Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest update - August 31, 2026
This pancocojams post showcases some videos and presents some information about the history of Conga music and dance in Cuba.
This post also showcases some videos and presents information about how the Conga line became part of some United States wedding receptions and part of some other celebratory events in the United States.
The content of this post is presented for historical, socio-cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the Cuban people for their creation of Conga music and dance. Thanks to Cuban-American actor/entertainer Desi Arnez for sparking the Conga line dance craze in the United States. Thanks for all those who are quoted in this post and who are featured in these showcase videos. Thanks also to all the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
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THE HISTORY OF THE CONGA LINE IN CUBA & ITS ADOPTION IN THE USA FOR CELEBRATORY EVENTS SUCH AS WEDDING RECEPTIONS
Conga Lines
The Conga is both a dance and a drum. The dance originated in Santiago de Cuba (a city in Cuba) by at least 1902. https://passportandbaggage.com/the-conga/
Conga lines exploded in popularity in the United States in the 1930s and the 1940s.
https://www.laconga.us/blog/why-the-conga
Conga music and Conga dances are performed differently in different Cuban cities.
From https://www.laconga.us/blog/why-the-conga
..."In Santiago, a conga is also a sprawling, chaotic, mass of a few thousand people that surrounds the musicians in the streets. The expression “meterse en la conga” (literally “insert oneself in the conga”) means to become part of this mass, not necessarily to march amidst the musicians. The conga as an informal spontaneous street parade is an essential part of Santiago's culture. Conga for Santiagueros is much more than a rhythm or a band: it's an annual ritual, sweaty street party; it's rum, rebellion, Afro-Cubanidad, arrollando (a gyrating street dance), fights, and guapería (bravado).
Conga Santiaguera is not as well known as the Conga Habanera (which is often called “comparsa” by musicians). The famous (?infamous?) “1,2,3 kick!” of the “conga line” comes from the Conga Habanera.* Even Trio Matamoros' famous tribute, “Los Carnavales de Oriente" is done to a Conga Habanera rhythm.
The Conga Habanera is more famous because Cuba's capital has always dominated its music and media industries, and therefore shaped perceptions of Cuban music and culture outside the island. Havana's Conga, like other Afro-Cuban styles from Western Cuba, is more familiar to musicians outside the island; it has been studied, taught and transcribed more."...
-end of quote-
*Conga Habenera" = Conga from Havana
**
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conga_line
"The conga line is a novelty line dance that was derived from the Cuban carnival dance of the same name and became popular in the US and UK during the first half of the 20th century. In order to perform the dance, dancers form a long, processing line, which would usually turn into a circle. It has three shuffle steps on the beat, followed by a kick that is slightly ahead of the fourth beat. The conga, a term sometimes mistakenly believed to be derived from the African region of Congo, is both a lyrical and danceable genre, rooted in the music of carnival troupes or comparsas.[1]
The conga dance was believed to have been brought over from Africa by enslaved people in the West Indies,[2] and became a popular street dance in Cuba. The style was appropriated by politicians during the early years of republic in an attempt to appeal to the masses before election. During Gerardo Machado's dictatorship in Cuba, Havana citizens were forbidden to dance the conga since rival groups would work themselves to high excitement and start street fights. This was not the case when Fulgencio Batista became president in the 1940s - he permitted people to dance congas during elections, but a police permit was required.[3]
Description
The conga dance style is more of a march, which is characterized by its distinctive conga drum rhythm. It differs from the Cuban rumba, which uses movements considered "hip" and shows the sensually aggressive attitude of each dancer. Conga music is played with a staccato beat as its base, which gives rhythm to the movements of the dancers. Conga dancers lift their legs in time with the rhythm of the music, marking each beat with the strong motion of their body.
The basic dance steps start from left leg 1-2-3 kick then repeat, opposite. Originally, a band member wearing a drum would venture onto the dance floor and begin zig-zagging around while drumming out the rhythm. Dancers would start joining up behind the drummer, forming a line that moves like a snake in an open circle. The line (or the circular chain) would grow longer and the drumming more intense until it finally stopped. The dance has two styles, which is a single line form and partners. The single line is more popular in Cuba.[2]
Western Popularity
Beginning in the late 1930s, the dance became popular in the United States. With its simple march step, the interlinking of dancers circling about in single file, and one-two-three-bump rhythm with the fourth beat strongly marked, the dance was not only attractive but also readily accessible to US and other foreign audiences. The dance started to gain a foothold in the US around 1929, when the original La Conga nightclub opened its doors in Manhattan. It is believed that the La Conga was at Broadway and 51st Street.[2] By 1937, the conga was well known in New York.
This music and dance form has become totally assimilated into Cuba's musical heritage and has been used in many film soundtracks in the US and Mexico.[3] One of the earliest and most successful of 20th-century Cuban musical exports, the conga lacked the polyrhythmic sophistication of the son, mambo, or salsa but served to nurture the future receptivity of an international public to the wider gamut of Cuban musical styles.[1]”…
-snip-
Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byaNuxwjCs8 to watch the 2023 YouTube video "Dancing the 1940s Conga" and read the transcript of that video about the evolution of the Conga line dance in the United States and Europe during the1940s.
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THREE YOUTUBE VIDEOS OF THE CONGA IN CUBA
Notice that there are so many people in the streets for Cuban conga festivals that people don't dance Conga in any processional (follow the leader, single line or partner) formations during those festival parades. Instead, masses of people follow or merge with a Conga band. Sometimes the people in those crowds perform the conga dance steps.
SHOWCASE VIDEO #1 - Conga Los Hoyos Invasiòn!
cineVillon - l'immagine errante, Aug 27, 2021 SANTIAGO
DI CUBA
Invasiòn de la Conga Los Hoyos por las calles de Santiago de
Cuba
[from Spanish to English: Invasion of the Conga (band) of Los Hoyos through the streets of Santiago, Cuba.]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HqtwL0urZA
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-Invasión, recorrido de la victoria. 2022 diciembre-CONGA LOS
HOYOS
CONGA LOS HOYOS Official Channel, Jan 31, 2023
☆「Lazaro and the Shark」The movie official website
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1-sFB7hwlA
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SHOWCASE VIDEO #3 - La Conga Santiaguera bailada por estudiantes de secundaria a
Santiago de Cuba 2025 (From Spanish to English- The Conga Santiaguera danced by high school students from Santiago de Cuba 2025)
Carmine Salituro, Premiered Apr 22, 2025
SANTIAGO DI CUBA
Si te gusta el ritmo de la música cubana tienes que ver el
video hasta el final
-snip-
Google translation from Spanish to English:
"If you like the rhythm of Cuban music, you have to watch the video to the end."
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HOW DESI ARNEZ STARTED THE CONGA LINE DANCE CRAZE IN THE UNITED STATES
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SHOWCASE VIDEO - Desi Arnaz Conga
kelime,Aug 28, 2012
From the RKO movie "Too Many Girls"
-snip-
Here are a few comments from this video's discussion thread (with numbers added for referencing purposes only.)
1. @perpetual61, 2018
"The 1940 Movie " Too Many Girls " starring Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz is where they met."
**
2. @jasonhuegan7007, 2019
"Did Arnez invent the conga line?"
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Reply
3. @PrincessWarsop, 2022
"He just made it popular."
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Reply
4. @JamesAinsworth-AA, 2022
"He himself said on an interview on Johnny Carson that the
conga line was something Cubans created in their Carnival celebrations. He said
most of the country would go to Santiago for the celebrations and the best
conga lines - the implied or veiled suggestion is that the conga line was an
Afro-Cuban creation because Santiago was predominantly Black Cubans."
**
5. @holyspacemonkey, 2020
"This is from the 1940 film “Too Many Girls.” Lucy & Desi met on the set, but her co-star and love interest was Richard Carlson, not Desi. Desi played a supporting role. You can see Lucy & Richard at 3:30."
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6. @Tusc9969, 2022
"I like Desi - he knew relatively little about the music he
was hybridizing, compared to real, respected band leaders like Cugat, Machito,
Miguelito Valdes etc
But he had looks, charm, chutzpah and the great advantage
over most important Latin musicians of being both upper-class and white
complexion.
To be quite honest, Desi was not the best of singers, and he
was not the best conguero, obviously, but he gets credit for introducing
Afro-Cuban music to the masses on television, which in the 40s was unheard of,
if you lived outside NYC or Miami at the time."
**
7. @stephaniebarkemeyer5247, 2023
"I’m reading Desi’s autobiography right now, and his life story is truly incredible, especially all he went through. He called the conga his “dance of desperation” because he needed to think quickly to avoid getting fired and drown out his horrible sounding bad Xavier Cugat sent him to play. One dance started a craze and influenced our culture. 🎉❤"
**
8. @JohnMinehan-lx9ts, 2025
"In 1976 when he and his son hosted SNL (and Arnez was about 60) he and his son lead the cast and audience to do this with the same (or possibly greater) energy.
THAT was an entertainer."
**
9.@RaulAlvarez-z6u, 2026
"The "conga" was a very popular rythm in the forties. You can see how they danced the conga in a sequence of Woody Allen's film "Radio Days". People in a line which kept incorporating persons danced the conga and had a chance of meeting strangers, who aferwards perhaps became friends. The conga was a success in the whole world. Desi Arnaz recorded the song "La conga en Nueva York". The lyrics said: "Dice todo el mundo que ya en Nueva York se baila la rumba y la conga mejor".
-snip-
Google translation from Spanish to English:
"Everyone says that the rumba and the conga are already danced better in New York."
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SHOWCASE VIDEOS OF THE CONGA LINE IN THE USA
Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
SHOWCASE VIDEO #1- Kids in Tune Conga Flash Mob
Doctor Rick, Aug 10, 2016
kidsintune.org
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=govVs3fCeYI
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SHOWCASE VIDEO #2- 100 Person Conga Line | Mountain Meadows Golf Course #wedding #dj #losangeles
My Event Pros, Oct 5, 2021
My Event Pros – Premier
Wedding & Event DJs in Southern California
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQVjt7hcURk
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