Merengue, so easy anyone can do it. Part 2

The last post covered the basic of Merengue and the concept of weight shifting. Now it's time to start adding turns and arm patterns. If you are familiar with Swing or Salsa dance moves, then these moves might sound really similar.

To add a basic turn in Merengue, all the man has to do is raise his left arm up and continue the basic while doing so. For the lady, it's fairly simple to follow the turn. She continues the basic "bug stomp" step as she turns to the right. The turn is complete when the couple is facing each other in the beginning position.

For a more complex turn, the man turns while the lady is actually dancing a circle around the man. I call this turn the barrel turn.

To lead this the man raises his left arm, without the lady's hand, and turns his body inward toward her and the remaining connected hand hold.

The lady continues this turn by removing her hand from the remaining hand hold, and takes steps around the man as he turns inward, but never removes her hand from his waist. By not removing her hand, this ensures that the couple knows where each other is and that they won't turn or step into each other and that they will meet face to face at the same time.

Be sure to keep the same rhythm as the song when turning. There will be a strong temptation to just spin around on one foot, but the lady must be sure to count out the steps as she turns until this becomes habit. With the more complex turn, both partners must count the steps out to execute the turn properly.

Once you feel comfortable with the turning, you can feel free to add flair or experiment with adding arm patterns. Click here to check out a you-tube play list of some great Merengue dances and patterns to work toward!