Most of those familiar with the word "bachata" know it as a popular musical genre and dance form native to the Dominican Republic(DR). 

However, before it came to be used to refer to a genre of music it meant a "fiesta del patio" or an informal gathering of friends and neighbors where music was played and drink was often served. It was not until the early 1970's in the Dominican Republic that bachata came to describe a musical genre. It was first used as an insult, a disparaging term that impliee that the music and the people that listened to it were from a "lower" class, uneducated, crude, vulgar, and immoral.

 Today, to a great extent, the word has been "reclaimed" and currently has a much more positive connotation in the DR and internationally. It is still used to describe a musical genre and dance but does not have the same level of discrimination attached to it as before. The discrimination against bachata, although greatly diminished, still exists in the DR however.

Although there has not been a great deal of study done on the word bachata prior to it being a musical genre we can find written evidence of it's use to signify a distinct kind of party as early as the 1920's. 

En la fotografia Luis Diaz

Back then it didn't mean simply a fiesta, Baile, party, concert or dance but rather it was a distinct type of party. It was a "fiesta del patio" and gathering of friends and neighbors where music was played, and fun and drink were had. It could take place on a patio, in a house, on a corner, under a tree or a variety of other sites. The music played was often guitar music such as boleros.

 Elements of class distinction tinged the word even back then. A bachata would not be the type of gathering one of the "upper" class would have, and to them it meant a party for the "lower" class where too much rum was drunk, roosters were fought, and people were involved in immoral and socially non-constructive behavior. 

However, to those participating in the bachata's they were times of friends, neighbors, music, dance, drink and good times.

One evening after a concert in Houston I was invited to someone's house with Joan Soriano, El Chivo Sin Ley, Edilio and Samuel Paredes. After some good food and a few drinks the guitars came out and Joan, Edilio and the rest began to play and sing. 

I remember Edilio saying to Samuel his son, "Esto es una bachata!" "This is a "bachata!" Meaning this is a gathering of friends where guitar music is played, some drink is had and a good time takes place. Edilio has been involved in Dominican music since the 50's and has seen it through it's history.(More than that his musical style has shaped its sound greatly!) He remembers when the word bachata meant a "fiesta del patio." 

Somewhere along the way, probably sometime in the early 70's the word "bachata" came to be used to describe a genre of music, that at the time in the DR was referred to as bolero or musica de guitarra. It is not completely clear how and why this happened, more research is needed, but we can gain much insight from those like Edilio Paredes who were a part of the history and saw it transpire. 

Edilio Paredes recounts to me the time when he saw a prominent musician and media personality get on TV and refer to bolero or musica de guitarra as "bachata," He was using the term as an insult to say it was a music of the lower classes. Because of his tremendous influence and the socio-economic beliefs within the country this use of bachata caught on.

 This was the first time Edilio remembers the word being used to describe dominican bolero as a musical genre and in a negative way. At that time, although not in the main stream media bachata was selling widely and very popular and some think that there were those that believed bachata was a threat to traditional merengue and that the merengue industry retaliated.

Others believe that it has more to do with class discrimination against the marginalized poor where much of the guitar music was being played and enjoyed. It is clear we need more research and interviews in this area and subject. 

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