There are many dances known around the world as "Latin Dancing", with most of them having roots in Latin America, the most popular and well liked include the Mambo, Salsa, Merengue, Rumba, Tango, Macarena, Samba, and Lambada.

Many Latin American dances evolved as a fusion from the poor Europeans and Negro slaves dance forms. Dancing played a substantial part in all cultures: European, Negro and Indigenous or poor. The native dances were considered sinful by the Europeans and at different times the authorities tried to suppress their popularity. Still, many became popular amongst both blacks and whites. In 1569, the Viceroy of Mexico ordered the Aztec Calendar Stone to be buried because the main recreation of the Negroes had become dancing around it. Subsequently, Velasco decreed that dancing be confined to Sundays and feast days only, and then only in the afternoons between the hours of noon and 6 p.m. Through the 17th and 18th centuries, a gradual fusion of the three cultures occurred to produce a new culture: Creole. As European dances were imported into Latin America, they were adopted and 'creolized'. In Cuba, the Contradance became the Contradanza Habanera (i.e., from Havana) with the adoption of a syncopated rhythm. Over the years, as the dance evolved, its name became abbreviated to 'Danzon'. Complex syncopated rhythms are a feature now of all the Latin-American dances. A slower more refined version also evolved with the abbreviated name: the 'Son'.

Rumba :Danced - Slow Quick Quick Slow Quick Quick.
The word Rumba is a generic term, covering a variety of names for a type of West Indian music and dance (i.e., Son, Danzon, Guagira, Guaracha, Naningo and Bolero). There are two sources of the dances: one Spanish and the other African. Although the main growth was in Cuba, there were similar dance developments that took place in other Caribbean islands and in Latin America. Traditionally, the music was played with a staccato beat using instruments including the maracas, claves, marimboa, guiro, cencerro, and bongo or timbales drums. Today's Rumba is danced very slowly and has romantic, flirtatious and sensual overtones. Many contemporary Top 40 love songs the intimate sensuality of the Rumba mood. The dance incorporates knee bends and hip circles known as Cuban motion and tends to have expressive arm styling to enhance the Latin aura of the dance.

MERENGUE Danced on every beat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
The Merengue is one of the most popular Latin dances. It is the national dance of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. There are two popular versions of the origin of the Merengue. The first story alleges the dance originated with slaves who were chained together and, of necessity, were forced to drag one leg as they cut sugar to the beat of drums. The second says that a great hero was wounded in the leg during one of the many revolutions in the Dominican Republic. He was welcomed home with a victory celebration and, out of sympathy, everyone dancing felt obligated to limp and drag one foot. The Merengue is a spot dance, meaning it doesn't move around the dance floor so it is ideally suited to small, crowded dance floors. Merengue is a fun dance with simple steps so it is easy to learn quickly and the "1-2" march-like rhythm makes it a favorite throughout the Caribbean, Latin America and South America. It is the perfect dance to learn for those planning a honeymoon in any of these regions of the world. The Merengue was introduced to the United States in the New York area and like the other Latin dances is here to stay.

CHA CHA Danced: 2 3 4 & 1 2 3 4 & 1 or 2 3 cha cha cha 2 3 cha cha cha
Cha Cha origins are traced back to the religious ritual dances of Cuba and West Africa. There are three forms of Mambo: single, double, and triple. The triple has five steps to a bar, and this is the version that evolved into the Cha Cha. Sometimes Cha Cha is described as a Mambo that is danced with extra beats. In the slow Mambo tempo, there was a distinct sound in the music that people began dancing to, calling the step the "Triple" Mambo. Eventually it evolved into a separate dance, known today as the Cha Cha. It has also been suggested that the name Cha Cha is derived onomatopoeically from the sound of the feet in the chasse which is included in many of the steps. This would account for it being called the 'Cha Cha Cha' by some people as opposed to cha cha. These differ only as to which beat of the musical bar is stressed by the dancing: beat 4 in the first case, beat 1 in the second.

Salsa Danced: 123 567 (holding beats 4 & 8)
Salsa is not easily defined. Though many get caught up in the age old debate as to who "invented" salsa (Cubans or Puerto Ricans), the truth of the matter is that salsa has and will always continue to have a great number of influences that have each played a large part in its evolution. Salsa was born of the encounter of Cuban and Puerto Rican music with big band jazz in the Latin barrios of New York. Literally the word salsa means “sauce” and in Latin American musical circles it takes its origins from a cry of appreciation for a particular “piquant” or flashy solo. It was first used to describe a style of music in the mid-1970’s, when a group of New York based Latin musicians overhauled the classic Cuban big band arrangements popular since the Mambo era of the 1940’s and 50’s. They set about reworking them into something tougher and more appropriate to their modern, integrated, bicultural lifestyles. Salsa roots come from the Catholic holy days when slaves were allowed to dance through streets to their own music. These ceremonies were called “Santerías”. Each ceremony has a complex set of rhythms associated with him or her called “toques”, which drums play out to call God down. In modern Cuba, carnivals have been a training ground for many great musicians, particularly drummers. In Puerto Rican town of Loiza, the legacy of the Africans is preserved in the “bomba” dance, driven by a line of drummers. Drummers sought to mimic the dancers’ body movements with their solos, as opposed to today, where most dancers interpret the music with movements.

BRAZILIAN SAMBA Danced on: 1 a2 3 a4 Shake it if you got it! In the 16th century, the Portuguese discovered a place they called the January River (Rio de Janeiro) on the east coast of South America. Colonists settled and as the colony prospered, slaves were brought from south-west Africa to work in the plantations of Bahia, in the north-east of what became Brazil. To members of the Afro-Brazilian religion Samba means to pray, or to call upon your personal god. The African rhythms enveloped in Latino music came from the Yoruba, Congo and other West African people, who were transported to the New World as slaves. In their homeland the rhythms were used to call forth various gods. These rhythms heavily influenced Brazilian music making Samba a unique genre of music. Samba is danced as a festival dance during the street festivals and celebrations. It is the main dance done at Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, held on Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, however, its roots go way back with the Saturnalias and Baccanals (the Greek God of Wine) of ancient times. The music has a joyful contagious rhythm which makes even non dancers want to get up and dance. It was first introduced in the U.S. in a Broadway play called "Street Carnival" in the late twenties. The festive style and mood of the dance has kept it alive and popular to this day and the rhythm pervades popular music.