Origins
Some people think that the name of the Mambo dance comes from Haiti, where the mambo is a voodoo priestess.  They think that the mambo dance was brought to the Cuba by  the large number of Haitians who came to Cuba.

Isabelle Leymarie, a professor at Columbia University, writes that mambo was orginally an African name for a musical instrument.  This version of the word mambo means ''Conversation with the gods.'' She also says it's influenced by English country dance. This type of dance was brought to Spain and called contradanza. This contradanza was brought to Cuba by Spanish settlers and was called danza. Haitians living in Cuba added their own influence, which eventually resulted in the mambo. 

The mambo became famous through the musician Perez Prado.  He was the first person to give the name mambo to the dance and music. He introduced it at la Tropicana nightclub in Havana, Cuba, in 1943. It first appeared in the United States in New York's Park Plaza Ballroom. The Mambo became a favorite at the Palladium Ballroom and other famous dance clubs.  The mambo craze in the 1950s did not last long because it was very hard to perform. It led to the development of the cha-cha-cha, an easier form of the mambo dance. 

Mambo Today
Today, Mambo is popular again.  It has appeared in many films, such as "The Mambo Kings." Eddie Torres. a New York dance, is known as the ''Mambo King of Latin Dance.'' Eddie Torres says, ''The Mambo is hot now, like it was in the '50's. It is a dance with many influences--African, Cuban, Jazz, Hip-Hop, even some ballets. You'll never run out of steps.'