Forbidden Dance: How to Dance Reggaeton Perreo

The woman stands with her back to the man. She bends through her knees, sticks her behind against him (or not), and puts her hands above her knee so she can lean forward without falling down. He stands behind her and holds her by her hips (or not). She then starts to wind her waist and rock her bottom.. 

The woman winds, thrusts, and shakes her behind to the pulsing beat of the music. She follows the breaks and changes in the  rhythm, and both of them act accordingly by following the dances tips which are given through the explicit lyrics of the music. Where have we seen this before? 

Reggaeton dancing is actually a copy of the Jamaican Bubbling and Dancehall dancing, which had their highlights in the late 90’s. There is actually no set of rules on how to dance Reggaeton or Reggaeton Perreo. The only thing all the different variations have in common is that the woman tries to incite the man by performing sexy dance moves ranging from sensual (Reggaeton) to purely pornographic (Reggaeton Sandungeo). And Reggaeton dancing – being danced ‘Solo’ or in couples – is actually a collective and social dance form. Reggaeton is mostly danced in small or large groups of (mostly young) men and women during a party. 

One of the first known ‘basic’ dance moves is the so called ‘Butterfly’. Standing in the ‘basic’ Reggaeton dance position as described at the beginning of the article, the woman starts to rock her bottom going forward (down) and brings her knees together. She then brings her knees apart by opening her legs when going up. After this she reverses the process ending in her starting position. The pulse of the music can be described in almost the same way as the way the basic pulse of the Brazilian (Lamba) Zouk is sung: “Toom – Chic,Chic”. But the Reggaeton beat can better be described as “Poom – Tak,Tak”. The heavy down-beat (Poom) lasts for 2beats, and both the Tak’s are 1 measure each. So the “Poom – Tak-Tak” is 4 beats long (= 1 Reggaeton Basic). The forward rocking of the Butterfly is danced on the “Poom” and the back rocking with the behind happens on the “Tak-Tak”. 

The female dancer doing this can use her hands by waving them first towards herself and then out. The hands and knees move in a synchronised way resembling the flight of a Butterfly. She can also keep her hands pressing above her knees for balance and for guidance. The Butterfly can also be executed with one foot off the ground, and by turning slowly in a circle while standing on one leg. 

At the early stages of Bubbling, Dancehall and Reggaeton dancing, men were not allowed to touch the women while dancing together. He could only touch her if she took his hands and put them against her body (in most cases this would be her hips). He just stood at breathing distance from her. He also bent his knees just enough to have his pelvic area at ‘bottom height’. He swayed with his hips to the beat and following the movements of his dance partner while keeping his hands to the side or stretching his arms to both her sides. 

But soon enough the competition between the ladies had escalated. This resulted in them getting involved in a race to become the Queens on the dance floor. The women from the Dominican Republic started to imitate the dance techniques and ‘dance war tactics’ of their Jamaican counterparts. Soon enough some of them started to put both hands on the floor directly in front of them (with their arms stretched), opening their legs, arching their backs and executing even more extravagant moves with their hips and bottoms. This is the beginning of the real ‘Perreo’ (= Doggy Style) dancing. Another tactic of these (young) girls was to engage the men even more by leaning their butts against their pelvises and rubbing their behinds against them. The men are pushed with their backs against walls and, if lucky, they are allowed to put a hand on the neck of the lady bending her forward. The clothes of the women evolved from ‘tacky’ to ‘casual’, thus making it possible for them to go out Reggaeton or Perreo dancing without their families or relatives knowing what they are up to. And their choice of dance partners went from dancing sexy with only one male partner to ‘perrear’ with any guy they fancy at that moment. Allowing (strange) men or their favorite Reggaeton artist to lift them up and simulate the art of making love on stage became a favorite way to have a wonderful time when attending a concert. 

The music industry has also played a major part in this development. Rappers such as Daddy Yankee and Don Omar became millionaires by singing explicit lyrics on the empowerment of women dancing sexy while driving the man crazy or bringing them to ecstasy. The music and dance migrated to Cuba where it was mixed with the Cuban Timba music: Cubaton was born. Salsaton soon followed. But the Perreo Dance has only been able to become a ‘cultural phenomenon’ in the Caribbean, in Central, and in South America. The fast evolution of the music has – to date – not been able to allow Perreo to cross other (socio) cultural borders.