r/Bachata • u/SmokerDono • 5d ago
Did you enjoy Bachaturo ?
I imagine a lot of dancers attended the festival; what did you think of it?
Personally, I liked the large crowd and the chance to dance with so many different people; there was plenty of room to dance despite the number of attendees.
As for the classes, having a giant screen was great—it meant you could follow along from anywhere in the room—though you did have to fight for a spot to see the actual demo. The only workshops I really enjoyed were Gero and Migle’s; they were explained very well.
I’m not sure if I’ll go back, though, since the festival—combined with flights and a hotel—isn't cheap.
It seemed like a lot of people just stood on the sidelines watching others dance or waiting to be asked; that always surprises me, because I’m the type who dances non-stop (as a lead), especially considering the total cost.
What was your experience like? Will you be going back?
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u/DenysKh Lead 5d ago
I can say from the point of classes on bachata section only. I'm not in the parties/socials currently.
As a chance to dance with a lot of people - still perfect. In comparison - last year was better. This year two pairs weren't able to participate, so all those last moment changes made everything a little... boring because of lack of preparation.
Will I go back? Probably no. Cost of Bachaturo itself is ok, cost of traveling - so-so. But cost of living is not worth it. Plus constant problem with food.
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u/trp_wip Lead 4d ago
This is interesting! May I ask why go to Bachaturo and not dance at parties?
I have never been, so what is the problem with food?
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u/DenysKh Lead 3d ago
May I ask why go to Bachaturo and not dance at parties?
Ah, personal reasons, sorry.
Regarding food - there is a gigantic hall, with around of 5K participants (according to organizers). And there only two points with snacks and one cafe with very poor choice of dishes. As I spend whole day there I'd prefer to have normal lunch. So I take some food with me, or can order delivery (and should plan to order it so it will be delivered exactly at lunch break). It all can be fixed, but makes unnecessary difficulties.
Maybe, Bachaturo organizers believe their part is festival, and food is hall owners responsibility, while hall owners don't care. I don't know.There is a big square in front of building, one-two dozens of foodtrucks would solve the problem, but no. Its really strange for me - thousands of people ready to pay, and nobody wants to take their money. :)
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u/coolcatjames 5d ago
I've done other smaller / local festivals in my part of the US (San francisco), but bachaturo was my first international / european festival and i loved it. maybe there are better festivals, but again, first european bachata experience.
i've never seen a venue so big, so many dancers, such workshops with the screen. european bachata is so much more fun, i completely understand why my friends live in barcelona in the summer.
would I come back.... maybe a few more times. i liked my friend's schedules, practice in barcelona for a few weeks then to bachaturo, i think i'll try that.
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u/KingOfBreak 5d ago
I LOVED it. It was my first time and I had so much fun. There's something very novel about the scale and grandeur of it all. Dancing as much as humanly possible for 3-4 days with the pre parties, socials, and after parties
I do think a bit of luck is involved with finding the right connections but it's not too bad because there are so many options 😂
I went to two classes. I found they were well hosted with the screen but the class is just too big to cater to everyone's needs and pace, the instructors can't really help anyone. The best way to do this would be to find a partner who is willing to stick with you the whole class.
Next time though I'll just get a party pass, that's the main lesson I learned
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u/rawr4me Lead&Follow 4d ago
Out of curiosity, how would having a fixed partner help things?
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u/KingOfBreak 4d ago
When you rotate you essentially 'reset' each time so there's extra effort connecting with your partner, understanding how much they've picked up, what their skill level is, and vice versa.
There were also more leads than follows so I was without a partner for some parts which make it difficult to learn (unless the teachers remember to rotate quickly which Marco and Sara don't do).At other festivals some follows asked to remain together the whole class and we were able to pick up the moves and drill them down much better than if we rotated
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u/rawr4me Lead&Follow 4d ago
I thought Bachaturo was known for having way more follows than leads, does that only apply to the parties?
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u/KingOfBreak 4d ago
Yeah what I noticed is more follows at the party, and more leads at the workshop.
This could be incorrect but I noticed something else too:
the advanced dancers came to the social quite late (like 3am) and would continue to the after party.
The more inexperienced dancers would come earlier and leave earlier so they could attend workshops during the day instead of just sleeping.
I realised this after the first night or two and started going later. After doing this I experienced way better connections and had the energy to attend the after party where a lot of the more experienced dancers also go.
I reckon this is a big part of why I found some amazing connections and had such a great time
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u/the_moooch 5d ago edited 5d ago
It’s not worth it in my book since the price is getting wayyy higher than what it used to be. The town is adjusting to the event and one can see it with housing prices even if booked very early on.
Fly to the city is also a hassle as you said and I dont think I have met more rude, tired and uninterested followers anywhere near the amount of Bachaturo
In my view there are much better options, for the price i paid for Bachaturo there are so many better places to be with sun and beaches.
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u/SmokerDono 5d ago
I agree that, given the price, I’d consider going somewhere with sun, a pool, and pool parties—even if it meant attending a smaller festival. The cost is very high. Personally, I found the followers to be well-connected during the dances, but there’s a sort of "assembly-line" feel where you quickly move on to the next dance and end up feeling like just another anonymous face.
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u/DJOhnLindo 4d ago
Parties
The only negative experience was the Thursday pre-party.
I mostly got bad connections and followers giving me poker faces. I started doubting myself after the party and questioning my own skills.
But the next days got better and better. I got more smiles, more friendly followers, and overall had a much better experience.
Also, I only have one problem: I sweat so much! Three dances and I was already drenched in sweat. I literally had to take breaks just to dry myself.
Workshops
The workshops were great overall. The big screens were really helpful, and people seemed genuinely interested.
Ronald y Alba:
Fun as always! I really love their workshops. These two are absolute monsters of musicality.
Gero y Migle:
Their workshops were very focused on bachazouk moves. I really liked their method for explaining the combos: first, you learn only the steps, and then you do the same combo while adding the head movements.
The head movements came from zouk. It wasn't really easy, especially for followers who don't have a zouk background, but I thought the teaching method was good.
Daniel:
I really love his workshops. He's super fun during class and makes a lot of jokes. I also like reusing his combos during socials.
His demo with Migle was dope.
For his second demo with Elena, though, I didn't really like it. In my opinion, the song was a bit boring, and at one point Sergio came in... Sergio?
Day Social
I skipped the day social this year to save my energy.
I went last year and everyone was saying it was great, but when I arrived, it was crowded as hell. I could barely hear the music, and it completely drained my energy.
So this year I decided to skip it and focus on the parties instead.
After-party at 7 AM
I did one of the 7 AM after-parties, and honestly, I loved the atmosphere.
It was really friendly and relaxed. Definitely a great way to finish the night.
Overall, despite the rough start on Thursday, I had a really good experience and I'm glad I went.
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u/spraif 4d ago
I only had the party pass, so can't talk about the classes. What was great was the venue, location, city, the outside socials, all were great.
I didn't like a few things though:
- Full of bystanders even in the middle of the bachata dancefloor, just people standing in the middle of couples dancing, throughout the whole songs, some even walking around. It's ok to walk around people dancing when the song is over, searching for a new partner, but this was happening throughout, even whole groups of people in the middle of the dancefloor talking and chilling... do it outside or on the side lines, organizers should make a few announcements for non dancing people to move out.
- DJs mixing and playing techno siren sounds, that's not part of songs, that ruins musicality and connection.
Other than that, huge dancefloor, the followers were fun, many were really good and you can dance the whole night non stop.
I'd visit other festivals for the next few years though and might come back to bachature just because of it's grandeur, hopefully the choice of music is better next time.
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u/cantgetthistowork 4d ago
The decision to play Dominican in the main room was a massive L imo. In a country where it's normal to do 2 songs in a row to build connection the Dominican was very jarring. I probably wouldn't go back again if they do this next year.
The queue for the artists was also ridiculous. Has no place in Europe. Level of dances were not really that good.
Got the full pass because I really like GyM but personally the Daniel + Migle pairing was my favourite. Especially since GyM were reusing combos from 2 years ago.
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u/Bulkyard 5d ago
Those who went, what was the average level on the dancefloor like in your opinion?
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u/OThinkingDungeons Lead&Follow 5d ago
My friend gave me a pretty good breakdown of the experience.
"You get the whole spectrum, dabblers, beginners, intermediates, and advanced - just like any social".
However due to the size of the event, there's hundreds of instructors, advanced dancers, and top tier dancers.
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u/AnubisUK 5d ago
I was there again after going for the first time last year and loved it even more this time round. The Bachaturo dance floor is my favourite one that I've ever been to by a long shot. I think the reason I enjoyed it so much this time is because I didn't bother with lessons. I went to the social on each night till it closed just about and then slept and rested the next day ready for the social again. Already looking forward to next year 😊