Merengue

Merengue is the national music and dance style of the Dominican Republic.  It's name closely sounds like the meringue, a dessert made of whipped egg whites and sugar.  The name may have been chosen because the movements made on the dance floor can resemble an egg beater in action.  The music is played using a tambora,which is a drum with two heads that sits on the player's lap, a guiro, which looks like a cheese grater played with a hard brush and can sound like a maraca, and a diatonic accordian.  Dancing to merengue is a lot like marching, only it is more fun!  You just keep stepping back and forth on alternating feet while moving the rest of your body naturally along with it.  Turns can be incorporated whenever you feel like it.  Because of how simple this two-stepped dance really is, it has become very popular in the United States.  Unlike salsa, merengue can be danced with more space between partners, completely seperate, with their arms moving.  Here is a good basic example of merengue.  You dont have to go back and forth or do the turns like he does.  Over time people develop their own styles.

Here is another example of Merengue.