Activities of Mi Nina
In each genre of music there are certain activities that go with the music. In rock there is head banging and air guitar. In country there are different dances such as the line dance. Just like any other genre Bachata music has actually come up with its own dance technique. Due to the song, Mi Nina, being Bachata that particular dance would go with it. A certain type of ritual was also going along with this music. Mi Nina shows these rituals and dance technique through the song.
The dance that was made for Bachata music is now called Bachata dance. The Bachata dance is a simple dance where the male and female partners dance in a square with eight steps. The two partners are connected at the hands with the male guiding the steps. This dance is made simple to go along with the simplicity of the music. Also the posture of the dancers is in a certain way to show the elegance of the music.
Certain rituals that go with this music are not actual rituals but only specific acts. These specific acts do include the elegant dancing and the way people act when the music is played. The music started out to be played in brothels because no one wanted to accept its style. It was a change from Merengue so everyone was mad and it went against the views of the previous dictator. When this music is heard it seems as though the people hearing the music act in a proper fashion. If one would watch a Bachata dance each dancer is perfectly held straight up and down. The moves they make are very straight forward and there are no tricks really involved with this dance.
The song Mi Nina makes many connections to the activities of Bachata music. This is only because the song is slower making it more elegant. This elegancy is then carried over in to the dances of Bachata. When listening to Mi Nina it would be proper to act as one is very important and to be straight forward with whatever one is doing.
Source: Hernandez, Deborah Pacini. Bachata. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Temple University Press, 1995. 1-267.
