Cha-cha-cha is the name of a Latin American music and dance, of Cuban origin.^[1][2] It is dance music introduced by Cuban composer and violinist Enrique Jorrín in 1953. The rhythm was developed from a previous dance, the danzón, by a split fourth beat. The name is derived from the shuffling of the dancers' feet.^[3]

Many consider the Orquesta Aragón and the orchestra of José Fajardo to have been particularly influential in the development of the cha-cha-cha.^[4] Outside Cuba, the big bands of Tito Puente (in New York), and Pérez Prado (in Mexico City and California) introduced the Cha-cha-cha to a much wider audience.

Musically, the Cha-cha-cha was perhaps not a great innovation. However, it became hugely popular because people found it easy to dance to. Monsieur Pierre and his colleagues went to Cuba in the early 1950s to study it. They came back to London and codified the dance (sorted it out and wrote it down). It became a standard dance in Latin American ballroom dancing.^[5][6] It is one of the five Latin dances in international competitions governed by the World Dance Council. Today it is still popular as a dance, and is still danced in Cuba.

• Former Latin World Champions Bryan Watson and Karen Hardy give a demo. [1]

v t e Dance
Index Outline
Participation	Solo Partner close embrace closed position open position slow dance Group Circle Contra Line Round Square
Social	Ceremonial Competitive Concert Ecstatic Erotic Fad Folk Sacred Street War
Major present-day genres	Acro Ballet Ballroom Waltz Foxtrot Quickstep Tango (International style) Latin and American dances Samba Rumba (International style) Cha-cha-cha Paso doble Belly Breaking Contemporary Country–western Boogaloo Hip-hop Jazz Latin Lyrical Modern Polka Postmodern Swing Tap
Technique	Ballet technique Choreography Connection Dance theory Graham Lead and follow Pole dance Moves (glossary) Musicality Pointe Sequence dance Spotting Turnout Turns
Regional (National dances)	Arab Africa Armenia Assyrian Austria Azerbaijan Bulgaria Burma (Myanmar) Cambodia China Croatia Cuba Denmark Europe Georgia Greece India Indonesia Faroe Islands Israel Ireland Italy Japan Korea Kurdish Mexico Middle East Netherlands Persian Peru Philippines Poland Romani Russia Serbia Sri Lanka Thailand Turkey Ukraine United States African-American Venezuela Vietnam
Related	Dance and disability Dance and health Dance costume Dance etiquette Dance notation Dance in movies Dance in mythology and religion Dance occupations Dance on television Dance research Dance science Dance technology Dance troupe Dancing mania History of dance Women in dance
List of dances