The Mambo dance originated in Cuba where there were substantial aettlements of Haitians. In the back country of Haiti , The Mambo is a voodoo priestess, who serves the villagers as counselor, spiritual advisor and organizer of public entertaiment. However, there is not a folk dance in Haiti called the Mambo. The fusion of Swing and Cuban music produced this fascinanting rhytm and in turn created a new sensational dance. The Mambo could not have been conceived earlier since up to taht time, the Cuban and American jazz were still not wedded. The Mambo dance is atribueted to Perez Prado who introduced it at La Tropicana night-club in Havana in 1943. Since than other Latin american band leaders such as Tito Rodriguez, Pupi Campo and Xavier Cugat have achived styles of their own. The Mambo was originally played as a Rumba with a riff ending. It may be described as a riff or a Rumba with a break or emphasis on 2 and 4 in 4/4 time. Native Cubans or musicians without any trening would breakon any beat. It first appeared in USA in New York's Park Plaza Ballroom - a favourite hang out of enthusiastic dancers from Harlem. The Mambo gainded its excitement in 1947 at the Palladium and other locals like: The China Doll and Birdland. A modified version of Mambo was presented to the public at dance studios and at night-club in New York and Miami. Mambo happy dancers soon became known as Mambonicks.The Mambo craze did not last long and today the Mambo is much limited to advances dancers. Teachers agreed that it is one of the most difficult of dances. One of the greatest contributions of the Mambo is that it led to the development of the Cha-Cha. Popular Mambo songs include: Mambo Italiano, Papa Loves Mambo and Mambo No#5. Most people treat Mambo as very fast dance. In essence , it is a slow and precise dance that doesn't move very much.