references are all to music, but whether of the same type is not quite clear. The usage of guaracha is sometimes extended, then meaning, generally, to have a good time. A different sense of the word means jest or diversion. Emergence of the Guaracha On January 20, 1801, Buenaventura Pascual Ferrer published a note in a newspaper called “El Regañón de La Havana,” in which he refers to certain chants that “run outside there through vulgar voices”. Between them he mentioned a “guaracha” named “La Guabina”, about which he says: “in the voice of those that sings it, tastes like any thing dirty, indecent or disgusting that you can think about…” At a later time, in an undetermined date, “La Guabina” appears published between the first musical scores printed in Havana at the beginning of the 19th century. According to the commentaries published in “El Regañón de La Habana”, we can conclude that those “guarachas” were very popular within the Havana population at that time, because in the same previously mentioned article the author says: “…but most importantly, what bothers me most is the liberty with which a number of chants are sung throughout the streets and town homes, where innocence is insulted and morals offended… by many individuals, not just of the lowest class, but also by some people that are supposed to be called well educated…”. Therefore, we can say that those “guarachas” of a very audacious content, were apparently already sung within a wide social sector of the Havana population. Buenaventura Pascual Ferrer mentions also that at the beginning of the 19th century up to fifty dance parties were held in Havana every day, where the famous “Guaracha” was sung and danced among other popular pieces. Guaracha as a dance There is little evidence as to what style of dance was originally performed to the guaracha in Cuba. Some engravings from the 19th century suggest that it was a dance of independent couples, that is, not a sequence dance such as the contradanza. The prototype independent couples dance was the waltz (early 19th century Vals in Cuba). The first creole dance form in Cuba known for certain to be danced by independent couples was the danzón. If the guaracha is an earlier example, this would be interesting from a dance history point of view. Guarachas in bufo theatre During the 19th century, the bufo theatre, with its