[1][2] It is danced to cha-cha-cha music introduced by the Cuban composer and violinist Enrique Jorrin in the early 1950s.

[3] In the early 1950s, Enrique Jorrín worked as a violinist and composer with the charanga group Orquesta América.

The group performed at dance halls in Havana where they played danzón, danzonete, and danzon-mambo for dance-oriented crowds.

To make his music more appealing to dancers, Jorrín began composing songs where the melody was marked strongly on the first downbeat and the rhythm was less syncopated.

[4] When Orquesta América performed these new compositions at the Silver Star Club in Havana, it was noticed that the dancers had improvised a triple step in their footwork producing the sound "cha-cha-cha".

[5] The basic footwork pattern of cha-cha-cha (one, two, three, cha-cha-one, two, three) is also found in several Afro-Cuban dances from the Santería religion.

For example, one of the steps used in the dance practiced by the Orisha Ogun religious features an identical pattern of footwork.

[7] In 1953, Orquesta América released two of Jorrin's compositions, "La Engañadora" and "Silver Star", on the Cuban record label Panart.

"[10] An incorrect "street version" comes about because many social dancers count "one, two, cha-cha-cha" and thus shift the timing of the dance by a full beat of music.

Because of the action used during the forward step (the one taking only part weight) the basic pattern turns left, whereas in earlier times cha-cha-cha was danced without rotation of the alignment.

In traditional American Rhythm style, Latin hip movement is achieved through the alternate bending and straightening action of the knees, though in modern competitive dancing, the technique is virtually identical to the "international Latin" style.

As described above, the basis of the modern dance was laid down in the 1950s by Pierre and Lavelle[11] and developed in the 1960s by Walter Laird and other top competitors of the time.