MADRID, Spain.- The chachachá, a musical rhythm born in Cuba at the beginning of the 50s, managed to become popular in a large part of the world, especially in South America, the United States and some European countries; where it is still taught in dance schools.
Among those who have included it in their repertoire are the Venezuelan Oscar de León; in the United States, Broadway; in Africa, Wonders of Mali and Baobad; and renowned Chilean orchestras such as Ritmo y Juventud, Los Peniques and Huambaly.
Originally it was played with a güiro, made of coconut shell with holes in it. Musicians passed their fingers through these holes to create different sounds.
Included in popular dance styles, it developed from the danzón and was presented to the public through the instrumental format of the charanga, composed of a flute, strings, piano, bass, and percussion.
The creation of the cha-cha It is attributed the Cuban musician Enrique Jorrín, born on December 5, 1926. At the end of the 40s and beginning of the 50s, Jorrín joined the América orchestra, led by Ninón Mondéjar, and it was at that time that, starting with the danzón, but Based on a new rhythmic cell between the tumbadora, the timbal and the güiro, Jorrín created the chachachá.
Although many of the constitutive elements of the chachachá were perceptible in the popular dance music of the time, especially in the work of Arcaño y sus Maravillas, but also in that of the Arsenio Rodríguez Conjunto -just to mention two clear examples-, it was Enrique Jorrín who contributed the structure and style that today distinguishes one of the great genres of Cuban music, in which lasting hits such as “La Engañadora”, “El alardoso”, “Cógele bien el compás” and many other songs are inscribed. that were a hook and a challenge for the dancer.
Later, among those who polished the rhythm on the island was the Orquesta Aragón from Cienfuegos, one of the few Cuban groups that still cultivates the cha-cha-chá as it was heard in its beginnings.
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