Cha cha is a fun, cheeky dance. It evolved in the 1950s and 60s from Mambo, a dance popular in North America. Mambo was set to the form of Cuban Son being played in the United States at that time.

Cuban Son is highly syncopated music in 4/4 time. Every half beat is played so we can count the bar 1-&-2-&-3-&-4-&. For Cha cha cha the split of beat 4 is often played somewhat stronger, so the music has a notable 2-3-4-&-1 rhythm to it. This is the basic rhythm of the dance. Trying to locate the 4-&-1 section is, however, not a reliable way of finding your place in the music. Any of the half beats can be given extra emphasis. We teach you to count 1-2-3 and then move on 4 so you become familiar with locating the 1st beat of the bar and then you have time to prepare for movement.

Another subtlety of the music is that it is most appropriate for the first (usually dominant) step of each figure to coincide with beat 2 and not beat 1. This makes best use of the music's rhythmical structure. Dancers trained in other styles can find this hard because they are used to starting on 1.

Cha cha is a very good dance for the beginner. It is tremendous fun and the beat of the music is actually fairly obvious despite the underlying complexity. Cha cha provides your first introduction to Latin actions. Most of the Latin American dances are hip dances. Each transfer of weight from one foot to another involves some form of hip action. The hip action gives the Latin dances much of their characteristic sensuality. In a Ballroom dance the movement of the centre of mass over the floor captures much of the point of the dance. In a Latin dance the movement of the centre of mass is there to provoke a hip action.