gather here on Wednesday and Friday evenings for a weekly social dance lesson and afterparty, so many of the rooms in this club fill up with Salsa, Bachata and Merengue classes, as well as a Latin Dance Party on Friday to kick off the weekend. 

About Bachata

Before the lesson begins I catch up with our teacher Majid Parse. He’s well-built with dark features and slick-hair and he speaks in a thick German accent. “I lived in Sydney for five years from 2009 to 2013,” he says. “I started dancing Salsa with my girlfriend, then tried Bachata and I much preferred it. It’s relaxed and slow and I’m Iranian – it reminds me of dances from there.”

Majid says that there’s a huge Bachata community in Berlin, but it wasn’t always this way. “Seven years ago no one wanted to dance Bachata,” he says. “Everyone just wanted to dance Salsa, but in the last four years more and more people have become interested in Bachata.

Majid thinks it’s rise in popularity is because of the nature of the dance. “I think people like the sensuality of it – with Bachata you can really let go,” he says. Majid says that anyone can try Bachata, all you need is a willingness to learn and a positive attitude. 

Today we’re trying an open class which means all levels are welcome. I ask Majid if Bachata is easy for beginners to pick up. “Sometimes.” He says unconvincingly. I’m not a total beginner to partner dance. For the purposes of this blog I’ve tried out Zouk, Kizomba and Tango – but that doesn’t mean I’ll automatically get the hang of Bachata.

The warm-up

Majid jumps up to start the class. The room has filled up with men and women of all ages, from early 20s to late 60s, and a DJ stands in a booth just above the dance floor. He starts playing a slow, Latin dance melody as Majid heads to the front of the room to begin our warm up.

Majid, fully aware that he has a beginner in his midst, takes absolutely no prisoners. We start with a basic step – two steps to the side, tap, two steps to the side, tap – but soon he introduces some turns and jumps that catch me totally off guard. One minute everyone’s doing the basic step, the next they’ve all spun around and done a little star jump. I flounder and stumble repeatedly, eventually deciding its best to just do the basic step until the warm up is over.

The Bachata Technique

There must be about 40 people in the room, and we all form a circle around Majid and his dance partner. “Okay, partner up!” Majid says. I stand next to a friendly-looking man and blurt out it’s my first time – that way he won’t be surprised when he has a suboptimal dance experience. Majid and his partner show us a short dance sequence. They step to the right, spin, then step forward and spin back. Their dancing is so fluid it’s as though they’re one person and they make the moves look deceptively simple. 

I turn to my partner and we try to imitate their steps. It’s interesting to take the role of the follower. I fight the urge to take control and completely surrender to the prompts of the leader. We step forward, spin and my partner pushes my arm so it’s behind my back, grabs it and then we spin again. It’s quite dizzying, but with signals as clear as this I’m able to get the hang of the sequence within a couple of tries. “Great!” I think to myself as I spin and step all over the place. “I’ve definitely got the hang of this!” 

Not so. Majid and his partner introduce an addition to the sequence – this time with more taps, arm throws and spins than I can keep count of. I move from one partner to the next, trying my hardest to get the moves right but I keep messing it up. Each partner I have is very nice about it, but I feel so stressed I need to take a time out. Savanna the photographer gives me a little pep talk. “You look great out there!” She says. My colleague Natalia helps me out, showing me how to do the bits I found hardest. We practice together a few times which makes me feel much better, so I step back in and join the party.

After a couple of tries I’m able to keep up with the moves. I soon get into it and start to fully appreciate the pure joy of social dancing – the unique connection you have with each partner, the fun of spinning and twisting to music and being part of a community. By the end of the class I’m sweating, probably a direct result of both the dancing and the nerves. 

To finish, Majid and his partner perform the entire sequence slowly so we can film it and practice later. Afterwards they do their own freestyle Bachata dance which is absolutely phenomenal to watch.

“Ready for the dance party?” Majid asks as people start partnering up to social dance. “Ermmmm… Maybe next time,” I say. I’ve had a truly magical evening, but one Bachata session is enough for today. 

The next day I didn’t have any muscle soreness, but I did notice that my step was lighter, my mood was brighter and the cold January weather barely bothered me at all. 

If you’d like to try Bachata Urban Sports Club has tons of dance partners across Europe. Take a look at our website to see what’s happening near you!

And read all about our previous attempts to dance Zouk, Kizomba and Tango.