Cha-cha-cha came out of Cuba in the 1950s as a slightly slower, cheekier offshoot of mambo and danzon. It keeps salsa's partner grammar but adds the signature triple step — the 'cha-cha-cha' you can hear in the music — which makes the timing easier to feel than salsa for a lot of newcomers. It lives inside most Cuban and salsa nights rather than headlining its own.
If you can hear the 'cha-cha-cha' in the song, you can find the step — the music tells you where it is. Take a salsa or Cuban-style lesson that covers cha-cha; the basics transfer both ways and most teachers cover them together.
Gear
What to wear on the cha-cha floor
Our pick
Fuego — the any-surface dance sneaker. Split-sole sneaker with a suede-and-rubber combo outsole. Pivots like a ballroom shoe on hardwood, grips on tile, holds up outside. The dance sneaker most of the Latin floor reaches for.
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Where to learn
Studios teaching cha-cha in Greensboro
Cha-Cha worldwide
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Cha-Cha in Greensboro