Cha-cha-cha (dance)

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Cha-cha-cha (dance)

Cha-cha-cha is the name of a Latin American dance

Dance

Dance is an art form that generally refers to Motion of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of Emotional expression, social social interaction or presented in a spirituality or performance setting....
of Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is a country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba , the island of Isla de la Juventud, and several adjacent small islands....
n origin. The name may also be spelled chachachá. It is danced to the music of the same name introduced by Cuban composer and violinist Enrique Jorrín

Enrique Jorrín

Enrique Jorr?n was a Cuban composer, violinist and band director. He is famous as the inventor of a style of Cuban dance music called Cha-cha-cha ....
in 1953. This rhythm was developed from the danzón

Danzón

Danz?n was once called the official dance of Cuba, but it is no longer an active musical form. Like the habanera , the danz?n evolved from the Contradanza, originally of English origin, brought to Cuba by French colonists fleeing the Haitian Revolution in the 1790s....
by a syncopation

Syncopation

In music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak beat in a meter ....
of the fourth beat. The name is onomatopoeic, derived from the rhythm of the güiro

Güiro

The g?iro is a percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a wooden stick along the notches to produce a ratchet-like sound....
(scraper) and the shuffling of the dancers' feet.

dance teacher Pierre Zurcher Margolie ('Monsieur Pierre', who partnered Doris Lavelle) from London

London

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Encyclopedia

Cha-cha-cha is the name of a Latin American dance

Dance

Cuba

Enrique Jorrín

Danzón

Syncopation

Güiro

Origin

The dance teacher Pierre Zurcher Margolie ('Monsieur Pierre', who partnered Doris Lavelle) from London

London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
visited Cuba in 1952 to find out how and what Cubans were dancing at the time. He noted that this new dance had a split 4th beat, and to dance it one started on the second beat, not the first. He brought this dance idea to England and eventually created what is known now as ballroom

Ballroom dance

Ballroom dance refers to a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both social dance and ballroom dance#competitive dancing around the globe. Its performance dance and entertainment aspects are also widely enjoyed on Theater, in film, and on television....
cha-cha-cha. The validity of his analysis is well established for that time, and some forms of evidence exist today. First, there is in existence film of Orquesta Jorrin playing to a cha-cha-cha dance contest in Cuba; second, the rhythm of the Benny More

Benny Moré

Beny Mor? is considered by many fans of Music of Cuba as the greatest Cuban singer of all time. He was gifted with an innate musicality and fluid tenor voice which he colored and phrased with great expressivity....
classic Santa Isabel de las Lajas written and recorded at about the same time is quite clearly syncopated on the fourth beat. Also, note that the slower bolero-son ("rumba") was always danced on the second beat.

Description

Cha-cha-cha may be either danced to authentic Cuban music, or Latin Pop

Latin pop

Latin Pop generally refers to pop music that has what may be perceived a "Latin" influence. The definition of "Latin" varies, however. Linguistically, pop music sung in Spanish, or other Romance languages, may be considered Latin pop....
or Latin Rock

Rock en Español

Rock en espa?ol refers to Spanish-language rock music. Latin rock is a fusion of Rock music music with Latin American rhythms and instruments, such as percussion , but also piano riffs known from Son or Merengue music....
. The music for the international ballroom

Ballroom dance

Cha-cha-chá (Cuban dance)

The cha-cha-ch? is a Cuban dance that was invented early in the 1950s in conjunction with Cha-cha-cha dance music....
is more sensual and may involve complex polyrhythm

Polyrhythm

Polyrhythm is the simultaneous sounding of two or more independent rhythms. Polyrhythms can be distinguished from irrational rhythms, which can occur within the context of a single Part ; polyrhythms require at least two rhythms to be played concurrently, one of which is typically an irrational rhythm....
s.

Styles of cha-cha-cha dance may differ in the place of the chasse in the rhythmical structure. The original Cuban and the ballroom cha-cha-cha count "two-three-chachacha". Some other styles of dance, such as Country/western and Latin street

Street dance

Street dance, also called vernacular dance is an umbrella term, used to describe dance styles that evolved outside of dance studios in everyday spaces such as streets, school yards and nightclubs....
cha-cha-cha in places other than Cuba count "one-two-chachacha" or "chachacha-three-four".

Basic step of cha-cha-cha

The basic pattern involves the lead (the man) taking a checked forward step with the left foot retaining some weight on the right foot, the knee of the right leg must stay straight and close to the back of the left knee, the left leg having straightened just prior to receiving part weight. This step is taken on the second beat of the bar. Full weight is returned to the right leg on the second step (beat three.) The fourth beat is split in two so the count of the next three steps is 4-and-1. These three steps constitute the cha-cha-cha chasse. A step to the side is taken with the left foot, the right foot is half closed towards the left foot (typically leaving both feet under the hips or perhaps closed together), and finally there is a last step to the left with the left foot. The length of the steps in the chasse depend very much on the effect the dancer is attempting to make.

The girl takes a step back on the right foot, the knee being straightened as full weight is taken. The other leg is allowed to remain straight. It is possible it will flex slightly but no deliberate flexing of the free leg is attempted. This is quite different from technique associated with salsa

Salsa (dance)

Salsa is a dance for Salsa music created by Spanish language-speaking people from the Caribbean and their immigrant communities in the US. Salsa dancing mixes African and European dance influences through the music and dance fusions that are the roots of Salsa: Cuban SonGuaguanc?, Spanish Rumba, Boogaloo, Pachanga, Guaracha, Plena, Bomba, ....
, for instance. On the next beat (beat three) weight is returned to the left leg. Then a cha-cha-cha chasse is danced RLR.

Each partner is now in a position to dance the bar their partner just danced. Hence the fundamental construction of Cha-cha-cha extends over two bars.

The checked first step is a later development in the International Cha-cha-cha. Because of the action used during the forward step (the one taking only part weight) the basic pattern turns left, whereas in earlier times Cha-cha-cha was danced without rotation of the alignment. Hip actions are allowed to occur at the end of every step. For steps taking a single beat the first half of the beat constitutes the foot movement and the second half is taken up by the hip movement.

Over the history of the dance, there have been two schools of dancing the Cha-cha-cha chasse. In one school, both knees are allowed to be flexed on the count of 'and' to eliminate an increase in height as the feet are brought towards each other. In the other school the leading foot is placed with the checked knee and the "bopping" is eliminated by hip action.

Footwork

In general, steps in all directions should be taken first with the ball of the foot in contact with the floor, and then with the heel lowering when the weight is fully transferred; however, some steps require that the heel remain lifted from the floor. When weight is released from a foot, the heel should release from the floor first, allowing the toe to maintain contact with the floor.

Hip movement

In traditional American Rhythm style, Latin hip movement is achieved through the alternate bending and straightening action of the knees, though in modern competitive dancing, the technique is virtually identical to the International Latin style. In the International Latin style, the weighted leg is almost always straight. The free leg will bend, allowing the hips to naturally settle into the direction of the weighted leg. As a step is taken, a free leg will straighten the instant before it receives weight. It should then remain straight until it is completely free of weight again.

International Latin style Cha-cha-cha

Cha-cha-cha is one of the five dances of the "Latin American" program of international ballroom competitions.

As described above, the basis of the modern dance was laid down in the 1950s by Pierre & Lavelle and developed in the 1960s by Walter Laird

Walter Laird

Walter Laird was a major influence in the development of Latin American dancing in Britain after the Second World War. He was Dancesport World Champions in Professional Latin three times....
and other top competitors of the time. The basic steps taught to learners today are based on these accounts.

In general, steps are kept compact and the dance is danced generally without any rise and fall

Rises and falls

Rises and falls is a category of the ballroom dance technique that refers to rises and falls of the body of a dancer achieved through actions of knees and feet ....
. The modern ballroom technique of Cha-cha-cha (and other ballroom dances) does undergo gradual evolution, particularly in competition dancing, but in essence is still firmly based on its Cuban origin in the 1950s.