The Dominican Republic on the island of Hispaniola is a fantastic place to visit. Not only will you find golden beaches, blue waters, and amazing cuisine in the Dominican Republic, but you can also enjoy musical forms you rarely find here in the United States. The most unique musical form is, of course, Dominican merengue.

There’s a lot of disagreement over how merengue came about. It may be derived from Cuban upa upa or have been created by Dominican slaves mimicking European ballroom dance forms. There’s even disagreement over where the word merengue comes from. Some believe it’s related to meringue, a French dessert, and others think it may be derived from African words for dance and music. Whatever the true case may be, today’s merengue music is a fast-paced, fun and exciting dance and musical form with several variants and growing popularity.

And while expert merengue dancers use a lot of expert patterns and fancy moves, you won’t have to practice for years to learn the basics of merengue. There are plenty of places all over the Dominican Republic that offer introductory merengue dance lessons to visitors, so you can learn the basics on your next Dominican vacation. So, come to the beautiful island of Hispaniola for the waves and sunshine during the day, and enjoy the fine food and amazing merengue music at night.