A journey through Mambo’s history

Let us guide you throughout Latin American dance history, specifically in Mambo’s evolution so you can take a look of all the elements involved, from its creation to its development, with the following interesting facts:

• Mambo dance was originated in Cuba in 1938. It was born directly from the Cuban son and the Cuban rumba, and from the fusion of other Afro-Cuban musical elements.
• That African heritage is evident in its dance language. The authentic mambo is characterized by a free expression that responds organically to the rhythms of the drums.
• The word “mambo” means conversation with the gods in the Kilongo language, one of the African languages ​​that came to Cuba. The term got popular from African to the Caribbean.
• The mambo dance revolutionized the dance floors during the 1940s and 1950s. In a way never seen before. It became a revolution of expression that made a mark in the history of tropical dance music, this wild dance conquered audiences around the world, from its place of origin, Cuba, to Mexico and the United States.
• Its hip and pelvic movements are undulating and fluid, her steps are twisted, and its shoulder movements mark rhythms with precision.
• Today Mambo still has fervent recognition around the world. It is very popular in the Ballroom world and among salsa fans. However, the style of mambo dance is different from the authentic mambo that became popular in the 1940s and 1950s.
• According to Cuban music history, Arsenio Rodríguez invented the mambo, and Cachao developed it in Havana. Dámaso Pérez Prado and Benny Moré made it famous outside Cuba, especially in Mexico and the United States.
• Around the 1940s, the musician Pérez Prado developed the mambo dance. The original dance of the mambo was characterized by its loose expression. He incorporated complicated steps and acrobatic movements.
• When Pérez Prado moved to Mexico, he brought the mambo to this country. There, the mambo gained great fame. Pérez Prado and Benny Moré took Mambo to Mexican cinema, where the authentic essence of it was forever recorded in hundreds of scenes.
• In Mexico, great mambo dancers emerged, such as Tongolele, Tin Tan, Adalberto Martínez, Rosa Carmina and Lilia Prado.
• In the 1950s, some of Pérez Prado’s musical successes reached New York City. In a short time, the mambo became fashionable. People started playing it and dancing it at famous places such as the Palladium.
• When the original mambo dance arrived in New York, it caused a sensation, but it also caused controversy. Some experts in social dances did not accept the quality of free expression that the mambo had. They decided that Mambo dance needed discipline and structure.

Many dance teachers of this Latin American dance, in the United States, structured the technique of this dance by establishing steps, figures, and rules that eliminated the improvisational feature of the original mambo. It was this style of mambo dance that became popular in the United States and internationally.

• At that time, the Mambo style became one of the most precious dances in the Ballroom world. Back then, great mambo dancers like Los Mambo Aces, Machito, Carmen Cruz, Gene Ortíz and Tito Rodríguez appeared in New York.
• Today the original mambo is still taught and danced in some places in Cuba and Mexico. However, now the most popular mambo style around the world is the Ballroom-style mambo.

Mambo is also highly appreciated in the world of salsa. There is also a Mambo-salsa style that a New York dance teacher, called Eddie Torres developed.

• The original Mambo did not last long and today the Mambo is much limited due to all the changes that it had along with history.
• One of the greatest contributions of the Mambo is that it led to the development of the Cha-Cha dance.

Many famous dance teachers agreed that Mambo is one of the most difficult dances, yet, if someone is willing to learn it, they can achieve that goal. Therefore if you want to keep Mambo alive you can take this easy Latin American dance class that will teach you the basic steps and how to transition from one to another, so that you can create your own expression.

Keep Mambo alive by keep on dancing it!