MAMBO

ballroom dance of Cuban origin, internationally popular in the late 1940s. It was performed as an offbeat rumba in which a step taken on the last beat of music in 4/4 time was held through to the first beat of the following measure. Mambo foot patterns and breaks were essentially the same as in the rumba, the basic movement being step back, step front, close and hold (or front, back, close). In the mambo, couples more often abandoned the standard ballroom embrace position and danced holding one hand or without touching. The related cha-cha-cha of the late 1950s evolved from a rhythmical innovation done on the mambo's offbeat step to its present form, in which a quick change of step is done on the last two beats of the measure.