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Merengue (/ m ə ˈ r ɛ ŋ ɡ eɪ /, [1] Spanish: [meˈɾeŋɡe]) is a style of Dominican music and dance. Merengue is the national dance of the Dominican Republic and is also important to national identity in the country. It is a type of danced walk and is accessible to a large variety of people with or without dance experience. [2]
The origins of the music are traced to the land of El Cibao, where merengue cibaeño and merengue típico are the terms most musicians use to refer to classical merengue. The word Cibao was a native name for the island, although the Spanish used it in their conquest to refer to a specific part of the island, the highest mountainous range.
Like many other Caribbean styles, méringue is played by artists who are usually anonymous and, although their music is very much alive, they tend to be called "traditional." Haïti Chérie is a song that brings together the best traditional méringue bands presenting a repertoire of mostly anonymous classics.
Merengue continued to be limited in popularity to the lower classes, especially in the Cibao area, in the early 20th century. Artists like Juan F. García, Juan Espínola and Julio Alberto Hernández tried to move merengue into the mainstream, but failed, largely due to social prejudices. Some success occurred after nationalistic feelings arose ...
From 1958 to 1999, most of the British West Indies in the Caribbean Basin, Bermuda, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico shared area code 809. By the mid-1990s, with the proliferation of fax machines, mobile phones, computers, and pagers in the region, the pool of available central office codes was exhausting.
By the mid-20th century Antigua and Barbuda boasted lively calypso and steelpan scenes as part of its annual Carnival celebration. Hell's Gate, along with Brute Force and the Big Shell Steelband, were the first Caribbean steelbands to be recorded and featured on commercial records thanks to the efforts of the American record producer Emory Cook. [5]
Merengue is a musical form extended through all the Caribbean. The first occurrences of merengue in print in Venezuela are from scores of “dance merengue” of the second half of the 19th century. As a dance craze, merengue acquired popularity in Caracas during the 1920s. It is distinct from the vastly more popular Dominican merengue.
Merengue (dance), a dance form; Merengue típico, a regional variety of merengue popular in the Cibao valley of the Dominican Republic; Venezuelan Merengue; An adjective referring to the Real Madrid football club; An adjective referring to Club Universitario de Deportes; Merengue (band), a Japanese rock band "Merengue", a song by American ...