Puerto Rican singer Elvis Crespo said on Thursday, 22 August 2019 advocates teaching the original merengue with guira and drum in schools in the Dominican Republic.
During a visit to El Nuevo Diario, Crespo said that efforts are needed to keep the genre alive. These are days when modern Latin Urban music (reggaeton, hip hop, Latin Pop, Dance, Salsa) are more popular with the new generations.
While merengue is part of the national identity of Dominicans, it is rarely heard on radio stations today.
Merengue music and dance was inscribed in 2016 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
On the positive side, Crespo observes that many artists from other genres are now creating merengues. He mentioned this is the case of “Lo que pasó pasó” by Daddy Yankee and “El Doctorado”, modernized version.
26 November celebrates National Merengue Day in the Dominican Republic.
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El Nuevo Diario
26 August 2019