Dancing from Mambo to Hustle and Salsa!

Social partner dancing can be divided into at least three categories: social dance, performance and competition dancing. Here I will focus on several social dances and their relationship to each other and how they have evolved. This is a quick fly by of Mambo to Salsa through Swing, Cha Cha and Hustle and a discussion on how these dances are all related.

 I believe it is important to understand the way most dance styles evolve organically and syncretically, blending several dance styles and music from different influences over time. In order to trace Salsa dance history, we have to travel through Mambo, Swing, Cha Cha and Hustle.

Mambo is a mix of Afro-Caribbean and Latin American musical rhythms thought to have originated in the early 1940’s. The dance is often attributed to Perez Prado in 1943 playing at La Tropicana in Havana, Cuba. Afro-Cuban and American jazz influenced the development of the dance genre. In the 1990’s, Eddie Torres in New York launched a campaign to bring back the Mambo. The original Mambo dance that breaks on the two beat evolved to Salsa in the 1970’s. Some people think of it as the next generation Mambo.

I danced Mambo regularly in the mid to late 70’s before the Salsa spread to Southern California. It was very popular in dance studios and among dancers that enjoyed dancing to Latin music. I was lucky to be able to dance Mambo with Latin dancers who learned it in the height of its popularity. Among the dancers, there was a joke that Cha Cha evolved for those who could not dance as fast as most popular Mambos. There may be some truth to this but I believe that popular music changed, becoming slower and incorporated a triple rhythm from swing thus creating a perfect environment for the Cha Cha dance to evolve.

Cha Cha became popular in the early 1950’s and was sometimes referred to as the Triple Mambo due because it uses a triple rhythm like swing. Cha Cha can be danced to many different types of music including Cuban, Latin Pop, Latin Rock and contemporary pop. It is believed to have roots in the religious ritual dances of the West Indies. In 1952, it was brought to England and became Ballroom Cha Cha and eventually International Latin Cha Cha. Like Mambo, Cha Cha uses a staccato movement and the break step is on count two. Its popularity has continued into the new millennium. Today it is danced as an American Ballroom dance, a Latin dance and even included in venues that do mostly swing or hustle dancing.

The Hustle dance Hustle started in the 1970’s as a blend of Latin and Swing dance styles mixed to Disco music. Disco music has a rhythm that is more like a thump-thump while other dance genres use a tick tock type rhythm. Of course, there was the early song by Van McCoy titled “The Hustle” recorded in 1975, which led to a widely popular line dance of the same name. The partner dance that became known as the Hustle had earlier incarnations like Latin Hustle, Disco Swing, Rope Hustle, Tango Hustle, Street Hustle then later L.A. Hustle and New York Hustle, both are still danced today. There are styling differences between the N.Y. Hustle and the L.A. Hustle but both incorporate the original 6-count rhythm and the ball flat footwork of the Mambo. The N.Y. Hustle has maintained more of the original Latin styling. American Smooth and Rhythm dancing and West Coast Swing have influenced the L.A. Hustle, so it incorporates a smoother, flowing form of the dance genre.

Finally, we arrive at Salsa dancing, which is a truly syncretic dance form with influences from Mambo, Cha Cha, Swing and Hustle. It’s a true blend of Latin American and European cultural influences like Danzon and Mambo. Styles of Salsa vary from Cuba, New York, Los Angeles, Columbia and Miami. In most of its forms it uses Cuban hip movement but some styles use a slot like Los Angeles style Salsa and others use a more circular motion like the Cuban style. It comes from older traditions in the 1920’s of Afro-Cuban Rumba and Son dancing. L.A. style Salsa generally breaks on count one, whereas, New York breaks on count two like Mambo. Salsa dancing today continues to evolve and incorporate movements from all the other dance genres and remains unique by region of the Americas where it is danced. Salsa's popularity has mushroomed across the globe. Today it is danced all over the world!

There is much left to say about Latin dancing from Mambo to Salsa and beyond. In recent times other Latin dances have thrived like Merengue and Bachata. Look for upcoming articles on these fantastic dances!

~The Dancetime Center is proud to have been one of San Diego's premier dance centers from 1998 to 2013!

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About the Author

Pattie Wells hails from San Diego, California where she writes article and video blogs for her world dance resource website at DanceTime.com. Also, Pattie is working on several writing projects including her new website at PattieWells.com, a novel in linked stories and a poetry manuscript titled Fire In Rain.  In addition, she continues to teach a limited number of private dance lessons in San Diego including dance lessons for weddings.