Types of Latin Dances

Latin dances hail from several different countries in South and Central America, and most have influences that range far beyond this region. Some dances are easier to learn than others, but all Latin dances have a flair that both spectators and dancers alike adore.

popular Latin Dance Styles

The following Latin dances are the ones that are most often learned and performed. Whether watching a dance show on television or attending a social dance workshop, you're bound to run into some of these Latin styles.

Bachata

The Bachata is a dance from the Dominican Republic, named after Bachata guitar music. Dancers move side to side in a four-beat pattern: three steps to the side followed by a pause, which forms the essence of the Bachata as dancers incorporate pronounced hip movements. Overall, the dance is much more about moving the body with style than about the simple back and forth steps.

Because this dance is about polished style in addition to simple steps, intermediate to advanced dancers will have the most success making this dance look good.

Cha Cha Cha

The Cha Cha Cha, also called the Cha Cha, is a Cuban-born dance, similar to the Mambo in style. However, after the basic movement of stepping forward or backward and shifting weight between feet, the Cha Cha Cha adds a quick set of three steps. This gives the dance its name since many dancers count out these steps as "cha cha cha."

Mambo

The Mambo also originated in Cuba. Its signature move is a three-beat step moving forward and then backward while shifting weight from one foot to the other. One member of a dancing pair performs the backward motion while the other moves forward.

What really gives the Mambo its style though is the hip-swaying action that the weight shift creates. Although the Mambo is a couple's dance, the basic step has appeared in everything from line dancing to aerobics videos, where individual dancers perform the three-beat step either alone or as part of a group.