Cachucha

Cachucha is a Spanish solo dance in 3/4 to 3/8 of the time similar to Bolero. Cachucha is danced to an Andalusian national song with castanet accompaniment.

Etymology

From Spanish cachucha, small boat. Possibly from diminutive of cacho, shard, saucepan, probably from Vulgar Latin cacculus, alteration of Latin caccabus, pot, from Greek kakkabos, a small container.

History

The Cachucha was first created in Cuba though it is now considered a Spanish dance. Fanny Elssler (1810-1884, Vienna) was the first one to make this dance popular: she first introduced the Cachucha to the public in the ballet The Lady of the Lake (1812) and later in Jean Coralli's ballet Le Diable boiteux^(fr) (1836, "the Lame Devil").

WS Gilbert makes reference to the dance in the Savoy Opera 'The Gondoliers' as the chorus sing "Dance a Cachucha".

References

• Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia
• Britannica Student Encyclopedia