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RCA Victor LSP-2379

On the inside, etched into the grooves of this RCA Victor bombshell, is the newest
sound in town— La Chunga.

On the cover of this album, you'll find a color photo of the trio responsible for La
Chunga— Arthur and Kathryn Murray and bandleader Perez Prado.

On the whole, it's a new dance craze that bids fair to set aside the Merengue, the
Cha Cha, and the other dances imported from south of the border.

It began with Perez Prado, who was musing to himself one day about a game he
had played as a child in Cuba. It involved a stick which he held in his hand and a
smaller stick, whittled to a point at one end, which he placed on the ground. He hit
the latter stick with the former, flipping it into the air, then struck it again before it fell
back to earth. The footwork occasioned by this chopping and then swinging motion
of the stick in the hand was wholly functional, but at the same time very rhythmic
and graceful.

He dropped in on the Murrays at their Manhattan studios and explained his idea: the
footwork involved in the game could well be the basis for an exciting dance,
sparked by a new and peppery Latin-American rhythm. They agreed, and began to
work on the steps right there in the office.

The rest is a matter of record—this record. From coast to coast, the Arthur Murray
Dance Studios are teaching La Chunga.  Right now, even as you are reading this,
someone somewhere is putting a needle into these grooves and releasing the
electric rhythms of the new sound in town ... La Chunga.

Better get to the record right now.


LA CHUNGA ELEGANTE (Basic slow step)  This is a simple shuffle step.  Just
shuffle in place by slide-digging the left foot into the floor, and then the right foot into
the floor. 

The rhythm of each food movement is "slow, slow, slow, slow."

(You can also move forward or back with this step.)


LA CHUNGA CALIENTE (Basic fast step)  Step forward on the left food and keep
weight on the left foot (see position #1 in diagram).

Slide hop left foot backwards a short distance to position #2,
keeping weight on left foot.

Now step forward on the right foot, weight on the right (see #3
in the diagram).

Then slide-hop right foor backwards a short distance to position
#4, keeping weight on right foot.

Repeat this step to La Chunga music while saying to yourself:
"Step-slide, Step-slide, Step-slide, Step-slide" or "Quick-quick;
Quick-quick;  Quick-quick; Quick-quick."


Copyright 1961, Radio Corporation of America