What Is Cha Cha?

The Cha Cha is a dance of Afro-Cuban orgin and closely related to the classic Mambo.

In the 1950s violinist Enrique Jorrin was working with the band, Orquesta América. They performed in dance halls all over Havana, Cuba where they played danzón, danzonete, and danzon-mambo for strong dance enthusiasts of the time. In an effort to make his music more approachable to dancers, Jorrín began creating songs where the melody was marked strongly on the first downbeat and the rhythm was less syncopated and more easily identified by the dancers. When Jorrin and Orquesta América debuted these new songs to the clubs in Cuba, the songs caught on and very soon, other orquestras were copying the general song structure and composition of the new “Cha Cha” music. 

As the Cha Cha grew in popularity, it became known as the ‘triple-step Mambo’ due to dancers adding extra steps to the Mambo basic to accentuate the slower rhythm of the new Cha Cha music. Cha Cha is a dance of elegance and finesse and has taken the sweet spot between contemporary Salsa music and Bachata.

Due to the slower and sexy nature of Cha Cha music, social dancers tend to dance it more freely and smoothly than something you would see in a Ballroom studio or a competitive dance floor. Furthermore, learning to dance Cha Cha can be a great way to supplement your Salsa dancing as the steps and movements are closely related. This allows you to utilize moves that you know in Salsa and repurpose them for use in Cha Cha.

For one, we’ve heard SO MANY students in the Chicago Salsa scene admit to loving Cha Cha music but feeling unsure of how to dance a full song confidently.

As such, we always recommend that once you actively go out to social dancing, it’s best to be well versed in Salsa, Bachata and Cha Cha provided that each style is appealing to you and you enjoy listening to the music of each dance.

Cha Cha often gets overlooked by dancers because it isn’t played as often and therefore seems like more of an afterthought to DJ’s and dancers alike,. The truth is, most intermediate/advanced dancers LOVE Cha Cha because it allows you to groove in a sexy and sophisticated way.

As you grow in your social dancing skills, you’ll find that Cha Cha allows you to utilize your skill set more freely and openly due to the calmer tempo of the music and the prominent percussion of the music.

As an added bonus, since so many people are afraid to dance Cha Cha due to their unfamiliarity to the dance, you’ll be in high demand as someone who can Cha Cha with the best of them!