Cha-cha dance history

In the late 1940s, Havana, Cuba, was one of the most popular resorts for North Americans, especially those residing along the east coast. The most famous American dance bands as well as the many outstanding Latin bands native to Cuba played at the city’s casinos. Some of these orchestras tried combining the American JAZZ beat with the Cuban RUMBA rhythm; The result was a new rhythm called the MAMBO.

A dance was developed to the new mambo rhythm, danced to the off beat rather than the traditional downbeat. For this reason, the dance was popular mainly with dancers thoroughly familiar with complex Afro-Cuban music. However, among the many figures of the mambo was one called the “chatch”, which involved three quick changes of weight preceded by two slow steps. By the early 1950s, this figure had developed into a new dance comprised of many simple variations on the basic footwork. The dance acquired the name CHA-CHA ; its characteristic three-step change of weight carried the identifying verbal definition, “cha-cha-cha”.

The cha-cha inherited much of its styling from its parent dances, the rumba and the mambo. Like most Latin dances, it is done with the feet remaining close to the floor. The dancers’ hips are relaxed to allow free movement in the pelvic section. The upper body shifts over the supporting foot, as steps are taken.

Cha Cha

When the English dance teacher Pierre Lavelle visited Cuba in 1952, he realized that sometimes the Rumba was danced with extra beats. When he returned to Britain, he started teaching these steps as a separate dance (Lavelle, 1975, 2). The name could have been derived from the Spanish ‘Chacha’ meaning ‘nursemaid’, or ‘chachar’ meaning ‘to chew coca leaves’ (Smith, 1971, 161), or from ‘char’ meaning “tea’ (Taylor, 1958, 150), or most likely from the fast and cheerful’Cuban dance: the Guaracha (Ellfeldt, 1974,59). This dance has been popular in Europe from before the turn of the century. For example it is listed on the program of the Finishing Assembly in 1898 of Dancie Neill at Coupar Angus in Scotland (Hood, 1980, 102).

It has also been suggested that the name Cha Cha is derived onomatipeically from the sound of the feet in the chasse which is included in many of the steps (Sadie, 1980, 5/86).

In 1954, the dance was described as a “Mambo with a guiro rhythm” (Burchfield, 1976, I/473). A guiro is a musical instrument consisting of a dried gourd rubbed by a serrated stick (Burchfield, 1976, I/1318).

The Mambo originated in Haiti, and was introduced to the West in 1948 by Prado (Burchfield, 1976, II/809). The word “Mambo” is the name of a Voodoo priestess in the religion brought by the Negroes from Africa (Ellfeldt, 1974, 86). Thus the Cha Cha had its origins in the religious ritual dances of West Africa. There are three forms of Mambo: single, double, and triple. The triple has five (!) steps to a bar, and this is the version that evolved into the Cha Cha (Rust, 1969, 105) (Sadie, 1980, 100).

The “Cha Cha” is danced currently at about 120 beats per minute. The steps are taken on the beats, with a strong hip movement as the knee straightens on the half beats in between. The weight is kept well forward, with forward steps taken toe-flat, and with minimal torso movement. The chasse on 4&1 is used to emphasize the step on beat 1, which may be held a moment longer than the other steps to match the emphasis of the beat in the music.

Latino dances- History

Many dances popular around the world have originated in Latin America, for example the Bolero, Carimbo, Conga, Cueca, Cumbia, Joropo, Lambada, Macarena, Mambo, Merengue, Rueda, and the Salsa. Three such dances : the Samba, Rumba, and Cha Cha, plus the Paso Doble from Europe and the Jive from North America, have been singled out and are now performed all over the world as Latin-American dances in international DanceSport competitions, as well as being danced socially.

The three dances from Latin America evolved as a fusion of Indigenous, European and Negro forms. The European conquerors imported Negro slaves from various parts of West Africa into a large part of the Americas at an early stage, mainly because of the difficulty the Europeans had in persuading the Indigenes to work for them. The African slaves were imported in such number that by 1553, they outnumbered the Europeans in Mexico, and the Viceroy, Luis de Velasco, urged Charles V of Spain to prohibit further influx (Sadie, 1980, 10/522).

Dancing played a substantial part in all three component cultures: European, Negro and Indigenous. In 1569, the Viceroy of Mexico ordered the Aztec Calendar Stone to be buried because the main recreation of the Negroes had become dancing around it. Subsequently, Velasco decreed that dancing be confined to Sundays and feast days only, and then only in the afternoons between the hours of noon and 6 p.m. (Sadie, 1980, 10/522).

Through the 17th and 18th centuries, a gradual fusion of the three cultures occurred to produce a new culture: Creole. As European dances were imported into Latin America, they were adopted and ‘creolized’ (Sadie, 1980, 10/529). In Cuba, the Contradance became the Contradanza Habanera (i.e., from Havana) with the adoption of a syncopated rhythm: (Sadie, 1980, 5/86).

The following dance forms represent the core or most of the Latin dance steps. The origin of these dance forms and their evolution can be understood by means of the information presented below.

SAMBA

One of the popular Latin dance types, the samba is classified into two forms/types; these are the traditional samba and modern ballroom samba. This dance form originated in Brazil at the beginning of 20th century. In this partner dance, the moves do not change with music. The music in 4/4 or 2/4 time is used to perform samba. Counting of the basic steps is either 1-a-2 or 1-2. A slight, dropping action is used to perform the basic steps of samba. This dance has its origins in traditional dances of Afro-Brazilian origins. Read on samba dance steps.

MAMBO

Invented by Perez Prado, the Mambo was a popular dance form in Cuba, New York and Mexico City. The original Mambo dance of Cuba was based on a thought that body movements and sound of music should converge together. In this form of dance, feeling the music is of great importance. This concept or practice of dancing didn’t go well with the dance teachers based in USA. The Mambo dance was thus, ‘standardized’ to make it suitable for ballrooms. Learn these simple mambo dance steps.

Salsa

The salsa dance developed from the confluence of European and African cultures. This is a partner dance which first reached Puerto Rico and then spread to the Caribbean islands. The word salsa means ‘sauce’ in Spanish. The connotation of this word in American Spanish is a ‘mixture of ingredients’. One has to follow a four-beat measure in salsa and there are three weight changes in these four beats. Read to know more about salsa dancing.

Cha-cha-cha

This Latin American dance has its origin in Cuba. The cha-cha-cha dance is based on music which has the same name. Enrique Jorrin, a Cuban violinist and composer introduced this form of music. The shuffling of dancer’s feet and rhythm of guiro led to the formation of this name, cha-cha-cha. Today’s form/style of cha-cha-cha dancing was developed by Monsieur Pierre a dance teacher from London. Monsieur Pierre traveled to Cuba and studied the dance. He noted that the cha-cha-cha dance starts in the second beat and has a split fourth beat. When he came back home, a new dance called ballroom cha-cha-cha was created. Read about cha cha cha dance steps.

Merengue

It is a Latin American dance performed in two-beats and a partner is required. Leader in this dance holds the waist of the follower with his right hand. Left hand is used by the leader to hold the follower’s right hand. The knees, in this dance are bent at the left and right sides alternately. It facilitates the hip movements sideways. In this form of dance, the partners circle each other and also walk sideways by taking small steps. Merengue is the official dance form of the Dominican Republic. Read more on merengue dance steps.