Ellen Gwozdek 4/28/10 Amcult 226 Modern Merengue in Migration and Dominican Pride The important arguments that

I found in my assets pertained to the ways in which merengue presented and critiqued social issues such as gender equality in the merengue bands and the hardships of migrating to the U.S. My resources also serve as important evidence and musical/social space for demonstrating the difficulties in maintaining a Dominican identity in a foreign place. While Dominicans became obsessed with migrating in the 1960s, the application for a visa and navigating the foreign culture posed formidable obstacles to migration. Dominicans and other Latinos faced enormous pressure to assimilate to American culture while they struggled to maintain their own ethnic identities and take pride in their heritage. Not only is it difficult to preserve the Dominican culture and music in a transnational setting when Latin recording companies such as Fania reject the merengue, but the poverty of the Dominican community in New York makes access to music and dance resources more challenging. The idea of race is also important in merengue because while some musicians celebrated the African musical influence other musicians minimize it. These chapters illustrate the way in which the modern merengue evolved into a pop genre while also presenting a critique on Dominican social issues. Within the Dominican Republic, the merengue was rejuvenated by such notable artists as Juan Luis Guerra who began to produce international hits with his jazz infused merengues and socially conscious lyrics similar to Ruben Blades salsa lyrics. In his song Visa para un sueo, he describes the hardships of Dominicans and the migration process to the U.S. These lyrics serve as both a critique on Dominican obsession with migrating to the U.S. and their economic dependence on the U.S. Like Cuba, the Dominican

Republic struggled between whether or not to embrace their African culture which was seen as barbaric. Guerra is known for his celebration of African rhythms. In songs such as Guavaberry he refers to Afro-Dominican ritual drumming similar to the way that Miguelito Valdez makes reference to Afro-Cuban rituals in his song Babalu. Much like the rumba in Cuba and the tango in Argentina, the national dance of merengue is the perfect opportunity for men and women to socialize, flirt, and feel sensual in close physical contact. The merengue music industry presented conflicting views on the issue of gender equality with the rise of all female merengue bands during the 1980s. While these bands proved women were capable merengue musicians, they were simultaneously regarded as possessions of the male businessmen. During the 1960s a mass migration of Dominicans to the U.S. especially New York, transformed the merengue into a transnational music and a cultural link to their homeland. As we have witnessed in the lectures on salsa, Johnny Pacheco was an instrumental figure in promoting this music. Pacheco did not forget his Dominican roots and promoted merengue among the Latino community. It is ironic that Pacheco promotes merengue in New York when his own successful Latin record label Fania rejects and boycotts the music. The arrival of merengue in New York City occurs through the Dominican diaspora. New York City is the hub in which other Latino communities especially Puerto Ricans adopt merengue as their own. From there, it becomes popular in Latin American countries and then globally not unlike the Cuban son. While other Latino communities borrow the merengue rhythms, some musicians such as Millie Quezada hope that merengue will help Dominicans in the U.S to maintain their national pride and identity, especially the youth. This video clip comes from the documentary Mad Hot Ballroom which is about public schools in New York that compete in ballroom dancing. These particular moments demonstrate

ballroom merengue, a structured derivative of the traditional folkloric merengue. Like Austerlitz describes in his book, the merengue steps are very similar to the salsa steps which indicate the common roots of salsa and merengue in African dance practices such as the rumba. Other dance traditions such as the close embrace come from Europe while the swaying of the hips has its origins in African culture. Juan Luis Guerra is quoted in Austerlitzs book saying, Unequivocally, you cant take merengue out of Africa, Forget itthe rhythms are African, period.(Austerlitz 110) While poverty in the Dominican Republic is probably an important factor in Dominicans decision to migrate to the U.S, the principal Clarita Zeppie in the video also indicates that the poverty of these predominantly Dominican children causes them to have academic and behavior problems in school. The opportunity to dance ballroom and specifically the merengue allows the children to connect with their Dominican identity. They can take pride in themselves and their Dominican culture by embracing the merengue ballroom dance. While these Dominican students have become Americanized in many ways, so has the merengue. Millie Quezada echoes the sentiments of the female dance instructor in Austerlitzs book. Quezada is quoted saying, I think that [Dominicans] are very proud to know that merengue has escalated into what it is today because, first of all, it makes the country known, because people want to know where is our music coming from, so its a way of advertising the country. And also, I tend to think that they kind of feel a sense of pride to think that their music has been able to be assimilated by other countries. (Austerlitz 133) These Dominican ballroom dance students are evidence of the preservation under migration and pride in the Dominican merengue. As Paul Austerlitz highlights in his book Merengue: Dominican Music and Dominican Identity, this merengue by Juan Luis Guerra describes the challenging act of applying for a visa to

the United States. It also demonstrates how the Dominican hopes for economic prosperity are tied to foreign influences such the U.S. while their loyalty lies in the Dominican culture. It is ironic that Guerra uses the national music of the Dominican Republic as a discourse to talk about Dominicans desire to escape their country. Yet Guerra uses a merengue written in Spanish as a way of affirming pride in the Dominican culture. This song implies that the Dominican culture is strong and steadfast admist the constant obsession with fleeing the island and living abroad. At the end of the song, you can hear a helicopter which symbolizes the U.S. immigration services waiting to capture desperate Dominican migrants. The repeated refrain is translated as seeking a visa for a dream. This line indicates the persistent hope of the Dominican people for a better life abroad, to improve their economic or social status. I think that this song in general illustrates the persistent nature of the Dominican culture. Even when Dominican migrants are physically moving away from the country, the language and song style that Guerra chooses indicates a desire to be culturally close to the Dominican Republic. Unlike the lusty and bawdy lyrics of other merengue songs, Guerra demonstrates the value of this Dominican musical style as not only a symbol of Dominican pride but as a forum for artists to present their opinions, critique society and bring national and international attention to these issues of migration.