Mambo
Mambo
Mambo is a Latin dance of Cuban origin that corresponds to mambo music. It is rhythmically
similar to the slower bolero, though it has a more complex pattern of steps. The
saxophone usually sets the syncopated rhythm, while the other brass carries the
melody.
In the late 1940s, a musician named Perez Prado came up with the dance for the mambo
music and became the first person to market his music as "mambo". After
Havana, Prado moved his music to Mexico, and then New York City. Along the way,
his style became increasingly homogenized in order to appeal to mainstream American
listeners.
Types of Mambo
There were two forms of mambo dance:
- single, which has been retained as modern mambo
- triple (also sometimes called double mambo), which is thought to be an origin of
the Cha-cha-cha.
Mambo is at the roots of the Salsa dance and is a part of the American Rhythm group
of American Style ballroom dances.
The rhythm of steps is unusual in comparison to most other dances. It can be counted
as "quick-quick-slow", the first "quick" is on the beat 2 of
the measure and the "slow" step crosses the boundary of the musical measure
and performed on counts "4", "1".
