Timing: How To Dance Cha-Cha

Cha-Cha is like all modern music and is also a 4/4 beat. The 4 beats to the music makes it also have 4 steps to one bar of musik. The name Cha-Cha comes from the screaming sound of the fourth step, which has a characteristical Cha-Cha sound to it. You step to the side and close on this step, so with the drag of the foot that closes produces the sound.

Some teachers count the Cha Cha movement as slow, slow, quick-quick, slow but this can be confusing to the beginner. Its probably better to think of the movement as Rock, Rock, Side-Close, Side.

Modern Latino dances begin with stepping on the second beat of the music, by changing the weight from one leg to another. In Cha-Cha however, your feet move on the first, second and fourth beats. This slight change of weight gives the dance a beautiful look and feel. It occurs halfway through the first and second beats, on the third beat, and halfway through the fourth beat and also on the first beat.

Therefore counting from the second beat of music makes it easy to simply count “Two-Three, Cha-Cha, One” – if you know the basic movements you’ll soon see this becoming meaningful.

There are two parts to timing. The first is the static metronome beat that flows through an entire track and dictates when to move your feet. The other is the tempo of the music itself. It’s the tempo, that times the length of a dance step, the duration of a pause or how fast you should make a turn/spin and it’s the tempo that tells you what move to do when. Understanding what to do with the tempo will make you a good Cha Cha dancer.

You can’t mistake a Cha Cha beat in a song. You hear the two slow beats and the three quicker beats. Then when you hear the quick beats you move side and close, cha cha cha.

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