Mambo means "conversation with the gods" and in Cuba designates a sacred song of the Congos, Cubans of Bantu origin.It is important to note that Mambo is music that is interpreted through dance, not a dance style that exists in isolation. If you are not dancing Mambo to Mambo music then you are not dancing Mambo.

The origins of Mambo date from a 17th Century European dance called the contradanza, which was brought to Cuba by the Spanish In the eighteenth century, where it evolved into the danza and became the national dance. By the 20th Century this had evolved into the danzon, a more grounded music style. In 1938 Orestes Lopez combined elements of danza with Cuban son to produce the first modern mambo.

In the 1940s Perez Prado, who was the first person to use the name "Mambo" took the dance from Havana to New York, where it became associated with The Palladium Nightclub.

The greatest Latin bands of the era, including Machito, Tito Puente , and Tito Rodriguez would play and the best dancers would perform including  Horacio Riambau, Andy Vásquez, Cuban Pete , Joe Vega, Augie Rodriguez. These dancers borrowed from a wide variety of dance styles to produce a unique though derivative dance - New York Mambo.