Mambo Fe Dance Company
Mambo Fe Dance Company was founded February
2008 by Tony Perez, Performer, Instructor and
Choreographer. The name, Mambo Fe is used with
respect for the living tradition of Mambo societies and
their music in Cuba.
In Cuba, Mambo is a mutual aid society with religious
aspects, and a style of music and dance that survived
decades of slavery and has its roots in Africa. Mambo
songs and dance are important types of folkloric
music and dance derived from West Africa. The clave
rhythms in Salsa and most Latin music, come directly
from West Africa. Some of the dance and music came
from Yoruba culture (an ethnic group in what is today
called Nigeria), and others came from other groups,
like the Congolese. But there were also influences
from Spain, France, etc., especially in some of the
dance movements, and also in the poetry of the
songs for Cuban Rumba (which is completely unrel-
ated to ballroom Rhumba).
It is said that Arsenio Rodriguez, a famous Cuban
blind tres player, built Mambo from the “Diablo

Rhythm” of the Congolese religion, taught to him
by his grand father a former slave. He was one of
the three pillars of Cuban music (the other two are
Beny More and Miguel Matamoros). Rodriguez was
the architect of Cuban sound as we know it today.
He added drums and more brass to enrich the
classic conjunto style in the 40s. After decades
of fame, Rodriguez died in obscurity in Los Angeles
in 1972.
Mambo Fe Dance Company, the only home based
dance company in New Mexico, has been driven
by a desire to develop quality training in its
foundation with Mambo dance, as it evolved in
N.Y City. Mambo Fe has taken consistent steps in
distinguishing the performance genre:

- Rio Grande School Fundraising, Santa Fe.
- The Mambo Room, Santa Fe.
- Salsa Cabaret Fundraising, Santa Fe.
- National Hispanic Cultural Center, Albuquerque.
- Albuquerque Square Dance Center.
- 22nd. Annual Choreographer’s Showcase, Santa Fe.

- Mono Mundo Dance Performance Festival on the
Plaza, Santa Fe.

Today, this spicy and ethnically diverse group entertains with traditional, cultural and Mambo dance routines entrancing the audience with their captivating and unique style.