Social Dance: Cha Cha
Cha Cha (Cha)
The cha-cha-cha (in Spanish cha-cha-chá) is a Latin American dance of Cuban origin.
It corresponds to the Cha-cha-cha music introduced by Cuban composer and violinist
Enrique Jorrín. See Cha-cha-chá (Cuban dance) for a description of the Cuban evolution
of the dance.
In ballroom dancing, it is increasingly popular to call the dance cha-cha.
The dance teacher Pierre Margolie from the United Kingdom, a founder of the Latin
American Faculty of the ISTD, visited Cuba in 1952 to discover mambo (some say,
rumba) danced with the triple step in place of the slow one. He brought this dance
idea to Europe and eventually created what is known now as ballroom Cha-cha-cha.
More Info
Cha-cha-cha is one of the five dances of the "Latin American" program
of international ballroom competitions (where it is officially has become known
as "Cha-cha"). The basis of the modern dance was laid down in the 1960s
by Walter Laird and other top competitors of the time.
In general Cha-cha steps should be kept compact and the dance is danced generally
without any rise and fall. The modern ballroom technique of Cha-cha (and other ballroom
dances) is a result of gradual evolution, and in many respects the technique differs
significantly from the earlier days. Also, the International Style diverged from
the technique of the American Style Cha-cha.
