Bachata · 8-week cycles
Bachata classes in Charlotte
Learn the tap on 4 and the close connection that makes bachata so social. Eight-week cycles from Beginner up, and you can come on your own.
Chapter 01
Bachata, from the Dominican Republic to Tyvola Road
Bachata began in the Dominican Republic and grew from guitar-driven music into one of the most danced Latin styles in the world. The basic step is three steps and a tap on the fourth beat, often with a hip movement that gives the dance its easy sway, and that repeating shape is simple to feel even if you have never danced.
It is often a friendly first style for exactly that reason. The pattern is short, the tempo is relaxed, and the close connection between partners teaches you to read a lead or follow quickly. Many students start with bachata to get comfortable on the floor, then add salsa when they want more musical range.
Rodrigo and Wendy teach the tap on 4 as part of the music, not as a rule to memorize. You learn where the tap sits in the song, how to let your body respond to it, and how the same basic can feel playful in one song and deeply romantic in the next.
Rodrigo and Wendy Jimenez in a close bachata embrace under blue bokeh lights
How the bachata cycles are structured
The progressive cycles run eight weeks. They start from Beginner Bachata and continue into Level 2 and Intermediate, with each week adding to the last. No partner is needed, and you start on the first day of the cycle, because there are no drop-ins mid-cycle. The cycle price is $165.00, the same as the salsa cycles.
Wednesday evenings hold the weekly classes, with Level 2 and Beginners at 7:30 PM and Intermediate at 8:30 PM. Thursday is cycle night: the Bachata Choreography Challenge and the eight-week Beginner Bachata cycle both meet at 7:30 PM. The Choreography Challenge is a $165.00 cycle for dancers who want to learn a full routine. Times change by cycle, so check the live calendar.
Thursday at 8:30 PM is an Argentine tango drop-in for the curious. Tango is a different dance with a different embrace, and Rodrigo and Wendy are known for BACHATANGO, their fusion of bachata and tango. Dropping in on Thursday is a low-pressure way to see what that blend is built from.
Chapter 03
From class to the social floor
Class teaches the step, but a social teaches the dance. The RW First Friday Socials pair an intro lesson with open dancing at The Dance Loft, which means you can walk straight from what you learned that week onto a real floor with music that was not picked for a lesson. It is where the basic starts to feel like yours.
Bachata rewards connection more than flash. In class you work on how a lead communicates through frame and weight, and how a follow answers without being pushed. Those skills carry over to every partner you meet, whether they have danced for a month or for ten years.
Students often come in from a single cycle and stay for several. If you are choosing between styles, our guide to salsa versus bachata lays out the trade-offs, and the Salsa On2 page shows how the two sit side by side in a week at the studio.
Taught by Rodrigo and Wendy Jimenez, UNC Charlotte dance faculty. Call (704) 449-8112.
Bachata counts to four. Then again.
Join the next 8-week cycle
A bachata cycle is $165.00 for eight weeks, and so is the Bachata Choreography Challenge. A single Level 1 or Level 2 class is $20.96 as a drop-in. Buy your pass in the Square store and book on the live Punchpass calendar. If you want to compare it with the other Latin staple, read about Salsa On2, or look at the socials and workshops where you will use it.