Instructional Videos
FREE VIDEO: Cha Cha Bugalú Basics
Here’s just a little freebie video giving you some background of Boogaloo Cha Cha Chá. Sarah covers the Tumbao rhythm in Cha Cha Chá, and how to recognize Latin Boogaloo (also spelled Bugalú or bugaloo) when you hear it, and some quintessential steps/moves that you’ll see in Latin Bugalú.
What is Boogaloo?
The name first appears in the 1960s. According to Ed Morales, author of The Latin Beat, “Bugaloo, its name derived from the same African-style scat onomatopoeia as cha-cha, was the first Latin music to regularly use English lyrics, epitomizing the changing sensibility of a Latino population that was beginning to use English as its dominant language.” Not only that, but it marks a clear marriage of Latin Jazz roots (and American-Latino urban culture) with American black soul music and culture (Soul Boogaloo, later called soul or funk) of the 1950s and 1960s from artists like James Brown, and specifically, Tom and Jerry-o and their 1965 hit “Boo-ga-loo”. It was a groove, a dance, a feeling, and a movement. Listen to the lyrics…it’s about soul food, sex, being young, and city life.
These days if you google Boogaloo you’ll get a page or more of links about a far-right, racist, extremist group that has appropriated this music and genre’s name. Do not be fooled, Boogaloo comes from black music culture, making the appropriation an obvious slap to the black community.
*you will see a time slot for this video when signing up. Ignore that. Mindbody makes us apply a time, even though this is a downloadable video that you can watch whenever you like :)