<Tr> <Th> Year </Th> <Td> 1953 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Origin </Th> <Td> Cuba </Td> </Tr> <P> The cha - cha - chá, or simply cha - cha in the U.S., is a dance of Cuban origin . It is danced to the music of the same name introduced by Cuban composer and violinist Enrique Jorrin in the early 1950's . This rhythm was developed from the danzón - mambo . The name of the dance is an onomatopoeia derived from the shuffling sound of the dancers' feet . </P> <P> 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 - orientated crowds . Jorrín noticed that many of the dancers at these gigs had difficulty with the syncopated rhythms of the danzón - mambo . 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 . 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". Thus, the new style came to be known as "cha - cha - chá" and became associated with a dance where dancers perform a triple step . </P>

Who invented the cha cha dance and in what year