How to Do Clockwise Rotations in Merengue

Video Transcript

"On behalf of Expert Village, my name is Rodney Lopez and this is my lovely partner Amelia Maldonado. We're here at Dance Manhattan Studios here in New York City, and today we're going to teach you the merengue. Once you've got the hang of this, what we can do is called the rotating basic. Merengue is really based on a basic step that rotates. The easiest way to rotate is clockwise. What we're going to do is, gentlemen, you're going to step a little bit off center from your partner. Your left foot is going to be a little bit more on her right side. What you're going to do is, gentlemen, is take these little baby steps that go forward while she goes backward. 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 1, 2, 3, 4. After you've gotten the hang of sort of doing this traveling basic counterclockwise, then see if you can get her a little bit closer. Make sure that your feet are off center. Then gentlemen, you're going to take these baby steps forward while your right foot is anchored in place. 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 1, 2, 3, 4. This gives you a nice clockwise rotation, and this is what you'll be doing for most of your merengue dance. "