Merengue (dance) - Merengue in The United States

Merengue in The United States

Merengue has transformed in style, instrumentation, and rhythmically in the Dominican Republic post Trujillo in so many ways, and one important thing to note is its influence in the Dominican Populations of New York City. Dominican musicians first began migrating to the United States in the early 1900s despite the limited travel allowed due to the Trujillo dictatorship. Since then, especially post-Trujillo, there has been an exchange of musical influences and cultures that has allowed for the progression and popularity of Merengue in the United States. Merengue típico symbolizes the traditional and rural life of the Dominican Republic, relating to its dance movements, and religious aspects, thereby creating musical history for the U.S. because of Merengue's rapid and vast expansion that can still be explored today.

In the 1960s most of the Dominican musicians living in the U.S. were from the Cibaeño region of the Dominican Republic and they often looked for ways to connect their homeland to their newly inhabited population in NYC. There were talented accordionists, such as Arsenio de la Rosa Caba and King de la Rosa, who formed their own quartets which included the accordion, tambora drum, guira scraper, and marimba. They played at local clubs and around the neighborhood, spreading the popularity of the traditional music, and allowing for new types of music such as Hip Hop and R&B, as well Cuban and Puerto Rican populations, to influence the Merengue that can be heard today. Merengue was fused with reggae-ton and Mambo, so much so that it is often the standard of music for younger populations, and what you can still hear on mainstream radio. However, this does not negate the typical traditions associated with the early types of Dominican Merengeue that one can hear live at different Merengue típico clubs all throughout NYC, and even found on the east coast in areas with a Dominican Presence.