Gero y Migle

“The basic structure is built on counts of 4 and 8 — and something always happens on one of the last counts: 5, 6, 7, or 8.”

Explaining the basic phrase structure of bachata music

“You have to remember that something is coming. Don't go memorizing the vocals.”

Advice on reading a song's flow: listen for the shifts in the beat structure, not the lyrics

“If you're connected to the music, you can do anything, anytime. There's no need to categorize it.”

Asked whether his voice and gestures are sensual or technical, he points to connection with the music as the real thing

“Guys! — send your shoulder in the direction you want. Girls! — step in the direction your shoulder leads you.”

Summing up the rules of shoulder leading

“To get her to step in a certain direction, you send her shoulder that way.”

Explaining the basic principle of shoulder leading

“I'm not the one leading — I'm following you. The instruments, the gestures, the footwork, things like that.”

On following his partner's gestures and voice even while dancing basic steps

“I saw her rise up as you moved. You can't just stay down there — you have to go up with her.”

Pointing out a common mistake: at this particular spot the leader should rise along with the follower, but doesn't

“In the main body of the song, it might use the basic structure, or it might not. It depends on which instrument comes in behind it.”

Explaining how the beat structure in a verse can change depending on the backing instruments

“In the chorus, the energy goes up. After that part repeats twice, the next instrument usually comes in.”

Breaking down the energy build in a bachata chorus and how the instruments typically layer in

“She always steps in the direction her shoulder leads. It's just like walking naturally.”

Explaining how shoulder lead mirrors a natural walk

“This is how the man communicates his intention to the woman.”

Explaining what shoulder lead means as communication

“You can take the sound of the melody as a voice and express it with our bodies.”

Introducing the musicality idea of treating a melody like a voice and letting the body speak it

“The intro doesn't have the basic structure.”

Explaining how a bachata intro is structurally different from the rest of the song

“It's about changing your center of gravity and shifting your weight at the same time.”

After demonstrating how to rise with the follower, he points to weight transfer as the underlying principle

“Sometimes it ends by settling back down, kind of like the intro. That's the typical structure.”

On the pattern where the outro winds back down like the intro as the song wraps up

“If she doesn't step, she'll fall or lose her balance.”

Explaining what goes wrong when you don't follow the shoulder lead

“Just follow your own body's movement and the music.”

Said as a wrap-up after explaining you can make the leg stronger or do it differently in the bench move — in the end, following your body and the music is the whole point

“Sometimes there's no outro, or no intro at all. The structure can vary a little.”

A heads-up that not every bachata song follows the textbook structure