Cha cha cha was developed from Cuban danzón by a Enrique Jorrín. The original name is cha-cha-chá, stress on the last syllable. It is told that the name is derived of the sound of dancers' feet on the floor. Whether true of not, the story is in line with the dancing technique: the feet are moved along the floor.
The time signature is written as 4/4, implying that the basic unit of the music is a sequence of four beats. However, the four-beat measures associate into pairs, and it is often practical to think the music as a sequence of eight-beat measure-pairs. This makes especial sense in dance, since the basic movement takes eight beats.
The tempo is 30 to 34 bars per minute, or 120 to 132 beats per minute. The characteristic feature of cha cha cha music is the division of the last quarter of a measure with a tick at the middle of the time interval. In letters, the rhythm is 1234&1234&1... The extra tick & is halfway between 4 and the following 1.
In real music the rhythmic pattern is more complicated, sometimes a lot more, but in good cha cha cha the characteristic ticking always is recognizable. In European style the first beat is strongly accented and often has the highest pitch in the melody.
| Basic movement |
| Whisk |
| New York |
| Shoulder to shoulder |
| Spot turns |
| Underarm turns |
| Double underarm turn |
| Walk |
| Window |
| Gate |
| Fan |
| Hockey stick |
| Left turn |
| Sweetheart |
| Turkish towel |