Salsa

(abstract from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Salsa is a syncretic dance genre created by Spanish-speaking people from the Caribbean. Salsa dancing mixes African and European dance influences through the music and dance fusions that are the roots of Salsa: essentially Puerto Rican and Cuban Son, but also with influences from Guaguancó, Rumba, Boogaloo, Pachanga, Guaracha, Puerto Rico's Plena, and Bomba.[1]Salsa is normally a partner dance, although there are recognized solo forms, line dancing (suelta), and Rueda de Casino where groups of couples exchange partners in a circle. Salsa can be improvised or performed with a set routine.
Salsa is popular throughout Latin America, and also in the United States, Spain, Japan, Portugal, France, Italy & all over the world.
The name "Salsa" is the Spanish word for sauce, connoting (in American Spanish) a spicy flavor.[2] Salsa also suggests a "mixture" of ingredients, though this meaning is not found in most stories of the term's origin.

Salsa is a dance that has a pattern of six steps danced over eight counts of music. Which is not easily defined. Who invented salsa? The Cubans, Puerto Ricans? Salsa is a distillation of many Latin and Afro-Caribbean dances. Each played a large part in its evolution.
As you read above Salsa have many roots and many branches, but one trunk that unites us all. The important thing is that Salsa is played throughout the Hispanic world and has received influences of many places within it. It is of all of us and it is a sample of our flexibility and evolution. If you think that a single place can take the credit for the existence of Salsa, you are wrong. And if you think that one style of dance is better, imagine that the best dancer of a style, without his partner, goes to dance with whomever he can find, in a club where a different style predominates. He wouldn't look as good as the locals. Each dancer is accustomed to dance his/her own style. None is better, only different.

Bachata Music

Bachata is based on traditional Latin American guitar music and was born in the Dominican Republic in the 1960s.  Whilst Merengue and Salsa were mainstream, Bachata was considered vulgar and so was confined to poor and rural areas where it became the music of choice.  It was extremely accessible to these audiences - guitars were fairly cheap to find and the heartache and bitterness in the lyrics were deep sentiments felt within the working classes. Although Bachata had a huge following it only gained legitimacy and recognition in the Dominican Republic in 1992 when a highly educated middle-class musician, Juan Luis Guerra won a Grammy for his album Bachata Rosa.

At present,  the young Dominican group Aventura is probably the best known bachata group worldwide, its single Obsesion having dominated the latino charts in many countries.

Other artists of note include Antony Santos, Frank Reyes, Raulin Rodriguez, Yoskar Sarante, El Gringo, El Chaval, Zacarias Ferreira, Monchy y Alexandra, Toque de Keda, El Rubio Loco and Joe Veras, to name a few.

Read more:

Wikipedia article  - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachata_(music)

Bachata music history & overview - http://www.iasorecords.com/bachata-overview.cfm