Latin Dances - Cuban Family
CHA-CHA
Cha-cha is a bright, lively, cheerful Latin dance, perfect for pop music. It's energetic, fun, and great to watch as well as to dance. It's also ideal for social dancing, since it doesn't take up much space, and since it can be danced to a wide range of musical genres. Cha-cha is a direct descendant of mambo, and developed in the States in the late 1950s. It was the last craze of partner dancing before the arrival of the twist, which suddenly changed social dance into an individual activity.
The speed of cha-cha music is only slightly quicker than rumba music, but the mood is very different. While rumba works best for softer more romantic songs, cha-cha suits livelier songs with a more pronounced beat. Some songs sit in a grey zone and will work well with either dance, so you can take your pick depending on your preference.
If you listen to any pop radio, whether it's playing recent releases or songs from any time since the late 1960s, about two thirds of the music you hear will be good for dancing cha-cha. Here's a small selection of examples.
Miriam Makeba pata pata
Santana Oye Como Va
molotov voto latino
Rob Thomas and Santana sunshine of your love
Lily allen alfie