Cha Cha

The Cha Cha Cha (recently shortened to Cha Cha), originated from Cuba in the 1950s as a slowed-down version of the Mambo. It was first introduced in America and made its way to Europe very shortly thereafter following its forerunner the Mambo. After World War II Mambo’s popularity diminished as that of the Cha Cha increased greatly around 1956. The Cha Cha is an exciting syncopated Latin dance with the emphasis on the legs and feet. The Cha Cha gathers its personality, character, rhythm, basis, and charm from two major dance sources. It is a derivation of the Mambo through its Latin music, and it is related to the Swing in its 1-2-3 step rhythm. The Cha Cha gets its name and character from its distinct repetitive foot rhythm resembling the sounds made by the shoes of Cuban women when dancing the dance. It is the most recently developed of the Latin dances. It takes on a happy, carefree, and playful expression with staccato foot movements and is usually danced to 4/4 timing to music with a tempo in the range of 110-130 BPM. Originally the Cha Cha was made famous by many Latino bands such as Xavier Cugat and Perz Prado, and today the Cha Cha rhythm is found in much of today’s popular music.