Bachata moves

The same home, turned ninety degrees. Instead of travelling side to side, you rock the basic front and back — still grounded, still compact.

BeginnerFoundations

A square groove with more flavour. A box-shaped footprint that gives richer interplay than the straight basic.

BeginnerFoundations

Just walking — together. The basic taken on a stroll. You and your partner travel the floor in closed embrace without ever letting go of home.

BeginnerFoundations

Open the door, change the distance. The front-to-back basic that opens the embrace and sets up turns.

BeginnerFoundations

Halfway between close and open. A V-shaped semi-closed hold that hosts travel and gentle body movement.

BeginnerFoundations

The home you always come back to. The grounded lateral basic that every bachata move resolves into.

BeginnerFoundations

The signature snap of bachata. The hip pop on counts 4 and 8 that gives bachata its identity.

BeginnerFoundations

The open-position home base. Both hands joined, a comfortable arm's length apart. This is where turns are born and where half the library begins.

BeginnerFoundations

Opening the door from home. The deliberate move from closed embrace out to an open two-hand hold — and *staying* there. The hinge between bachata's two worlds.

BeginnerFoundations

The Dominican diagonal swivel. You angle the basic onto a diagonal and let the feet swivel, giving the side basic its first real Dominican flavour.

BeginnerFoundations

Step apart, then come back together. A breath of space in the middle of the dance — you open the frame, hold the stretch for a beat, and recover. Small move, big musicality.

BeginnerFoundations

The box step, slowly spinning. Same square on the floor, but you rotate a quarter each time around — so the whole couple drifts in a gentle circle.

BeginnerFoundations

A little weight, rocked in place. Instead of travelling, you rock forward-back over your feet to mark a beat. The simplest way to *answer* the music without going anywhere.

BeginnerFoundations

Your hands join the dance. The same side basic, now with a simple arm line that frames the body. The first styling layer — where a beginner starts to look like a dancer.

BeginnerFoundations

Your first taste of Dominican footwork. Where the basic taps, you sneak in a tiny triple instead — and suddenly the floor has texture.

BeginnerDominican footwork

The toe-and-heel ground accent that gives authentic Dominican its bounce — the little pique on the off-beat that flavours every basic.

BeginnerDominican footwork

The half-second that makes a turn work. Before any turn comes the prep — the small wind-up that tells your partner "you're about to spin, here's where."

BeginnerTurns & Patterns

The workhorse turn. The follow's underarm turn from an open hand hold — the most-used turn in bachata.

BeginnerTurns & Patterns

The lead reverses direction so both partners finish facing the opposite way — a simple, early-vocabulary way to change which way the couple travels.

BeginnerTurns & Patterns

Pass, brush backs, and come out the other side. A playful place-change where you slide past each other back to back, then face up again — surprisingly easy, looks great.

BeginnerTurns & Patterns

Your first real sentence in bachata. Three basics, a cross-body lead, then a turn straight out of it. Not choreography — the proof that moves snap together.

BeginnerTurns & Patterns

The connective tissue. A pure connector that passes the follow's hand to change the open hold.

BeginnerTurns & Patterns

Hands crossed, ready to unwind. A two-hand hold with the arms crossed — a coiled-spring frame that sets up turns and pretzels down the line.

BeginnerTurns & Patterns

A quiet bit of sleight of hand. The lead passes the connected hand behind his own back to swap sides — smooth, subtle, and a great setup for what comes next.

BeginnerTurns & Patterns

The turn that goes the other way. She turns away from you instead of toward you — same prep, opposite direction, and a whole new exit to play with.

BeginnerTurns & Patterns

You spin too. A clean 180 where the lead turns himself while keeping the connection — the first move that puts *you* in the spotlight, not just your partner.

BeginnerTurns & Patterns

The lead gets to spin too. The lead's own half or full turn while the follow keeps the basic.

BeginnerTurns & Patterns

In and out, manage the distance. A connector that moves between the closed embrace and an open hold.

BeginnerTurns & Patterns

The basic, made to walk. The side basic displaced sideways to travel the couple down the line.

BeginnerTravelling

Move together, facing out. A lateral travelling step danced side by side, often into shadow.

BeginnerTravelling

Walking side by side, hearts pointed the same way. You wrap into a sweetheart hold and stroll together — the prettiest way a beginner can travel.

BeginnerTravelling

The wrap that says hello and goodbye in one breath. You gather her into a cradle, hold for a beat, then send her right back out. Simple, warm, and the doorway to the whole wrap family.

BeginnerWraps & Locks

Move the ribcage, nothing else. An isolated ribcage slide led through the frame to hit accents.

BeginnerSensual bodywork

The feeling that makes bachata *bachata*. A soft, knee-driven bounce that lets the hip drop on every beat. Get this and your basic stops looking like walking.

BeginnerSensual bodywork

The engine of the bachata tap. An isolated hip movement that powers the tap and adds sensual texture.

BeginnerSensual bodywork

The signature ripple, the safe direction. A top-down forward ripple through the body, led safely through the frame.

BeginnerSensual bodywork

The box, tilted — a launchpad for footwork. A box oriented on the diagonal that reorients the couple and feeds footwork breaks.

IntermediateFoundations

Open out of the embrace. A turn that opens the closed embrace into an open hand hold.

IntermediateFoundations

Play with time itself. A deliberate pause, slow, or sharp hit that marks a musical event — a move made of time, not steps.

IntermediateFoundations

The grounded, springy Pacheco-style footwork texture danced through the derecho section — grounded, springy feet that stay low and bounce with the bass.

IntermediateDominican footwork

Double-time the tap. A quick triple step that replaces the tap with a syncopated burst.

IntermediateDominican footwork

Stop dancing the beat — dance the bass. Footwork that hits the low end instead of the count, so your feet answer the part of the song everyone else ignores.

IntermediateDominican footwork

A named shine from the source. A specific traditional Dominican footwork pattern woven into the flow.

IntermediateDominican footwork

Catch the held note. A deliberate non-step that suspends the basic to mark a musical accent.

IntermediateDominican footwork

A borrowed shine, kept grounded. A forward-back rock footwork inserted as a Dominican-style shine.

IntermediateDominican footwork

Two for the price of one prep. The same inside turn she already knows — but she keeps going for a second rotation. The first taste of a multi-turn.

IntermediateTurns & Patterns

Let go — then catch her right back. A controlled release in the middle of a turn, hand free for a beat, then reconnected. The first move that feels a little daring.

IntermediateTurns & Patterns

The follow's inside turn from an open hold — she spirals in toward the raised hand and comes back to face. One of the everyday workhorse turns of Modern bachata.

IntermediateTurns & Patterns

The mirror-image turn. The follow's outside turn, rotating away from the lead.

IntermediateTurns & Patterns

One turn that changes its mind. The follow turns one way, then flows straight into turning the other — tracing an S on the floor. Looks advanced, leads like a conversation.

IntermediateTurns & Patterns

A pattern where the follow winds and passes in front of the lead, screwing through the slot to a new position and connection.

IntermediateTurns & Patterns

One full, committed rotation. Not a quick spin — a complete, travelled 360 with control all the way around. The turn that finally looks finished.

IntermediateTurns & Patterns

Turn through a crossed hold. A turn led from a cross-hand hold that resolves into an open L-to-R hold.

IntermediateTurns & Patterns

Lead and follow rotate in opposite directions at the same time, like two meshing gears — a core Moderna mechanic that opens a whole family of patterns.

IntermediateTurns & Patterns

Both partners walk forward together from a cuddle or shadow hold — a travelling promenade that covers ground while staying wrapped up close.

IntermediateTravelling

She goes around, the picture changes. The central travelling figure that swaps the couple's sides of the slot.

IntermediateTravelling

A walk together. Danced in the relaxed social embrace, the couple strolls along the line as one — the unhurried promenade that fills space and breathes between patterns.

IntermediateTravelling

The cross-body, with a twirl on the way through. She travels across the slot as always — but adds a spin as she goes. Same door you open, prettier exit.

IntermediateTravelling

Cat and mouse across the floor. A playful travelling figure of advance and retreat.

IntermediateTravelling

The cross-body, stretched and rolling. A cross-body lead with a wave or roll layered onto the travel.

IntermediateTravelling

Wave while you walk. Linked body waves carried across the floor in shadow or side-by-side — the move where isolation control and travel finally happen at the same time.

IntermediateTravelling

Trade spots without letting go. A turning lead walks you both around a shared centre until you've swapped places — the bachata cousin of salsa's enchufla.

IntermediateWraps & Locks

A tender wrapped moment. The follow drawn in and wrapped against the lead's side.

IntermediateWraps & Locks

The folded-arm wrap. A wrapped position with the follow's arm gently folded behind her back.

IntermediateWraps & Locks

The hammerlock, but you're both facing the same way. The familiar folded-arm shape led from shadow — closer, more sensual, and a gateway to a whole shadow-side vocabulary.

IntermediateWraps & Locks

The arm passes, the head stays free. A smooth transition where the arm travels around the neck as a pathway — never a steering handle.

IntermediateWraps & Locks

Same direction, new texture. The follow in front facing forward, a platform for waves and isolations.

IntermediateWraps & Locks

How to get out of shadow gracefully. Everyone learns to get *into* shadow; this is the clean way back out — so shadow becomes a place you pass through, not a dead end.

IntermediateWraps & Locks

Wave together, facing out. A side body wave danced in shadow position by both partners.

IntermediateWraps & Locks

A vertical oval through the torso. A looping body wave often danced synchronized with the partner.

IntermediateSensual bodywork

One hip roll into the next, into the next. Where single isolations become a phrase. You stop *doing moves* and start *flowing* through the slow part of a song.

IntermediateSensual bodywork

Trace an eight with the hips. A continuous front-to-back looping hip path for slow sensual texture.

IntermediateSensual bodywork

A continuous body-pulse borrowed from lambada — a rolling wave that travels up through the bodies in a close knee-to-knee connection, the engine behind much of sensual's flow.

IntermediateSensual bodywork

Scissoring arm-styling that frames the follow's upper-body isolations — the hands cross and open like scissors to dress a chest or rib movement.

IntermediateSensual bodywork

Move your ribs, leave everything else still. The hidden engine behind every clean body roll and wave. Master this and the pretty stuff suddenly gets easy.

IntermediateSensual bodywork

A flash of playfulness from the shoulders up. A quick shimmy or a slow shoulder roll — the styling that adds personality without moving your feet an inch.

IntermediateSensual bodywork

The wave, at speed. The same head-to-hip ripple as the body wave, but folded into four counts — quick, sharp, made for a busy passage in the music.

IntermediateSensual bodywork

The wave, with a safety border. A backward or side body wave led top-down, kept upright to protect the spine.

IntermediateSensual bodywork

The lead waves too. The lead's own forward body wave as styling and invitation.

IntermediateSensual bodywork

A slow circle of the head that finishes a phrase. The styling that makes a wave land — small, controlled, and pure expression. The last thing to learn, the first thing people notice.

IntermediateSensual bodywork

A turn that breathes. A slow turn with body movement ribboned into the entry and exit.

IntermediateSensual bodywork

Earn the dip before you take it. The controlled lean that teaches both partners how weight, frame, and trust work — so when you do dip, nobody falls.

IntermediateDips & Drops

Let go of the basic and just play. A fast, syncopated footwork showcase where you string together everything Dominican — heels, mambo, triples — into your own break. The floor is yours for eight counts.

AdvancedDominican footwork

Heel-heel accents on the break. A syncopated heel-tap footwork shine danced during instrumental energy.

AdvancedDominican footwork

Both of you, shining. Improvised footwork during a break where both partners trade phrases.

AdvancedDominican footwork

One impulse, two rotations. Two chained turns across a full musical phrase.

AdvancedTurns & Patterns

Let go and let her fly. A released solo spin the follow controls and lands on her own axis.

AdvancedTurns & Patterns

Three rotations, one clean prep. The follow turns three or more times and lands exactly on balance. Pure technique — and it lives or dies on the prep you give.

AdvancedTurns & Patterns

A continuous store-and-release turn where the joined arms wind and unwind like sails, driving repeating rotations without breaking the connection.

AdvancedTurns & Patterns

Ripple while you move. A travelling base with a body roll integrated into each step.

AdvancedTravelling

Fill the lock with a ripple. A body wave layered onto the held hammerlock position.

AdvancedWraps & Locks

Everything sensual, strung into one breath. A wave melts into a body roll melts into an isolation — a whole sensual phrase that flows without a single seam. The capstone of body movement.

AdvancedSensual bodywork

Small, slow, never neck-led. A controlled head roll carried by the follow's own neck and core — never pushed.

AdvancedSensual bodywork

Live in the shadow for a while. Enter shadow, wave through it, travel in it, and exit clean — a whole flowing chapter danced in the same-facing connection. The deep end of sensual.

MasterWraps & Locks

Wrap, melt, and dip — one continuous idea. An advanced sequence that flows from a hammerlock into a supported dip and back up. The full sentence: lock, sensual transition, dip, recover.

MasterDips & Drops