Editing Conga line (section)

== Western popularity ==
Beginning in the late 1930s, the dance became popular in the [[United States]]; however, in the 1940s, it became very popular due to Hollywood's "Latin" musicals. [[RKO Pictures]]' offerings were particularly influential, notably ''[[Too Many Girls (musical)|Too Many Girls]]'' (1940), in which [[Desi Arnaz]] appeared as a conga-playing Argentine student. Spanish-Catalan bandleader [[Xavier Cugat]], who gave Arnaz his musical start, helped to popularize the dance, but the biggest impact belonged to Arnaz himself.<ref name="davis" /> It is prominently featured in the 1941 [[Deanna Durbin]] film, ''[[It Started With Eve]]'', in which [[Deanna Durbin|Durbin]] and [[Charles Laughton]] dance the dance together in a nightclub.

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)|La Conga nightclub]] opened its doors in [[Manhattan]]. It is believed that the La Conga was at Broadway and 51st Street.<ref name="watson">Watson, Sonny. [http://www.streetswing.com/histmain/z3conga.htm "Conga"], ''Street Swing''. 1999. Accessed August 6, 2006.</ref> By 1937, the conga was well known in New York.

The widespread popularity of the dance resulted in many cultural references in contemporary media. For example, the conga line was a recurring theme in [[Warner Bros.]] animated cartoons of the 1940s.

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]].<ref name="orovio" /> One of the earliest and most successful of 20th-century Cuban musical exports, the conga lacked the [[polyrhythmic]] sophistication of the [[son (music)|son]], [[mambo (music)|mambo]], or [[salsa music|salsa]] but served to nurture the future receptivity of an international public to the wider gamut of Cuban musical styles.<ref name="davis" />